The Center for Research on Social Inequalities places its scientific project at the heart of Sciences Po and CNRS's internationalization strategy. Its researchers develop partnerships with leading institutions in Europe, North and South America, Asia, and beyond, in order to strengthen international comparisons, the circulation of knowledge on inequalities, and the training of a new generation of researchers through incoming and outgoing mobility programs. These collaborations also contribute to public debate, both in France and abroad, on major issues related to social inequalities.

International Research Networks

CRIS maintains close ties with several major research networks, including Research Committee 28 (RC28) of the International Sociological Association (ISA), the European Consortium for Sociological Research (ECSR), ESPANET, and ACES. Researchers at the center regularly participate in RC28 and ECSR conferences, seminars, and collaborative projects. Bastian Betthäuser represents CRIS at ECSR, while Carlo Barone is a member of the RC28 board.

International Partnerships and Mobility

CRIS maintains strategic partnerships with several prestigious universities and research centers, promoting scientific cooperation, researcher mobility, and the collective production of knowledge.

• INCASI (International Network for Comparative Analysis of Social Inequalities) – supported by the Horizon Europe program: this project brings together a large consortium of European and Latin American researchers to analyze the transformations of social inequalities in the context of globalization. Ettore Recchi is the project leader at Sciences Po. Martin Aranguren, Emanuele Ferragina, Katherina Tittel, Carlo Barone, and Ettore Recchi benefit from mobility under this program, which has enabled CRIS to welcome Eduardo Chavez Molina, Idelfonso Marques Perales, Pablo Dalle, and Paula Boniolo. This network has given rise to several joint research projects, seminars, and publications. 
• Harvard Kennedy School (United States): scientific exchanges on inequality and social and environmental mobility. Lucas Chancel was a visiting associate professor there for one year. CRIS is organizing a symposium on environmental inequality in collaboration with the Harvard Kennedy School.
• OxPo (University of Oxford – United Kingdom): the Oxford–Sciences Po Research Group (OxPo) partnership is a strategic platform for scientific cooperation in the social sciences. It promotes intellectual exchanges, cross-research stays, and the development of joint projects on social inequalities. CRIS welcomed Christiaan Monden (Professor of Sociology and Demography) and Haohao Lei (PhD student in Sociology) in 2024/2025. Sukriti Issar and Carlo Barone were visiting scholars at Oxford as part of this program.
• CAMPO (University of Cambridge – United Kingdom): this partnership strengthens CRIS's quantitative and comparative research capabilities. Martin Aranguren will be visiting Cambridge in the fall of 2025. The program has also fostered collaboration between Zachary Van Winkle (CRIS) and Rob Gruijters (University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education, visiting CRIS in 2023) on the project The Social and Economic Returns to Education in Francophone West Africa (2024).
• Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca (Italy): scientific collaboration on urban segregation (project coordinated by Marco Oberti), social trajectories, the labor market, and intergenerational mobility.
• Alliance Program with Columbia University: since 2023, several joint CRIS/Columbia University courses have been developed as part of the module A Columbia–Sciences Po Joint Course: Race, Discrimination and Racial Inequalities on Both Sides of the Atlantic (coordinated by Mirna Safi, Tom DiPrete, and Marissa Thompson).
• The partnership also includes joint research projects, such as:
• TIER / A Holistic Approach to Social & Life Course Change in China (Zachary Van Winkle, Yao Lu, Jia Yu)
• Women in Times of Crisis: Rethinking the Extraordinary and the Everyday (Angela Greulich, Jackie Dugard, Yasmine Ergas).
• Stanford Center on Poverty and Inequality: Yann Renisio and David Grusky (director of Stanford CPI) are working closely together to develop the Voices Lab project in Europe (an innovative data collection platform for qualitative and mixed research). CRIS and CPI are also working to create a visiting scholars program between the two institutions.

Partnership with the World Inequality Lab (Paris School of Economics)

The World Inequality Lab, a global center of reference for the study of inequality, is a privileged partner of CRIS. Together, they launched the Global Inequality Research Award (GiRA), an international scientific prize awarded every two years to researchers who have made a major contribution to the understanding of global inequality.

In 2024, the GiRA honored James K. Boyce, professor emeritus of economics, for his work on ecological transition and social justice, as well as Bina Agarwal for her pioneering research on gender inequality, environmental governance, and feminist environmentalism.

In 2026, the prize will be awarded at PSE during the World Conference on Inequality.