CNRS: The Future of France’s Scientific Research Today

The National Center for Scientific Research (Centre national de la recherche scientifique or CNRS) is a research organization owned by the French government. It is also the largest fundamental science institution in Europe. It has over 20,000 regular employees composed of engineers, researchers and admin staff, and over 6,000 casual employees.

CNRS was established on October 19, 1939 by virtue of a decree issued by President Albert Lebrun. In 1954, CNRS started giving out gold, silver and bronze medals to French junior scientists and researchers to encourage them to discover and innovate.

Administratively, CNRS is under the Ministry of Research. It was created to conduct evaluation and research that would advance knowledge and bring social, economical, and cultural benefits to the French societies. CNRS will motivate researchers and scientists to do more because the government has an agency that would help apply and promote discoveries and innovations as a result of researches. CNRS is also mandated to develop any scientific information gathered in the research and conduct trainings to further the processes of research and innovation. CNRS also helps in analyzing the climate of science nationally and globally which might lead to the development of a national policy.

In 1966, CNRS has undergone a major restructuring which created two specialized institutes: the National Astronomy and Geophysics Institute (now known as National Institute of Sciences of the Universe) and the National Institute of Nuclear and Particle Physics. Another national institute, the National Institute for mathematical Sciences was also established later.

On top of the national institutes, CNRS also operates seven institutes which carry researches in specialized fields. The seven institutes are as follows:

• Institute for Engineering and Systems Sciences
• Institute for Computer Sciences
• Institute of Ecology and Environment
• Institute for Humanities and Social Sciences
• Institute of Physics
• Institute of Chemistry
• Institute of Biological Sciences
• Institute of Ecology and Environment

With the establishment of CNRS, specialists in various disciplines can collaborate and encourage inquiries into new fields that have the potential to meet economic and social needs. In partnership with universities and other research organizations, CNRS has set up joint labs that would carry out research projects on top of intramural labs which CNRS funds and operates for its own researches.