French science ‘on worrying trajectory’ after budget cuts

Cuts to university budgets in France are putting growing pressure on scientific research in the country and threatening academic freedom, academics have warned.

Claire Mathieu, director of research at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, said a funding squeeze is forcing universities to replace permanent staff with temporary hires, and pushing professors to take on extra teaching hours at the expense of their research.

“If you just continue this trend going forward, you can see that this is not sustainable. They don’t really have that much in savings,” she said, adding that all 75 of France’s public universities are expected to end the year in deficit.

Although public funding for research has increased in some areas, much of it has been directed toward private sector innovation, leaving universities struggling. “Depending on how you count it, the budget might look like it’s going up. But universities don’t see that money,” Mathieu said, referring to the government’s much-delayed budget that was passed last month.

Mathieu spoke to Times Higher Education following Stand Up for Science’s annual press conference at the College de France on 6 March, which brought together researchers to discuss the state of academic freedom in both France and the US.

They examined how the Trump administration’s funding cuts and dismantling of research programmes have affected international scientific collaborations in areas such as climate change and health research.

The organisers of the event, which was launched last year by French academics in solidarity with American researchers, have now turned their attention closer to home.

Mathieu said although France’s problems are smaller in scale than attacks on science in the US, she warned that the trajectory was worrying. “We look at what’s happened in the US and we are worried about where we’re going,” she said.

She pointed to the recent cancellation of a College de France conference on Palestine and Europe, describing it as “not good, the way it happened”. She added that protecting independent inquiry remained a challenge.

Mathieu noted that the French Environment and Energy Management Agency had its budget slashed by €350 million between 2024 and 2026, Some of  its experts had also faced political attacks, accused by MPs of being aligned with the far left. The French Biodiversity Agency has been similarly hit, losing €40 million.

Organisers hope to mobilise support across the political spectrum. “We need a movement that unites people who care about science, universities, and academic freedom,” Mathieu said.

“In science we live in a world where there are no borders. Our community is composed of people who share the same scientific interests not the same nationality. Seeing all this happen at once is worrisome.”