Transcription of the speech given by Gabriel Mazzucchelli, representative of the scientific community, at the 2022-2023 academic year start

Discourse from the scientific community

Our job as scientists is a fascinating one.

The University is a place of knowledge, training, research and innovation. How can we better exist and be a driving force for our society, contributing to the necessary systemic transition?

It will not have escaped you that the challenges are numerous, the system is constrained, minds are divided, the vision must be long-term and the approach global. It's a complex exercise in an open world where the states, development and perception of the stakes of the various protagonists are so drastically different.

So what does this have to do with the Corps Scientifique? Quite simply, our university's organizational system is also at a pivotal moment, when it needs to remodel, or even reinvent, new modes of operation and interaction between its various players.

Let's take a fresh look at the future of our University.

The way in which our University operates has changed radically. While still essential for education, its research component has expanded considerably in response to growing demand. It is therefore only natural that the composition of its members and their missions have changed. Today, the Université de Liège's Scientific Corps represents over fifty percent of its staff.

All the University's bodies work together to ensure the smooth running of our organization. Sometimes, however, missions, functions and realities on the ground blur this career separation, which nowadays seems less and less appropriate. Rights and duties, responsibilities and representation on faculty and institutional bodies are determined according to which category of staff you belong to. However, it is simplistic to believe that "teaching" staff do not carry out research, just as it is impossible to imagine comprehensive, high-quality teaching without the participation of these scientists. Among them, it is common to see FNRS representatives, but not exclusively, involved in the three pillars of teaching, research and community service, in addition to leading a research team in complete autonomy. However, to give just one example, which I think is revealing, even at the end of their career, a permanent researcher will have a relative weighting for the rectoral election 28 times less than a member of the teaching staff. While this finding is not new, it is nonetheless disturbing.

We believe it is necessary to rethink this organization in order to take into account, quite rightly, the vital forces that undoubtedly bring their own scientific expertise, international influence and indispensable support to training. The 1953 law on the organization of university education, despite its many amendments, no longer seems appropriate to us. A process of reflection is still underway within our University's Scientific Council. The aim of this work is to identify avenues to be submitted to our academic and political decision-makers. It is being carried out jointly with the Scientific Council of the University of Mons, in order to take a global approach to the issue for both state universities.

These are important considerations for the scientific staff, who have been waiting for real action for several years. We are, however, delighted with the progress made in terms of regular communications between representatives of the Scientific Staff Council and our Vice-Rector and Vice-Rector. These regular meetings with our authorities increasingly enable us to engage in a process of co-construction.

This is also an opportunity to reiterate our congratulations to our future Rector, Madame Nyssen, and her entire team, as well as our thanks for the work already accomplished with the outgoing rectoral team, and in particular with Madame Nyssen, Vice-Rector for Education and Welfare, and Mr. Bureau, Vice-Rector for Research. We know that Madame Nyssen pays particular attention to cooperation, mutual respect and trust, and that she is equally concerned about the well-being of university staff. We therefore look forward to continuing the work already underway, including, and I quote, "a participatory approach to reforming the career management of the various categories of staff, with a view to taking greater account of the expectations and objectives of each individual".

Finally, beyond these concerns that affect our bodies, we are well aware of the current global challenges, their complexities, their interconnections, but also their urgency. To be effective, our efforts must be collective, but even more so, they must be well thought-out, targeted and sustainable. The University of Liège, like all knowledge organizations, has a role to play in educating the next generation, enlightening our political decision-makers, and innovating in a sustainable and reasoned way.

Let me conclude with a quote from Antoine De Saint-Exupéry: "We do not inherit the Earth from our parents, we borrow it from our children."

Thank you for your attention.