Materials Research in France: A Short-lived National Initiative (1982-1994)

This paper describes the French initiative in materials research against both a national and an international background, in an attempt to disentangle the local circumstances, which prompted this governmental initiative, and to characterize the specific profile of materials research in France. In pr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Minerva (London) 2011-06, Vol.49 (2), p.191-214
Main Authors: Bertrand, Emanuel, Bensaude-Vincent, Bernadette
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Ceramic materials
Chemical engineering
Chemicals industries
Condensed Matter
Government initiatives
Higher Education
History, Philosophy and Sociology of Sciences
Humanities and Social Sciences
Industrial research
Materials
Materials research
Materials science
Physical chemistry
Physics
Science and Technology Studies
Social Sciences
Sociology
Sociology of knowledge and ethics
Sociology of knowledge and sociology of culture
Sociology of science
Soft Condensed Matter
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Summary:This paper describes the French initiative in materials research against both a national and an international background, in an attempt to disentangle the local circumstances, which prompted this governmental initiative, and to characterize the specific profile of materials research in France. In presenting a biography of the interdisciplinary program in materials research (PIRMAT), we argue that: i) the PIRMAT denotes a failure of the French science policy in materials research; ii) the leadership of the CNRS led to a specific style of research, quite different from the engineering approach of Materials Science and Engineering, and characteristic of a French style in materials research.
ISSN:0026-4695
1573-1871
DOI:10.1007/s11024-011-9168-0