The Diderot Program was created jointly by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Education, Research, and Technology, the Ministry of Culture, and the CNRS in July, 1989. In 1992, the Ministry of Culture decided to create its own program for inviting translators. Today the program is financed jointly by the MAE, the CNRS, the Direction des relations internationales et de la cooperation (DREIC, Office of International Relations and Cooperation), and the Direction de la Recherche (Office of Research). The FMSH manages the program: collects applications, organizes meetings with the selection committee, and ensures individual support and hosting for all invited researchers. The program is beneficial to all French institutions of higher learning and research that choose to serve as hosting structures.
A partir de l’année 2010 les bourses Diderot s’intègrent, tout en gardant leur identité propre, dans le nouveau programme « Fernand Braudel-IFER » (International Fellowships for Experienced Researchers) soutenu par l’Union européenne (Programme Action Marie Curie – COFUND – 7ème PCRD).
Objectives
The Diderot Program invites young post-doctoral (having earned the “Kandidat” thesis) researchers in the human and social sciences to join French research teams and laboratories for long research visits (six, nine, or twelve months).
Evolution of Applicants since 1989
Applications submitted since autumn 1989 reflect the main changes that occurred to the organization of advanced research in CIS countries: with the rise of institutes from the Academy of Sciences of Moscow and Saint Petersburg, they attest to the increased influence of Moscow’s Universities, and to a certain degree those from other regions, as well as research institutions from some of the CIS republics (namely Ukraine, Georgia, and the republics of Central Asia thanks to the intermediary role played by the IFEAC (French Institute for Central Asian Studies)). Disciplines like economics and sociology suffered from the pull the private sector exerted over young researchers, whereas the potential of the human sciences, which are more focused on studying the past and culture, has been reinforced.
Scientific coordinator: Maurice Aymard
Program manager: Gilles Desfeux
