ECOLE DES HAUTES ETUDES EN SCIENCES SOCIALES

Their core work

EHESS is one of France's most prestigious graduate universities dedicated entirely to the social sciences and humanities. It produces advanced research across history, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, and political science, with a strong emphasis on comparative and global perspectives. Their H2020 portfolio reveals deep work on migration, health inequalities, cultural history, Islamic studies, and Latin American studies. They train doctoral and postdoctoral researchers through Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships while running their own ERC-funded research programs.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2015–2018), EHESS focused on comparative anthropology, cultural transmission, aesthetics, early modern literary and colonial history, and the politics of radicalisation and inequality. From 2019 onward, the portfolio shifted markedly toward Latin American studies, health and migration (especially refugee and maternal health), digital humanities, and citizen science. The trend shows a move from inward-looking European cultural history toward globally engaged, policy-relevant social science addressing contemporary crises — migration, racial health disparities, and civic participation.

EHESS is increasingly oriented toward globally comparative, policy-relevant social science — particularly migration, health inequalities, and citizen engagement — making them a strong partner for SSH-intensive projects with real-world impact dimensions.

How they like to work

EHESS overwhelmingly leads its projects: 16 of 25 roles are as coordinator, mostly hosting individual Marie Curie fellows. This means they are experienced at managing EU grants administratively, but their typical project is a small fellowship (1–2 researchers), not a large multi-partner consortium. With 110 unique partners across 33 countries, they maintain a broad but shallow network — many one-time collaborations rather than deep repeated partnerships.

EHESS has collaborated with 110 distinct partners across 33 countries, reflecting a genuinely global network. Their partnerships span Europe, Latin America, and Asia, consistent with their research themes in comparative and transnational social science.

What sets them apart

EHESS occupies a rare position as a purely social sciences and humanities institution with deep EU project management experience — most SSH actors are departments within larger universities, not standalone institutions. Their combination of historical depth (early modern empires, linguistics, cultural history) with contemporary policy relevance (migration health, radicalisation, citizen science) makes them unusually versatile for SSH components in interdisciplinary consortia. For any project needing rigorous qualitative social science with a global comparative lens, EHESS is one of the strongest partners in Europe.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EDJ
  Largest single grant (EUR 1.9M ERC Starting Grant) building a comprehensive etymological dictionary of Japonic languages — a decades-scale scholarly infrastructure project.
• COESO
  Signals EHESS's strategic move into citizen science and open science for social sciences, coordinating engagement across SSH disciplines with EUR 239K budget.
• DARE
  Addressed the politically urgent topic of youth radicalisation and deradicalisation across Europe with EUR 442K, one of their largest participatory grants.