Fondation Maison des sciences de l'homme (FMSH)

“Promoting SHS in France and around the world, by focusing on their multidisciplinary nature, internationalisation, and collaborations between institutions.”

Founded by Fernand Braudel in 1963, Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH) is a foundation that has been recognised for its public utility (with the FRUP label). It is a private legal entity, whose mission, as defined in the amended legal decree dated 4 January 1963, consists of promoting “the study of human societies considered chiefly within their current realities and based on these realities.”

The Foundation’s original objective was to go outside the traditional university framework, breaking through the barriers that separated the disciplines organised and taught in university faculties, in order to foster excellent interdisciplinary research in the social and human sciences (SHS), while being resolutely attuned to the international context. While the Foundation celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2013, the adage that summarised its missions, with the three “I’s” of “interdisciplinary”, “international”, and “interinstitutional” still apply today. Furthermore, its missions were recently strengthened considerably through measures for innovation or incubation of initiatives, or new or risk-taking scientific projects.