France is preparing to implement a national, multi-year research plan for the first time – a move warmly welcomed by the heads of the country's major research agencies, writes Barbara Casassus for Nature. The details of the programme, unveiled by French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe on 1 February, are yet to be defined, but the government says that it will protect research funding, boost the reCRUItment of early-career scientists and help France to stand out in an increasingly competitive global research landscape. The programme should cut bureaucracy and give scientists more resources, allowing them to better plan for the future and freeing up more time for research, said Phillippe, who announced the move in Paris at an event celebrating the 80th anniversary of France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), Europe's largest basic-research agency. (Fonte: UWN 15-02-19)