Research programs

Thanks to the support of the Collège de France, the CNRS, the PSL University and the Fyssen Foundation, the members have been involved in collective research programs focusing on the relationships between living beings and artefacts, domestication and manufacturing. life, bioart and biodesign, biomimicry, life modelling, exobiology and space exploration.

Collective research programs

Thanks to the support of the Collège de France, the CNRS, the PSL University and the Fyssen Foundation, the members have been involved in collective research programs focusing on the relationships between living beings and artefacts, domestication and manufacturing. life, bioart and biodesign, biomimicry, life modelling, exobiology and space exploration.

Off-Earth Atlas

Interdisciplinary program Université PSL and University College London (Center of Outer Space Studies), 2021-2023 (co-directed by Perig Pitrou).

Villes vivantes : concevoir, construire et habiter les mondes urbains du futur

PSL Week « Villes vivantes : concevoir, construire et habiter les mondes urbains du futur », Collège de France, 6-10 mars [formation interdisciplinaire de 30 heures pour 20 étudiants et étudiantes].

Gouverner la vie pour affronter la crise écologique ?

Atelier « Gouverner la vie pour affronter la crise écologique ? » (avec J. Becerril & R. Allain), Congrès AFEA, 2-3 novembre 2023.

Living Cities

Séminaire « Living Cities », Maison Française d’Oxford, depuis 2023.

Origins and conditions of appearance of life (OCAV)

Strategic and Innovative Research Initiative, PSL University, 2016-2021 (co-piloted by Perig Pitrou).

Closed systems and life modeling (SYVIE)

“80 Primes” project, CNRS, Mission for Transversal and Interdisciplinary Initiatives (MITI), 2020-2022 (co-directed by Elie Danziger & Perig Pitrou).

Imitation and modeling of life. Anthropological Foundations of Biomimicry (IMOVIE)

CNRS, Mission for Transversal and Interdisciplinary Initiatives (MITI), 2019-2020 (co-directed by Lauren Kamili & Perig Pitrou).

Life at work. Explore the potential of bioart and biodesign

PSL/Labex TransferS University, 2017-2019 (directed by Perig Pitrou).

Domestication and production of the living

Interdisciplinary incubator, CNRS & Université PSL, 2014-2016 (co-directed by Perig Pitrou & Ludovic Jullien).

Living things and artifacts. The intertwining of vital processes and technical processes

Fyssen Foundation, 2013-2014 (co-directed by Perig Pitrou).

Doctoral projects

The collective reflection is nourished by doctoral research funded by institutions (EHESS, CNRS, Labex Corail, ADEME, ANRT, CRI, ENS) promoting interdisciplinary approaches. Several theses are prepared within the framework of international joint supervision.

Doctoral research promoting interdisciplinary approaches.

Simon Gerard, Coral culture in Oceania, under the supervision of P. Pitrou & S. Revolon, EHESS, funding from Labex Corail, since 2018.

Selma Lepart, Autonomous empires, under the supervision of P. Pitrou, EHESS, CIFRE contract, since 2018.

Cyrille Jeancolas, Theories of life in a microfluidics laboratory, under the supervision of P. Nghe & P. Pitrou, ESPCI-PSL, funding from the Center for Interdisciplinary Research, 2018-2021.

Lauren Kamili,  Life (de)contaminated. Ethnography of bio-inspired practices and modes of existence in two mining valleys (Saint-Laurent-Le-Minier, Salsigne), under the direction of P. Pitrou, EHESS, funding from ADEME, since 2019.

Josemaria Becerril, The Coming Train: An Anthropology of Life Against the Promise of Infrastructure in Southeast Mexico, edited by O. Le Guen & P. Pitrou, EHESS, funding from ENS, since 2020.

Elie Danziger, Modeling life in closed systems, under the direction of R. Ferrière & P. Pitrou, EHESS, funded by the CNRS, since 2020.

Michiko Borisova, Techno-animism in contemporary art: a comparative approach to exhibitions in Europe and Russia, under the supervision of I. Borrisova & P. Pitrou, EHESS-U. of Yakutsk (joint supervision) since 2020.

Giulia Cantisani, Being on Earth, Modes of Existence and Relationship with the Environment among the Otomi of Eastern Mexico, edited by A. Lupo & P. Pitrou, funding from the Sapienza University of Rome (joint supervision), since 2021.

GabrielRoman, On human/corn relations in Mexico, under the supervision of O. Angé & P. Pitrou, ULB/EHESS (joint supervision), ERC funding, since 2021.

Delphine Mercier, Engaging with objects in Museum contexts: Being with things versus looking at artefacts, under the supervision of Jean-Baptiste Gouyon (UCL STS), Chiara Ambrosio (UCL STS), Ludovic Coupaye (UCL Anthropology). University College London, Science and Technology Studies Department, since 2019.

Indira Beraud, Surviving obsolescence: Curatorial production in the face of the climate challenge, under the supervision of M. Fraser & P. Pitrou, UQAM/EHESS (joint supervision), since 2021.  

Nolwen Vouiller, Study of relationships between humans and non-humans at Bardiya National Park (BNP, Nepal), under the supervision of V. Servais and M. Lecomte-Tilouine, U. de Liège/EHESS, since 2020.

Postdoctoral projects

Thanks to the support of foundations (Fyssen, Wellcome Trust) and research institutions (U. PSL, U. Oxford, Kings College, U. Princeton), several members of the team are engaged in postdoctoral research. 

Numerous postdoctoral research

Rosalie Allain, 

Joffrey Becker, Robotics and space exploration, post-doctoral fellow funded by PSL/IRIS OCAV.

Camille Bellett, Investigating 'smart' animal health: Digital sensing and the reorganization of healthcare in cattle farming, post-doctoral fellow funded by the Wellcome Trust, since 2020.

David Dupuis, 

Guilherme Fagundes,

Emilie Letouzey, 

Fabien Provost,