Presidential Scientific Council: What will it be used for?

The goal is clear: to be one step ahead, so that we do not again experience the shock of the first months of the Covid-19 crisis. The mission of the Presidential Science Council, created by Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, will be to provide “visions to the President of the Republic on scientific topics that do not necessarily make headlines, but on issues of the future,” in the words of the Elysee. .

This body is reminiscent of the Science and Technology Council, which advises the UK Prime Minister on all matters of science and innovation.

It is made up of twelve high-level researchers in very diverse fields, from computer science to health and sociology. We will find the Nobel Prize in Physics Alain Aspect (2022) and in Economics Jean Tirole (2014). But also mathematician Hugo Dominil Cobain, 2022 Fields Medal (highest distinction in mathematics), Odd Bernheim, microbiology researcher at Inserm, oncologist Fabrice André, director of research at the Gustave Roussy Institute, ecologist Sandra Lavorel, 2023 CNRS Gold Medal Or the philosopher Claudine Tercelin, originally from Brest, professor at the Collège de France.

The Council will not have a presidency. “Its format is intended to be efficient so that the president has lively opinions and comments from researchers on certain scientific priorities,” the Elysee said. Its opinions will not be made public, unlike the Scientific Council chaired by Professor Jean-François Delfraissy, which was created by the Elysée in 2020, during the Covid-19 pandemic (and has since been replaced by the Committee for Monitoring and Anticipation of Health Risks). , Kovar).