The Letter 2 of the Collège de France
N°2 Academic year 2006-2007
Editorial
The Collège de France’s new Scientific and Strategic Orientation Committee (COSS) by Pierre Corvol Administrator ‘Today’s world is seeking references, reasons to marvel, of the Collège de France ambitious motivating projects. With the sole objective of Professor, furthering knowledge, basic research – that essentially holder of the Chair of Experimental Medicine disinterested research which demands real collaboration at international level – is one of the paths on that quest. Science is and will always remain a factor of emancipation for humans the university world through the PhD schools, increasing and it is important today to emphasize that obvious fact. In this relations with foreign universities, and developing research at the context, the Collège de France has a unique position in France Collège itself. Today a progress report is indispensable. The and in Europe but also in the world.’ These are the introductory Collège will be attentive to the COSS’s opinions on these points, lines of the Annual Report of the International Scientific and as these will enable it to focus its strategy on the objectives that Strategic Orientation Committee (COSS) submitted to the the Committee has reviewed and revised. President of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the Collège de France’s supervisory ministries in May 2004. The COSS meeting in March 2007 enabled it to make contact with the members of the extended executive of the The creation of the COSS in 2003, on the Collège’s Collège and certain professors at the Cardinal Lemoine and initiative, stemmed from the wish to benefit from eminent Ulm sites. A preliminary study found that the advice and colleagues’ attentive and critical view of the Collège’s main recommendations put forward by the COSS in 2004 had scientific and strategic orientations and the conditions in been followed. Additional details and figures, in a document which they are implemented. It is not the COSS’s role to “The Collège in Figures”, will shortly be submitted to the evaluate the Chairs’ scientific activities; this is the COSS so that it has all the necessary information to draw responsibility of research organizations and of the Ministry up a draft report during its next meeting in November 2007 of National Education, Higher Education and Research. at the Collège. The final report will be presented to the President of the Republic, the supervisory authorities, and The COSS report in May 2004 was a highlight in the finally the Assembly of the Professors in March 2008. Collège de France’s life. This report, the fruit of several meetings, analysed the Collège’s particular characteristics, The COSS’s role is extremely valuable to enlighten the Collège its assets and its weaknesses. It also put forward suggestions de France in its scientific choices and its long-term strategic and opinions. For instance, it proposed that the Collège vision. To fulfil its mission today, the Collège defines enhance its communication policy and define a future- orientations and takes new initiatives, some of which are oriented policy for its libraries. It expressed the wish for the entirely novel in the history of the Institution. If they are to be human resources policy to be optimized and the Collège de carried out fully, these will require more human and financial France’s financial situation to be improved. resources. It is therefore essential that medium- and long-term objectives and the means required to meet them be subjected Four years later, as provided for in the statutes, half the member to the COSS’s critically illuminating scrutiny. of the COSS have been renewed. The Committee currently Professor Pierre Corvol comprises twelve scientific personalities from abroad. It is Administrator of the Collège de France chaired by Professor Detlev Ganten and co-chaired by Professor Peter Mc Cormick. The secretary is Professor Jacques Reisse. Members of the COSS in March 2007 : The view from outside that the COSS has, with its opinions, Anthony Atkinson (UK), economist critiques and proposals, still appears to be essential for the Robert Darnton (US), historian Collège’s life. While the Institution is aware of the strengths Denis Duboule (Switzerland), biologist that have made it famous – its universality, multi-disciplinarity Detlev Ganten, chairman (Germany), biologist and independence – it is nevertheless convinced that it has to Peter Mac Cormick, vice-chairman (Canada), philosopher Paolo Matthiae (Italy), orientalist, archaeologist develop and adapt to a fast-changing world. Jürgen Mlynek (Germany), physicist Jacob Palis (Brazil), mathematician Over the past few years the Collège has taken a series of initiatives David Parkin (UK), anthropologist which largely correspond to the wishes expressed by the COSS Jacques Reisse, secretary (Belgium), chemist in 2004: efforts to increase the dissemination of knowledge, Barbara Romanowicz (US), geophysicist opening up towards society and economic life, moving closer to Karlheinz Stierle (Germany), romanist TABLE OF CONTENTS
Selected papers pages The papers published in this issue of the Letter of the Collège de France in English were originally published in the Letters n° 18, 19 and 20 (academic year 2006-2007).