Ministry of Higher Education and ResearchGovernment

The Ministry of Higher Education and Research (Ministère de l'Enseignement supérieur et de la Recherche) is the cabinet-level department of the French government responsible for national policy regarding universities, academic degree accreditation, and scientific research. It oversees public higher education institutions, allocates state research funding, and coordinates national research bodies such as CNRS. Its scientific research portfolio originated in 1936 under the Popular Front with Irène Joliot-Curie as an initial under-secretary, before becoming an autonomous State Secretariat for Universities in 1974.