France’s 2005 Civilian Budget for Research and Technology Development

Abstract

The funding of scientific research by the state is among the problems which stir up most emotional reactions, contradictory diagnoses and judgements and which provoke neverending disputes. The object of the most serious controversy in this area is not only the question about the level of budgetary funding for such research but also the question of how to organise funding to ensure sustainable benefits for the entire country as a whole and a respected position among nations. The presentation of the French civilian budget for scientific research (BCRD) may serve primarily as reference material, potentially useful in the search for solutions in Poland. What attracts attention in the document are enormous (from Poland’s perspective) sums earmarked by the French elites in the national budget and intended for scientific research. Other aspects which deserve attention are the structure of those outlays, expenditure formats and domains of research which France has adopted as its priorities. However, the article by no means claims to analyse BCRD or suggests that this funding model particularly deserves to be copied in Poland, nor is it a critique of the French model. As such, the article is accompanied by no serious conclusions or judgements. This is a task that the author leaves at the discretion of interested readers.