Employees at France's public research body up in arms over funding strategy

A researcher examines plants in an environmental chamber at the Ecotron, a CNRS facility (National Centre for Scientific Research) where researchers can experiment and measure the sensitivity of ecosystems to climate change.

Researchers and students from France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) organised protests on Monday, calling for its president to step down. They are concerned that huge budget cuts and a new funding strategy will penalise some sectors more than others.

Tensions are rising among the 30,000 staff members at the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) following the announcement in mid-December to create "Key Labs".

The Rogue ESR collective behind the Paris-based protest argues that management is planning to prioritise human and financial resources for a select group of leading laboratories, known as "Key Labs," at the expense of others.

The collective is now calling for the resignation of the CNRS president Antoine Petit.

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"In fields like particle and nuclear physics, some sites will be well-funded, while others will receive little support," Olivier Coutard, president of the CNRS scientific council, told franceinfo.

This move, Coutard warns, is creating a "highly destabilising" effect on research teams.

The protest comes at a time of heightened tension, after French senators voted two bills in January slashing over a billion euros in funding.

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