“If Europe fails to defend science, it will fail to defend its future”.
Faced with the US offensive against certain scientific themes, 14 directors of engineering and management schools are speaking out in support of their American colleagues and calling for the defence of scientific freedom.
The facts are there, brutal and unprecedented. The new US Presidency has launched a frontal offensive against certain scientific themes. Censorship of the words ‘climate’ and ‘women’ in scientific works, suppression of essential databases, prohibition of certain international cooperations…
The ousting of Kate Calvin, co-chair of Group 1 of the IPCC at its last session, is a chilling symbol of this. The world’s leading scientific power is setting up a system of censorship. The evidence is incontrovertible.
Faced with this drift, we, the directors of engineering and management schools, are speaking out in solidarity with our American colleagues. Silence would be a mistake.
Alert, because science is a common good
What is at stake is not a simple dispute. It is not just the struggle of a few researchers. It is the fundamental freedom to produce and share knowledge that is under attack. The very foundations of our modern societies are being shaken.
Science is not a luxury or an extra. It is our enduring link with the real world. It is therefore the key to enabling societies to face up to the major challenges of our time: climate, health, technologies, sovereignty. To censor it is to disarm humanity in the face of the future. It impoverishes thought, curbs innovation and compromises tomorrow’s solutions.
We therefore call on the scientific community, academics and students, but also every European citizen, to take the measure of this offensive. For every renunciation today is a step backwards for tomorrow. Europe cannot simply stand by and watch. It must mobilise. It has a historic duty to show the way, to respond firmly, strongly and collectively.
A refuge for scientific freedom
Our engineering and management schools, through their commitment to strategic areas such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, the energy transition and digital health, embody this desire for free, open and responsible science. We have chosen to train engineers and decision-makers who are aware of the challenges facing society, and who are capable of devising innovative solutions to these challenges.
The signatories of this collective opinion are :
Anthony Briant, Director of the Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées.
Herbert Casteran, Director of Institut Mines-Télécom Business School.
Thierry Coulhon, Chairman of the Management Board of IPParis.
Elisabeth Crepon, Director General of ENSTA.
Arnaud Delameziere, Director of INSIC.
Francois Dellacherie, Director of Télécom SudParis.
Cécile Dubarry, Managing Director of ITM.
Jacques Fayolle, Director of Mines Saint-Etienne.
David Gesbert, Director of EURECOM.
Christophe Lerouge, Director of ITM Atlantique.
Lionel Luquin, Director of IMT Mines Albi.
Patrick Olivier, Director of Télécom Paris.
Céline Fasulo, Director of IMT Nord Europe.
Assia Tria, Director of IMT Mines Alès.
