CNRS launches call on radicalisation and security studies following Paris attacks

These updates are republished press releases and communications from members of the Science|Business Network

France’s Centre national de la recherche scientifique increases support for research on security and violence following the November 13 attacks. A similar call was made after the Charlie Hebdo killings in January


The French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) has published a request for proposals to help understand the type of violence that left 130 dead in locations around Paris on 13 November.

The call came from Alain Fuchs, president of CNRS, Europe’s largest agency for basic science, who described it as, "a rare opportunity for researchers to express a form of solidarity with all those who, directly or indirectly, have been affected by the terrible events which, as we all know, can happen again.”

Following the attack at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo in January, in which 17 people were killed, CNRS funded several new research projects on security and violence and increased its support for research on religion and human behaviour.

“We are committed to support studies on Islam, which are under threat in France, even though they are on the increase everywhere else,” said Fuchs.

“The scale of the trauma caused by the recent attacks in Paris tends to make any initiative with no immediate effect look derisory,” he added. “Yet…the scientific community is once more faced with the essential issue of gaining a detailed and thorough understanding of the phenomena at play today.”

Short proposals, three to five pages, can be sent to: [email protected]. Research projects are expected to start next year.

Never miss an update from Science|Business:   Newsletter sign-up