Companies, hire PhD students! - Les Echos

The French newspaper Les Echos recently published a very interesting article both for companies and doctors... 

LE CERCLE - The doctorate is a highly valued diploma in all developed countries, except France. Gilles Roussel, President of the Conférence des Présidents d'Université, believes that the doctorate must become the benchmark for high-level recruitment.

With the growing success of the My thesis in 180 seconds, competition, which allows PhD students to present their research work in a rigorous, entertaining and attractive way, the general public is discovering a pool of exceptional skills. They highlight this potential for talent that French society must make the most of.

How can we meet the challenges of the 21st century in terms of climate change, food security, mobility, but also ageing and materials, and of course digital technology, without major breakdowns? How can we define new paths without different perspectives?

The era of 10-year grand plans, in which everything was laid out, is over: French society and its economy needs talented people capable of adapting to rapid and unceasing change. We must not repeat the mistake of Minitel, where French researchers interacted with their international counterparts on the new Internet paradigm, while French companies and the senior civil service of the time disregarded this turning point due to their lack of research culture. It is no coincidence that the doctorate, seen as a major competitive advantage, is the reference in all developed countries, except France.

Trained in complexity
This new group of talented minds are our 74,000 PhD students and more than 15,000 Doctors who graduate each year and are working on disruptive innovations in our laboratories. They are on the front line to uncover what will shape our daily lives, and they help shape changes in society and jobs of the future.

They are used to unpredictable environments, doubts and obstacles: their three years of study and research after a selective master's degree process are a challenging apprenticeship and the skills acquired go well beyond their in-depth scientific knowledge.

They are constantly inventing new solutions and their skills also reflect those of a more collaborative society. They know how to manage and popularize a project, manage teams and communicate, be tenacious, capitalize on failures, but also seek funding. They are trained in complexity and have learned to banish simplistic solutions. They are creative and open to criticism because they deal with uncertainty.

Hiring doctors in companies means entering competitive globalization, placing trust in the high-end and innovation, drawing on the considerable progress made in public research. In a country committed to qualifications, it is high time to recognize the highest of them, for the benefit of all.

The doctorate needs to be the benchmark for high-level recruitment, as it is elsewhere in the world.

Three recommendations
University deans have put forward three proposals to raise the visibility of the doctorate in the academic world, business and the senior civil service.
The academic world must reassess all doctoral contracts to ensure that they remain attractive, as well as entry-level salaries, which are lower in France than in Europe.
The senior civil service must take this pool of excellence into account in its development deliberations.

Businesses need to ensure that the doctorate is the benchmark for high-level recruitment, as it is elsewhere in the world; on the one hand by increasing the number and funding of theses in business (Cifre), particularly in SMEs, and by tripling doctoral and PhD students' salaries as well as outsourced research in public laboratories, using the French research budget tax refund system (CIR).

The senior civil service must take this pool of excellence into account in its development deliberations. Our doctors bear a decision-making model based on contradiction, uncertainty management and interaction, which are so essential today.

Gilles Roussel is President of the Conférence des présidents d’université

Original text here