Home>The Bruno Latour Fund

The Bruno Latour Fund

Established in 2022 at the initiative of Bruno Latour, the Bruno Latour Fund is an ambitious postdoctoral research program at Sciences Po dedicated to studying environmental and climate change. This postdoctoral program is unprecedented in scale and scope.  

An ambitious agenda

The climate and ecological crises demand an unparalleled collective effort to comprehend the complexity of these issues, to address the urgent need for advanced professional training, and to propose solutions for the critical choices ahead. Basic research in the humanities and social sciences, essential as a complement to the exact sciences, must underpin discussions on political ecology. Beyond scientific excellence, this program aspires to help shape future debates and policies on environmental and climate matters.

Bruno Latour's legacy

Bruno Latour, Professor Emeritus at Sciences Po and initiator of the project, was undoubtedly one of France's most internationally recognized and honored intellectuals. Over his career, he devoted much of his work to environmental issues, profoundly influencing how we understand these questions today. He significantly contributed to the development of research at Sciences Po, initiating pioneering projects such as Medialab, the dual curriculum in science and social sciences, the Master in Political Arts (SPEAP), the "Make it Work" eco-responsibility action program, and the FORCAAST program. Shortly before his passing, Bruno Latour played an active role in establishing the fund that now bears his name.

An unprecedented effort to support fundamental research

The Bruno Latour Fund welcomes a cohort of ten young researchers to Sciences Po, who aim to build a multidisciplinary initiative examining how the climate crisis reshapes contemporary economic, social, legal, and political orders, and prompts a re-evaluation of our historical narratives. Coming from a variety of humanities and social sciences disciplines, they will be based at Sciences Po for three years (2023-2026). The fund complements other efforts to bolster research, teaching, and knowledge dissemination on this cross-disciplinary topic, and forms part of Sciences Po’s Institute for Environmental Transformations.

The team

The program is co-directed by Pierre Charbonnier and Charlotte Halpern, both researchers at the Center for European Studies and Comparative Politics at Sciences Po, with support from project manager Marie-Arzhelen Le Carrer.

Program awardees

In 2023, following two international calls for applications, the Bruno Latour Fund recruited ten promising postdoctoral researchers, each joining one of Sciences Po's eleven research centers.

The selection committee, chaired by Pierre Charbonnier (philosopher, CNRS, Centre d'études européennes et de politique comparée), included Lucas Chancel (economist, Centre de recherche sur les inégalités sociales), Sophie Dubuisson-Quellier (sociologist, CNRS, Centre de sociologie des organisations), Jérôme Gaillardet (geochemist, Institut de physique du globe de Paris, Université Paris Cité), Charlotte Halpern (political scientist, Centre d'études européennes et de politique comparée), Giacomo Parrinello (historian, Centre d'histoire), Alain Pottage (jurist, Département de droit), and Sandrine Revet (anthropologist, Centre de recherches internationales). Géraldine Pflieger (University of Geneva) participated in the first selection wave.

The recruited postdoctoral researchers have several responsibilities: developing their research projects and scientific publications, participating in the academic life of their research unit and the AIRE initiative, engaging in educational activities, and contributing to the dissemination of knowledge to the public through the production of outreach materials.

The winners of this program, chosen from applications received from all over the world, are as follows.

With a PhD in anthropology, Pia has examined the historical evolution of legal and social frameworks for soil and subsoil in Greenland, along with the related political issues. Based at the Centre for International Research (CERI), her research explores the dual aims of resource use and conservation, focusing on climate resilience and green industry, using critical metals in Greenland as a case study.

Find out more about Pia

A medical doctor specialising in infectious and tropical diseases and holding a PhD in epidemiology and public health from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, Camille Besombes’s research focuses on emerging infectious diseases through One Health and Eco Health approaches. Her doctoral thesis applied a multidisciplinary One Health approach to mpox in the Central African Republic (AFRIPOX project). Her current research aims to explore the ecological and social roots of infectious disease emergence, within colonial and post-colonial equatorial contexts and across various territories in France.

Find out more about Camille

An anthropologist of Hispanic-Bolivian origin, Inès Calvo continues her research into the impact of mining on human relationships with the surrounding environment. A member of the Centre for International Studies, her work is based on practices observed in La Guajira, a region in northern Colombia.

Find out more about Inès

 

An Associate Professor of History with a PhD, specialising in labour movements, Bastien Cabot focuses on the relationship between the labour movement and socialist organisations with regard to industrial modernity and its damages. A member of the Centre for History, Bastien Cabot conducts a comparative, international study on workers’ reflexivity from 1880 to 1980

Find out more about Bastien

A Belarusian-born Doctor of Sociology, Anastasiya Halauniova has studied the major upheavals endured by cities and their inhabitants at critical moments, such as state annexation or environmental crises. She is currently working at the Centre for the Sociology of Organisations (CSO) on the reconstruction of Arctic cities in the context of the climate crisis..

Find out more about Anastasiya

A lawyer and anthropologist from Estonia, Gustav Kalm, has explored the reconfiguration of political regimes in the context of the transnational extension of property and contract protections. Now at the Law School, his research focuses on tax arbitration and global distributive justice, using African iron ore mining revenue as a case study.

Find out more about Gustav 

A Dutch philosopher, Thomas Kayzel devotes his research to the history of the idea of unlimited economic growth. Examining its origins, he is particularly interested in the mid-19th century context when this concept emerged as researchers were beginning to recognise environmental limits to economic expansion. Based at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), he also explores the origins of the degrowth movement

Find out more about Thomas 

A Norwegian economist, Oda has previously studied elites, political parties, and voter behaviour. Her current work at the Department of Economics investigates how trust in government shapes public policy on ecology, using advanced natural language processing techniques.

Find out more about Oda

 

As a geographer, Cassandre has explored the integration of risk prevention and crisis management at the territorial level. Now at the Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), she focuses on the limitations of climate-induced risk management in coastal urban areas.

Find out more about Cassandre

An American historian, Emelyn Rude is particularly interested in the history of animal consumption and has examined the factors behind the growth of chicken consumption in the United States and the impact of declining marine species on food production and consumption. At the Centre for History, her research aims to understand how the decline, or even extinction, of certain species has altered American dietary habits, contributing to the history of the American food system through this lens.

Find out more about Emelyn

Partners

The Bruno Latour Fund is supported by the following partners : the french Agency for ecological transition ADEME, the Caisse des Dépôts group, BNP Paribas, the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, Rothschild & Co, VINCI, VINCI Autoroutes and Leonard, all of whom engage with the Fund’s postdoctoral researchers and participate in related events.

The Bruno Latour Fund "A new climate for the social sciences" signifies Sciences Po’s strong commitment to advancing cutting-edge research on environmental change, while continuing Bruno Latour’s intellectual legacy and bold initiatives. This fund reinforces Sciences Po’s role as a key actor in addressing environmental and climate challenges. By promoting fundamental research in political ecology, it contributes to a deeper understanding of the social transformations required for ecological transition.

Latest Newsletters from the Bruno Latour Fund

(In French)

Contact Us