INFORMAZIONI UNIVERSITARIE

French politicians exhibit a high level of ignorance concerning research. One of the reasons is French-specific, and is called the “Grandes Ecoles” system. Parents who believe in excellence and competition above all, and want the best for their children do not send them to universities but to these “Grandes Ecoles” (Polytechnique, Ecole des Mines, Ecole Nationale d’Administration). All the French elite (in economy, politics and high administration) comes from these establishments. In most of them, there is no research activity, thus they have had no research training, but still, they are convinced (aren’t they the elite?) that they are able to decide for everything and everybody, including for choosing which research questions are important, and which should be abandoned. This system creates major problems in our country, including a marked depreciation of the PhD.
(Fonte: A. Trautmann, interview was made by C. di Foggia for the issue of ll Fatto Quotidiano 08-09-2014)