In Toulouse, two projects clash for the future of the university
The affair with great noise in the university ecosystem. January 8, Christian Gollier, the director general of the Toulouse School of economics (TSE), a school created by the Nobel Prize for economics Jean Tirole, makes public via his Twitter account a project to create a new Toulouse university launched the TSE and the Paul-Sabatier University, in partnership with the Isae-Supaéro school and which would be called Toulouse Tech University. He met before the “announced academic downgrading of Toulouse” à la carte of sites of excellence. “Toulouse Tech University aims to join the top 100 of the Shanghai ranking, by assembling the best scientific nuggets of the site, more than 80% of CNRS researchers in Toulouse”, he adds.
“The same errors as in the two failed attempts to win back the Idex”
This announcement comes as Toulouse universities have been working for one to present a collective project to raise funds during the next wave of PIA 4 (future investment program). The initiative led by the Federal University of Toulouse and which has behind it almost all the university disciplines of the Pink City vice to win 40 million euros and above all to establish itself among the sites of excellence of French research .
Second university city in France with 107,000 students, Toulouse suffered a serious cover-up in 2016 by losing its label of excellence (Idex) and its 25 million euros in annual funding. In 2018, she failed to win back the precious sesame. The international jury considered in particular that there was “no real support from all the players in a transformation process”. At Jean-Jaurès University, the merger of universities planned in the Idex project was not unanimous with some students and staff who had multiplied strikes and blocs fearing in particular an increase in registration fees. Toulouse is now the only metropolis in France with Rennes and Lyon not to have this label.
Five years later, the Federal University of Toulouse rolled up its sleeves to carry a new collective project for “create a great research university”. But for Joël Echevarria, general manager of TSE services, the account is not there: “The proposed trajectory risks not conforming to the standards demanded by the international jury and reproduces the same errors as during the two failed Idex reconquests“. Last fall, Jean Tirole himself published a column to even describe the direction taken by the Toulouse project. “This forum did not generate any response from stakeholders, continues Joël Echevarria.”
“The wealth of disciplines is a resource”
A vision contested by the president of the Federal University of Toulouse, Philippe Raimbault.
“The scientific challenges of tomorrow are essentially the réresponnse a social issuesété. A from therea, you have to have the abilityé a make interdisciplinarityé. This is the reason why we want build a large project with a repréfeeling of almost allé disciplines. Toulouse is one of the few university towns in the province owhere there is such a wealth of disciplines and you have to know how to use it as a resource.“
It also alerts on the fact that Déasking two files (for PIA 4) would not be “a good manipre erasend the site “ Toulouse. With the risk in case of failure “of not appear in the map of major universities and, above all, not have access to the funding that is currently reserved for some of these major universitiess research “. A discord that worries even the highest levels of research within the CNRS or INRA (national institute for agricultural research) where we play the mediators to calm tensions.
Representatives of Toulouse universities are due to meet at a meeting on Friday January 14 to arrive at a single project. TSE intends to propose as a compromise a university community “in two circles”. “In Europe, you have the European Union and the euro area. The latter has enabled certain countries to go further with, for example, a common currency. We want to create a hard core that brings together those who agree to go further, faster and differently “, launches Joël Echevarria. Hurry up. Universities have until February 1 to submit their project, which must first be adopted. on the boards of directors of each establishment.