Sciences Po has collectively defined its research priorities for the next four years.

Each of the research priorities maximizes Sciences Po’s existing potential and provides a basis for the further development of research, including guidelines addressing recruitment procedures for new faculty.

All the selected topics involve more than one of Science Po’s research centres. They provide an international comparative basis on which to use the extensive knowledge within the research community and the international networks already in place. Having a strong interdisciplinary dimension keeps the scope large and includes such areas as history, sociology, economics, political science and law. Sciences Po continues with its tradition of connecting research with the needs of professionals and political players.

There is a better connection and more fundamental approach to the School’s teaching programmes at undergraduate and graduate levels. Finally, the social sciences now address more  fundamental, cutting-edge questions, with the aim of establishing a degree of autonomy with respect to the pressing demands of funding agencies and society, in general.

The eight priorities for the years 2008-2012 are:

1. DIM – Data, Infrastructure, Methods
2. ECOPOL – The Social and Political Embeddedness of Economics
3. POLGLOB – The Changing Scale of Politics
4. STATE – The Transformation of the State
5. POLGAP – Inequalities and Democracy
6. POLEARTH – Politics of the Earth
7. POLURB – Cities and Urban Policies
8. PEACE – New Forms of War and Peace