French partners

The Doctoral School 112: the only doctoral school for archaeology on a national level

Created in 1990, l’École doctorale d’Archéologie (ED112) is the only Doctoral School exclusively dedicated to archaeology in France. It is one of thirteen Doctoral Schools at the UP1PS which, since 2007, have been coordinated within the College of Doctoral Schools to bring together the various subjects and promote interdisciplinarity in the training of doctoral students.

To date, the ED112 counts just over 170 doctoral students (among which more than 30 achieved their PhD vivas each year), supervised by fifty researches and professors.

ED112 covers a very broad field, both chronologically (from Prehistory to modern era) and geographically (Europe, Asia, Africa, America, Oceania), as well as thematically (technology, environment, iconography, heritage and museums).

As a result of its open geographical scope and the close links forged between research teams in Europe and internationally, the ED attracts a significant proportion of foreign students (35% of all registered PhD students).

ED112 is made up of seven research laboratories – seven Joint Research Units (UMR) bringing together professors and researchers from universities, Grandes Écoles, CNRS, INRAP, the French Ministry of Culture, and one purely academic research team (EA). Both supervisors and PhD students are members of these institutions.

© V. ABERGEL/L. DE LUCA/MAP/Vassar College/GEA/Chantier scientifique NDP/Ministère de la Culture/CNRS

The CNRS is a public institution dedicated to science and technology that is among the most important research groups in the world with international recognition of the excellence of its scientific research. Its principal mission is the progress of knowledge and usefulness to society. It is divided into five areas: multidisciplinary scientific research, valorisation of results through transfer and promotion, knowledge-sharing and accessibility to its work and research results, research training through hosting hundreds of future researchers in its laboratories every year, as well as contributing to scientific policy through participation in national research strategy with partners and carrying out assessments and evaluations of scientific questions.

The main UMRs (Joint Research Units) associated to EUR ArChal

• UMR 7041 – ArScAn (Archéologie et Sciences de l’Antiquité)
• UMR 8068 – TEMPS (Technologie et Ethnologie des Mondes PréhistoriqueS)
• UMR 8096 – ArchAm (Archéologie des Amériques)
• UMR 8167 – Orient & Méditerranée
• UMR 8215 – Trajectoires (Trajectoire. De la Sédentarisation à l’Etat)
• UMR 8591 – LGP (Laboratoire de Géographie Physique)

© INALCO

The INALCO – Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales – is qualified as an Établissements Publics à caractère Scientifique, Culturel et Professionnel – EPSCP (Scientific, Cultural and Professional Public Institution), which teaches over a hundred languages and civilisations history, from the bachelor’s to PhD degrees within the framework of a great diversity of fields in Humanities and Social sciences applied to specific regions where some of these languages are used. Hence, the INALCO attracts archaeologists and anthropologists seeking to work in geographic areas requiring mastery of a specific language and which consequently are rarely studied in French or European universities. Therefore, INALCO plays a unique role in the career training of researchers.

The INALCO wishes to enrich its teaching on East Asia (Southeast Asia, China, Korea and Japan), a cultural area developing rapidly. Thus, the new Institut Français de Recherche sur l'Asie de l'Est – IFRAE (French Institute for Research on East Asia) now brings together research professors from departments of Chinese, Korean and Japanese Studies.

© INRAP

The INRAP was created in 2002 in application of the 2001 law on rescue archaeology. The Institute is responsible for detecting and studying the archaeological heritage affected by land development projects. It exploits and disseminates the results of its research to the scientific community and contributes to teaching and to the promotion of archaeology to the public. As a key player in preventive archaeology, it favours innovative approaches to interpreting the remains from its archaeological operations. INRAP strives to improve its technical processes and to adapt its investigation methods to the diversity of contexts observed. Our collaboration with the INRAP strengthens the training, professionalisation and research carried out within our EUR.

Training in archaeology is one of the missions entrusted to the INRAP and, since 2014, it has been developing a national education plan with a multidisciplinary, local and civic approach. This training is aimed at archaeology students, secondary school teachers, mediators and many others.

© Lionel Allorge

The National Museum of Archaeology (MAN) is the only museum in France dedicated entirely to archaeology with collections covering the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze and Iron Ages, Roman Gaul and the early Middle Ages. It also has a department dedicated to comparative archaeology.

The MAN’s main goals are the valorisation of its collections and the development of scientific projects based on their study. The partnership between the Maison d’Archéologie et d’Ethnologie de Nanterre – MAE (Archaeology and Ethnology School in Nanterre), especially the CNRS UMRs 7041 – ArScAn, 8096 – ArchAm et 8215 – Trajectoires, and the MAN, gives Master and PhD students the opportunity to analyse this rich archaeological material. It also encourages the development of research projects and the organisation of scientific events and promotional activities.

The MAN has also organised several scientific events around the topics addressed by the EUR, including the Archaeology in Museums and National Identities in Europe conference (2017) and the exhibition Ancient Greece: Between Dreams and Archaeology (2014).