A 2018 budget devoted to research
Adopted at the Board of Directors meeting held on December 14, 2017, a few days before the IDEX report was submitted, PSL’s preliminary 2018 budget allocates nearly 50% of the university’s outlay to research projects. Here’s a closer look.
PSL is maintaining a balanced budget totaling €41 million, developed in accordance with the budget procedure set forth in the January 2017 policy accord. The budget reflects PSL’s overall strategy and, broken down by area of activity, will serve as a basis for dialogue with each member institution for the purpose of drafting the 2019 budget.
220 doctoral contracts funded this year
Reflecting a concerted strategic decision, the budget package as a whole allocates €20 million to research activities. This will give the university the necessary resources to maintain its funding of the major research initiatives launched in previous years and at the same time develop future graduate programs. Those initiatives include the six IRISs (Initiatives de Recherche Interdisciplinaires et Stratégiques, Interdisciplinary and Strategic Research Initiatives), the 10 Excellence Chairs, the two EUR research programs and funding for Humanities and Social Science projects or Junior Team programs arising out of the various PSL calls for proposals.
The budget also provides significant support for doctoral contracts, allocating a total of €6.9 million that will be used to fund 220 contracts.
PSL payrolls remain below 2017 and 2016 levels
In another sign of change, the total budget stands at €41 million, versus €25 million at the start of the IDEX period, reflecting the university’s capacity to finance itself thanks to its success with calls for proposals at both the EU level (ERDF) and the national level (PIA3, EUR, Q Life Institut Convergence). Meanwhile, the share of the 2018 budget devoted to payroll for PSL employees remains below 2017 and 2016 levels; it has been kept to €7.2 million, compared to €8.4 million in the amending budget for 2016.
The 2018 PSL budget as a whole is based on revenue assumptions that include continuation of the Initiatives for Excellence as well as new sources of in-house revenue: continuing education (with the launch of a digital training platform in September) and, in particular, fundraising to support projects at the various institutions. These figures indicate that the budget remains under control and reflect PSL’s priorities as an institution firmly committed to research, training and technology transfer.