30-819: The French National Centre for Scientific Research (French: Centre national de la recherche scientifique , CNRS ) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 staff, including 11,137 tenured researchers, 13,415 engineers and technical staff, and 7,085 contractual workers. It is headquartered in Paris and has administrative offices in Brussels , Beijing , Tokyo , Singapore , Washington, D.C. , Bonn , Moscow , Tunis , Johannesburg , Santiago de Chile , Israel , and New Delhi . The CNRS operates on
60-826: A candidate has worked extensively with one of the jury members over the past two years, or has a direct and regular relationship with him or her. In 2020, the average age at recruitment was 33.9 years for chargés de recherche (research fellows), with wide variations between sections (in the humanities and social sciences, it was 36.3 years). In 2020, the average recruitment rate was 21.3 applicants for each single open position, again with variations to this rate between sections. The most competitive sections are usually Section 2 (theoretical physics), Section 35 (literature, philosophy and philology), Section 36 (sociology and law), and Section 40 (political science). In 2023, in Section 35, there were 158 applicants for four open positions, hence
90-413: A laboratory an "assistant engineer"). Following a 1983 reform, the candidates selected have the status of civil servants and are part of the public service. All permanent support employees are recruited through annual nationwide competitive campaigns ( concours ). Separate competitives campaigns are held in each of the forty disciplinary fields covered by the institution and organized in sections. In
120-481: A numeric code attached and is typically headed by a university professor or a CNRS research director. A research unit may be subdivided into research groups ("équipes"). The CNRS also has support units, which may, for instance, supply administrative, computing, library, or engineering services. In 2016, the CNRS had 952 Joint Research Units, 32 proper research units, 135 service units, and 36 international units. The CNRS
150-405: A recruitment rate of 2.53%. By comparison, Section 12 (molecular chemistry) received 33 applications for five open positions. The CNRS was created on 19 October 1939 by decree of President Albert Lebrun . Since 1954, the centre has annually awarded gold, silver, and bronze medals to French scientists and junior researchers. In 1966, the organisation underwent structural changes, which resulted in
180-722: A seat in the Chamber of Deputies in 1900 as a member of the Left Republican Party, later serving on the cabinet as Minister for the Colonies from 1912 to 1914, Minister of War in 1913 and Minister for Liberated Regions from 1917 to 1919. Joining the Democratic Alliance, he was elected to the French senate from Meurthe-et-Moselle in 1920, and served as Vice President of the Senate from 1925 through 1929. He
210-760: Is a type of scientific research with the aim of improving scientific theories for better understanding and prediction of natural or other phenomena. In contrast, applied research uses scientific theories to develop technology or techniques, which can be used to intervene and alter natural or other phenomena. Though often driven simply by curiosity , basic research often fuels the technological innovations of applied science . The two aims are often practiced simultaneously in coordinated research and development . In addition to innovations, basic research serves to provide insights and public support of nature, possibly improving conservation efforts. Technological innovations may influence engineering concepts, such as
240-448: Is divided into 10 national institutes: The National Committee for Scientific Research, which is in charge of the recruitment and evaluation of researchers, is divided into 47 sections (e.g. Section 41 is mathematics, Section 7 is computer science and control, and so on). Research groups are affiliated with one primary institute and an optional secondary institute; the researchers themselves belong to one section. For administrative purposes,
270-413: Is governed by very strict, well-defined legal rules, including the sovereignty and impartiality of the jury and the rules governing conflicts of interest: candidates are strictly forbidden to have any contact with a member of the jury, and no one may put pressure on the jury in any way whatsoever. If a member of the jury belongs to the candidate's family, he or she may not sit on the jury. The same applies if
300-402: Is not a general rule (a research scientist can head a group or even a laboratory and some research directors do not head a group). Employees for support activities include research engineers, studies engineers, assistant engineers and technicians. Contrary to what the name would seem to imply, these can have administrative duties (e.g. a secretary can be "technician", an administrative manager of
330-521: Is the most common. Basic research generates new ideas, principles, and theories, which may not be immediately utilized but nonetheless form the basis of progress and development in different fields. Today's computers, for example, could not exist without research in pure mathematics conducted over a century ago, for which there was no known practical application at the time. Basic research rarely helps practitioners directly with their everyday concerns; nevertheless, it stimulates new ways of thinking that have
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#1732765558798360-680: The 2023 assessment report of the HCERES. Alain Fuchs was appointed president on 20 January 2010. His position combined the previous positions of president and director general. Several of the French Nobel Prize winners were employed by the CNRS, particularly at the start of their careers, and most worked in university laboratories associated with the CNRS. Fundamental science Basic research , also called pure research , fundamental research , basic science , or pure science ,
390-480: The CNRS is divided into 18 regional divisions (including four for the Paris region). Researchers who are permanent employees of the CNRS, equivalent to lifelong research fellows in English-speaking countries, are classified in two categories, each subdivided into two or three classes, and each class is divided into several pay grades. In principle, research directors tend to head research groups, but this
420-789: The General's leadership, and conveniently forgetting the new Constitutional Law he had enacted in 1940, said that he had not formally resigned as president because the dissolution of the National Assembly had left nobody to accept his resignation. Whether or not de Gaulle accepted this lie is unknown. During the post-war Petain trial "all the available celebrities of the Third Republic testified, including Lebrun, all whitewashing themselves". Lebrun argued again that he had never officially resigned. De Gaulle made no mystery of his low opinion of Lebrun, and wrote of him in his memoirs: "As
450-527: The National Science Foundation. A worker in basic scientific research is motivated by a driving curiosity about the unknown. When his explorations yield new knowledge, he experiences the satisfaction of those who first attain the summit of a mountain or the upper reaches of a river flowing through unmapped territory. Discovery of truth and understanding of nature are his objectives. His professional standing among his fellows depends upon
480-421: The basis of research units, which are of two kinds: "proper units" (UPRs) are operated solely by the CNRS, and Joint Research Units (UMRs – French: Unité mixte de recherche ) are run in association with other institutions, such as universities or INSERM . Members of Joint Research Units may be either CNRS researchers or university employees ( maîtres de conférences or professeurs ). Each research unit has
510-422: The beak of a kingfisher influencing the design of a high-speed bullet train. Basic research advances fundamental knowledge about the world. It focuses on creating and refuting or supporting theories that explain observed phenomena. Pure research is the source of most new scientific ideas and ways of thinking about the world. It can be exploratory , descriptive , or explanatory; however, explanatory research
540-420: The context of the competition, the section is made up of an eligibility jury, which reads the application files, selects some for the orals, holds the orals, and draws up a ranked list of potential candidates, submitted to the admission jury, which validates (or not) this ranking; the admission jury can make adjustments within this list. At the end of the admissions jury, the results are announced. The competition
570-744: The creation of two specialised institutes: the National Astronomy and Geophysics Institute in 1967 (which became the National Institute of Sciences of the Universe in 1985) and the Institut national de physique nucléaire et de physique des particules (IN2P3; English: National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics) in 1971. The effectiveness of the recruitment, compensation, career management, and evaluation procedures of CNRS have been under scrutiny. Governmental projects include
600-468: The originality and soundness of his work. Creativeness in science is of a cloth with that of the poet or painter. It conducted a study in which it traced the relationship between basic scientific research efforts and the development of major innovations, such as oral contraceptives and videotape recorders. This study found that basic research played a key role in the development in all of the innovations. The number of basic science research that assisted in
630-648: The potential to revolutionize and dramatically improve how practitioners deal with a problem in the future. In the United States, basic research is funded mainly by the federal government and done mainly at universities and institutes. As government funding has diminished in the 2010s, however, private funding is increasingly important. Applied science focuses on the development of technology and techniques. In contrast, basic science develops scientific knowledge and predictions, principally in natural sciences but also in other empirical sciences, which are used as
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#1732765558798660-766: The production of a given innovation peaked between 20 and 30 years before the innovation itself. While most innovation takes the form of applied science and most innovation occurs in the private sector, basic research is a necessary precursor to almost all applied science and associated instances of innovation. Roughly 76% of basic research is conducted by universities. A distinction can be made between basic science and disciplines such as medicine and technology. They can be grouped as STM (science, technology, and medicine; not to be confused with STEM [science, technology, engineering, and mathematics]) or STS (science, technology, and society). These groups are interrelated and influence each other, although they may differ in
690-457: The scientific foundation for applied science. Basic science develops and establishes information to predict phenomena and perhaps to understand nature, whereas applied science uses portions of basic science to develop interventions via technology or technique to alter events or outcomes. Applied and basic sciences can interface closely in research and development . The interface between basic research and applied research has been studied by
720-568: The specifics such as methods and standards. The Nobel Prize mixes basic with applied sciences for its award in Physiology or Medicine . In contrast, the Royal Society of London awards distinguish natural science from applied science. Albert Lebrun Albert François Lebrun ( French: [albɛʁ ləbʁœ̃] ; 29 August 1871 – 6 March 1950) was a French politician, President of France from 1932 to 1940. He
750-552: The struggle was demonstrated. An end must be made." With the Cabinet wanting to ask for an armistice, on 17 June 1940 Prime Minister Paul Reynaud resigned, recommending to President Lebrun that he appoint Marechal Philippe Pétain in his place, which he did that day. British General Sir Edward Spears , who was present with the French cabinet during this crisis wrote "it is clear that the President had made up his mind that France
780-577: The transformation of the CNRS into an organization allocating support to research projects on an ad hoc basis and the reallocation of CNRS researchers to universities. Another controversial plan advanced by the government involves breaking up the CNRS into six separate institutes. These modifications, which were again proposed in 2021 by think tanks such as the Institut Montaigne, have been massively rejected by French scientists, leading to multiple protests. Important reforms were also recommended in
810-550: Was free of her obligations to Britain, and was at liberty to ask for an armistice [with Germany] if she deemed it to be in her interests to do so." On 10 July 1940, Lebrun enacted the Constitutional Law of 10 July 1940 , which the National Assembly had voted for by 569 votes to 80, allowing Prime Minister Philippe Pétain to promulgate a new constitution. On 11 July, Lebrun was replaced by Pétain as head of state. Lebrun then fled to Vizille (Isère) on 15 July, but
840-650: Was later captured, on 27 August 1943 (when the Germans moved into the region) and was sent into captivity at the Itter Castle in Tyrol . On 10 October 1943 he was allowed to return to Vizille due to illness, but was kept under constant surveillance. On 15 August 1944, Operation Dragoon began. One week later, Grenoble , Vizille and other cities were freed. The German 19th Army withdrew quickly. On 11 October 1944, Lebrun met with Charles de Gaulle and acknowledged
870-443: Was president of that body from 1931 to 1932. Lebrun was elected President of France by the newly elected Chamber of Deputies following the assassination of President Paul Doumer by Pavel Gurgulov on 6 May 1932. Re-elected in 1939, largely because of his record of accommodating all political sides, he exercised little power as president. In June 1940, with the military collapse of France imminent, Lebrun wrote "the uselessness of
900-619: Was the last president of the Third Republic . He was a member of the centre-right Democratic Republican Alliance (ARD). Born to a farming family in Mercy-le-Haut , Meurthe-et-Moselle, he attended the École Polytechnique and the École des Mines de Paris , graduating from both at the top of his class. He then became a mining engineer in Vesoul and Nancy , but left that profession at the age of 29 to enter politics. Lebrun won
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