The salary of CNRS researchers - update

This is a quick update to a previous post, first published in 2013 and with some additions in 2018-2019. If any details are unclear, please refer back to that post.

In France, the salary of state employees is calculated by multiplying the number of index points associated with a given position with the value of the index point. The idea behind this system is that the number of points is fixed and the point value is adjusted, e.g. to compensate for inflation. One small problem is that this value has been practically unchanged from 2010: an increase is planned for 2022 (it is an election year, after all!) but its quantum is unknown.

This simple revaluation mechanism was therefore replaced by a much more complicated one, the PPCR (the gory details can be found here - in French) and somewhat compensated by a bonus system (the RIPEC).

Some changes since my 2013 post are:

• The CR2 and CR1 ranks were merged into one (CRCN). Young researchers can thus acceed to higher seniority levels without the 4-year wait for promotion to CR1.
  
• The hors classe (HC) rank for CRs was created. This rank extends the CR pay scale to greater seniority, but is not a prerequisite for promotion to a DR position.
  
• The number of index points for the various pay grade levels increased. The new values are available here.
  
• In 2021 the statutory bonus increased, to 1620 €/year for DR and 2200 €/year for CR positions. As of 2022, it stands at 2800 € for all researchers.
  
• As of 2022, the performance bonus (formerly known as PEDR) still starts at 3500 €/year, but is only awarded for three years (instead of four), with a mandatory waiting period of one year before one can reapply.
  

I have updated the graph with the evolution of my net salary, including the statutory bonus, but not the performance bonus. I have also left out any extra income (from teaching or expertise work).

The Dawn of Everything - IV

Chapter 12 starts by reviewing the competing theories for the origin of human society: either a fall-from-grace story or the progressive alternative. The authors argue against a (purportedly dominant) view of history, with an essential split between pre- and post-Enlightenment phases. The former consisted of traditional societies, and any revolutionary movement was either regressive or religiously inspired. Only in the latter would human beings really have agency.

The Dawn of Everything - III

Chapter 10 deals with the origins of the state (or lack thereof). The first difficulty is giving a general definition for the state, which applies throughout history. At a nodal point of the argument, the authors unfortunately use a sleight of hand: after exposing the difficulties of such a definition, they conclude that many complex social and cultural systems existed in the absence of a state. This sounds like an ontological argument in reverse: "We cannot conceive of a state, so it must not exist".

Packing spindles

Our paper Double-Lattice Packing of Pentagonal Gold Bipyramids in Supercrystals with Triclinic Symmetry has just been published in Advanced Materials! Congratulations to all involved, and in particular to first author Jieli Lyu for her unrelenting focus (and the countless hours spent!) on improving the quality of the nanoparticle batches and of their assemblies.

 

We solve the fundamental packing problem for this particular object and, guided by numerical simulations, we try to extend the result to similar shapes in order to understand the delicate balance between the inversion symmetry (or lack thereof) of the particles, the complexity of the supercrystal lattice and the packing fraction. Unexpectedly, we detect a strongly facet-dependent optical response of the assemblies.

The Dawn of Everything - II

In the first half of the book (reviewed here), Graeber and Wengrow argued against the widely accepted idea that social inequality was a (necessary or contingent) result of the Agricultural Revolution. What did then happen in the communities that adopted farming? Chapter 7 tries to show that sustainable agriculture can be (and has been) based on schemes of communal land sharing, which do not require inequality or hierarchy.