French law aims to improve higher education and research

Science : To simplify France’s national education and research system and reduce competition among researchers and institutions, the country’s parliament has drafted a bill consisting of 20 measures. The proposals include the creation of regional groupings of universities and research laboratories, a stronger and clearer national strategic research agenda, an improved evaluation procedure for laboratories and education programs, and 8400 new permanent research staff positions. Funding for universities is still up in the air, however, as requests for budgetary guarantees have largely been ignored. “Many in the scientific community still hope to influence the Parliament to introduce last-minute changes,” writes Elisabeth Pain for Science.