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tRAnSmittinG KnOWLeDGe
when scientists and members of the Parliament converse
Politics and science constantly interact. Yet
politicians and scientists acknowledge that they
do not know each other well enough although
they would have much to learn from each other
by sharing information and experience. In 2004,
the Académie des sciences, at the impulse of
Académie Member Dominique Meyer, and the
Office parlementaire des choix scientifiques et
technologiques (OPECST) [Parliamentary Office
for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological
Options] have thus launched a programme
arranging for three persons - one member of
the Parliament, one member of the Académie
des Sciences and one young researcher - on
a voluntary basis, to meet and discover their
mutual worlds under exceptional conditions. Such
“twinning” operations take place in three steps:
• members of the Académie and young researchers
are greeted into the Parliament (Senate andNational
Assembly): here, at this initial step organized by
the OPECST, the three participants build contacts.
Members of the Académie and young researchers
are acquainted with the legislative work of the
members of the Parliament who introduce
them to the role of some standing committees
and delegations, as well as to the work of the
rapporteurs. They attend a session of questions to
the government at the National Assembly and are
given the opportunity to meet the presidents of the
committees from the two chambers, as well as
representatives from all political groups;
• members of Parliament are greeted into
laboratories: members of parliament discover there
the many aspects of research as an occupation,
research in progress, partnerships, all that provide
the necessary outreach to Europe and the world,
problems related to the management of big
laboratories. They visit premises and facilities and
talk with staff in order to better understand how
researchers lead their daily lives;
• scientists are greeted into electoral constituencies: the scientists discover there how complex local politics are and how multi-
faceted the duties of members of parliament in the field.
Beyond these three steps of the twinning program itself, twinned partners build direct contacts throughout the whole year, which last
through time. These sustainable personal contacts do add to the originality and fruitfulness of this programme.
In 2013, fifteen such threesomes have been set up, involving seven senators and eight members of the National Assembly. This
session has been launched in the Parliament on 29 and 30 January 2013.
© Assemblee nationale
© Wavebreakmediamicro - Fotolia
Launching of the 2013 twinning programme (in the centre, Dominique Meyer and Claude Bartolone,
President of the French National Assembly)