The parachuting of a politician with no research experience into the coveted top position at INRA, France's national institute for agricultural research, last summer did not go down very well with the scientific community in the country. This raises the question of whether research institutions should be managed by professional research manger without first-hand experience of research? This issue keeps arising in discussions across European academic institutions. And it is unlikely to go away any time soon. Fiona Dunlevy investigates for EuroScientist. Read more [...]