Stéphanie Balme was elected Director of the CERI (Sciences Po/CNRS) at the end of 2023. Previously, she served as Dean of the Sciences Po Undergraduate College from 2018 to 2023. During her tenure, she collaborated with Nicolas Benvegnu to develop the Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (BASc) program at Sciences Po, which offers integrated dual training in the humanities and sciences.

She also strengthened the links between teaching and research, as well as regional programs. She joined the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a diplomat working on Franco-Chinese scientific cooperation based in Beijing (2018-2019). As a professor at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) and Director of Research at the FNSP, she was appointed as the academic freedom officer in 2022. A founding member of the ESDI (European Science Diplomacy Initiative), established in 2020, Stéphanie Balme launched the courses on science diplomacy at Sciences Po, aimed at training future diplomats, policymakers, and journalists. She serves on several scientific and strategic councils, including those of IDDRI (Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations), IHEDN (Institute for Advanced Studies in National Defense), and EURICS (European Institute of China Studies). She is also the vice-president of the ECLS (EU-China Law Studies Association).

Previously, she directed the research program “Law, Justice and Society in China” and was a research associate at the IHEJ (Institute for Advanced Studies on Justice) alongside Antoine Garapon for many years. Stéphanie undertook a mission for Sciences Po at the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 2003 to 2006, and then in Beijing at Tsinghua University (Law School) from 2006 to 2012. She also served as the China delegate for the Médecins du Monde Adoption Initiative (1996-1998), was in charge of the office for the Foundation for Continental Law (Civil Law Initiative 2010-2011), and worked as a university and scientific cooperation attaché at the French Embassy in Beijing (2017-2018).

Stéphanie Balme has taught at several institutions worldwide, including in Paris, Hong Kong, Beijing, New Delhi (Ashoka), Montreal (UQAM), Vancouver (UBC), and New York, where she was a Visiting Professor at Columbia University during the 2014-2015 academic year. She obtained her Habilitation in Law in 2016 and a PhD in Political Science under the supervision of Professor Guy Hermet in 2000.

She graduated from Sciences Po, INALCO, IEP Bordeaux, Fudan University (Shanghai), and the Faculty of Letters of Bordeaux. She received the 1998 Prize from the Chancellery of Paris Universities and the Montesquieu Prize in 2015 with Antoine Garapon, Daniel Schimmel, Li Bin, and Jean-Louis Langlois for the book “The Civil Trial in Original Version: Comparative Judicial Cultures: France, China, United States.”