Managing science

The ultra-specialisation of scientists makes their work impenetrable to mere mortals, and even sometimes to their own colleagues. Their strong personalities and their perceived invulnerability makes them difficult to handle. These factors make the management of an important body, such as the CNRS, particularly tricky, added to which adminstration becomes more and more cumbersome. In addition, public opinion increasingly demands answers from science. As far as François Kourilsky is concerned, the scientific world can only be managed through discussion, programming and decentralisation. Such management is uncertain and always under pressure.