Patrick Le Galès, CNRS research director at Sciences Po’s Center for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE), dean of the Urban School and Fellow at the British Academy, has just received the prestigious CNRS silver medal. The distinction recognizes the quality of his research in political science and sociology, as well as his participation in the creation of the CEE, a leading laboratory for the social sciences in Europe, and the creation of Sciences Po’s Urban School three years ago.   

From Brittany to Sciences Po and beyond

Patrick Le Galès left Saint-Brieuc to pursue his studies at Sciences Po with Henri Mendras, whom he joined at Nanterre for his thesis in sociology with Odile Benoit-Guilbot. He was then admitted to the prestigious Nuffield College at Oxford, where he obtained a Master of Letters (MLitt) in political science comparing British centralization and French decentralization. His thesis advisor, the brilliant and non-conformist Vincent Wright, was then one of the first comparative European researchers in public policies and political economy. He became both a friend and mentor. Patrick Le Galès was recruited by the CNRS at Sciences Po Rennes in 1992. He joined Sciences Po and CEVIPOF in 1998, and helped create Sciences Po’s Center for European Studies and Comparative Politics (CEE) in 2008. His comparative work draws on research visits to the European Institute in Florence, King’s College (where he taught for three years), UCLA, Northwestern, Helsinki, the Max Planck Institute in Cologne, the Colejio of Mexico, the University of Sao Paolo and Oxford, his second home, as well as constant exchanges with leading French research centers, especially regional ones.

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