France's Presidential Candidates Support Investment in Mathematics

April 20, 2007

As the election for France's next president draws near, the three leading contenders for that nation's highest post all claim to favor more spending on science and mathematics.

Conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy noted, in an interview with Nature.com, that while "the relative position of French science in the world is being eroded," his country "maintains expertise of the highest international level," especially in mathematics. Research and higher education, he stressed, would be at the forefront of his priorities.

Socialist candidate Segolene Royal, on the other hand, said, "I don't think it's fair to speak of a decline," especially since France "has great assets and renowned university researchers, for example in mathematics." She would make higher education, research, and innovation "top spending priorities."

And the surprise third candidate, UDF (Union for French Democracy) centrist Francois Bayrou, had a third answer. It wasn't so much that his nation's science was in, he contended, but rather that other nations — the United States, Japan, and China — "have constantly increased investment in research." For too long, he argued, "research budgets in France have stagnated." He proposed a 5 percent budget increase "every year for ten years."

Source: Nature.com