# School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences

> French higher education institution

**Wikidata**: [Q273518](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q273518)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_for_Advanced_Studies_in_the_Social_Sciences)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/school-for-advanced-studies-in-the-social-sciences

## Summary
The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (École des hautes études en sciences sociales, EHESS) is a French public research university founded in 1975 that specializes exclusively in graduate-level social-science education and research. Headquartered in Paris, it is legally classified as an EPCS—Établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel—and today enrols roughly 2,800 students while employing about 750 faculty and staff.

## Key Facts
- **Founded**: 23 January 1975, replacing the former VI Section (Economic & Social Sciences) of the École pratique des hautes études.
- **Legal form**: Établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel (EPCS).
- **Headquarters**: 8 cours des Humanités, 93322 Aubervilliers Cedex, France; main campus in central Paris.
- **Enrolment**: 2,680 (2007) → 3,085 (2019) → 2,753 (2022).
- **Employees**: ~750 (per German Wikipedia snapshot).
- **Official names**: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; trade-name EHESS.
- **Identifiers**: ISNI 0000 0001 2178 632X, GRID grid.17673.34, ROR 02d9dg697, SIREN 197 537 426.
- **Affiliations**: PSL Research University, Couperin Consortium, Renater, Franco-German University, Agence universitaire de la Francophonie.
- **Parent consortium**: HESAM (2010-2015).
- **Subsidiary units**: 10 research centres, including Institut Jean Nicod (since 2002).

## FAQs
### Q: What does EHESS stand for and what kind of degrees does it offer?
A: EHESS = École des hautes études en sciences sociales. It offers exclusively graduate and doctoral programmes in anthropology, sociology, history, economics, linguistics, cognitive science and related fields; no undergraduate degrees are awarded.

### Q: Is EHESS part of the Sorbonne or any larger university group?
A: Since 2011 EHESS is an academic affiliate of the federal PSL Research University, but it remains legally autonomous. It previously belonged to the HESAM cluster (2010-2015).

### Q: How selective is admission?
A: As a research-only institution, EHESS admits students on the basis of master’s-level work and faculty sponsorship; annual enrolment is small (≈2,800) and centred on Ph.D. tracks.

### Q: Where is the main campus?
A: The historic seat is the Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, 54 bd Raspail, Paris 6e; administrative headquarters moved to the new “Humanités” campus in Aubervilliers (Seine-Saint-Denis).

## Why It Matters
EHESS is France’s flagship social-science research school and one of the most cited European centres in anthropology, history, sociology and cognitive science. Created to give the social sciences an institutional home equal to the natural sciences within the French grandes écoles system, it has produced a disproportionate share of CNRS gold-medal winners, Collège de France professors and Fields-medal-level historians. Its insistence on interdisciplinary seminars, small cohorts and direct faculty mentoring keeps publication impact per capita among the highest in the QS social-science rankings. For international scholars, EHESS serves as a mandatory stop: its research centres such as the Institut Jean Nicod (cognitive science) or the Centre Alexandre Koyré (history of science) are reference nodes in global academic networks, while its joint Ph.D. programmes with Columbia, Tokyo, São Paulo and the Franco-German University multiply France’s soft-power reach. Policy-makers also draw on EHESS work—French unemployment insurance reform, heritage law and digital-rights debates all relied on EHESS-led studies. In short, the school functions as France’s laboratory for conceptual tools that later filter into public debate and international scholarship.

## Notable For
- First French institution devoted solely to graduate social-science research (no undergraduate teaching).
- Home to 10 specialised centres covering everything from South-Asian studies to mathematical economics.
- Flagship unit of PSL University in QS “Social Sciences & Management” global top-30.
- Institut Jean Nicod (since 2002) is Europe’s leading centre for philosophy of mind & cognitive science.
- Replaced the historic EPHE VI Section while inheriting its archives and doctoral schools.

## Body

### History and Legal Status
EHESS was decreed on 23 January 1975, absorbing the VI Section (Sciences économiques et sociales) of the École pratique des hautes études. It adopted the legal category Établissement public à caractère scientifique, culturel et professionnel (EPCS), giving it budgetary autonomy under the French Ministry of Higher Education.

### Organisation and Governance
The school is headed by an elected president and governed by a board that includes faculty, student and external representatives. It is academically divided into “sections” that mirror the social-science disciplines and are empowered to award national doctorates.

### Research Units
EHESS hosts or co-hosts ten CNRS or EHESS-labelled units:
- Travaux et Recherches Archéologiques sur les Cultures, les Espaces et les Sociétés
- Centre international de recherche sur l’environnement et le développement
- Groupement de Recherche en Économie Quantitative d’Aix-Marseille
- Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Solidarités Sociétés Territoires
- Center for South Asian Studies
- Center for Russian, Caucasian and East European Studies
- Centre Alexandre Koyré (history of science)
- Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l’Asie Orientale
- Centre d’Analyse et de Mathématique Sociales
- Centre d’études Turques, Ottomanes, Balkaniques et Centrasiatiques

### Student Numbers
Enrolment fluctuated between 2,500 and 3,100 over the past decade, peaking at 3,085 in 2019 and standing at 2,753 in 2022.

### Digital Footprint
- Website: https://www.ehess.fr (French & English)
- Twitter: @EHESS_fr (verified, 45,761 followers Feb 2023)
- Atom feed: http://actualites.ehess.fr/atom.php?cat=257

## References

1. GRID Release 2017-01-10
2. [Source](https://www.data.gouv.fr/en/datasets/principaux-etablissements-denseignement-superieur/)
3. Virtual International Authority File
4. SIRENE
5. [Source](http://www.couperin.org/presentation/notre-organisation/les-membres-de-couperin/items?cid=162id=221lang=fr)
6. [Source](https://discovery.renater.fr/renater/)
7. [Source](https://www.dfh-ufa.org/die-dfh/die-dfh-im-ueberblick/netzwerk)
8. [Source](https://web.archive.org/web/20221123144401/https://www.auf.org/les_membres/nos-membres/)
9. [Source](https://www.ehess.fr/fr/node/15005)
10. Freebase Data Dumps. 2013
11. [Ministry of Higher Education and Research](https://www.data.gouv.fr/en/datasets/principaux-etablissements-denseignement-superieur/)
12. [data.gouv.fr](https://data.enseignementsup-recherche.gouv.fr/explore/dataset/fr-esr-statistiques-sur-les-effectifs-d-etudiants-inscrits-par-etablissement-hcp/table/?sort=-annee_universitaire)
13. GRID Release 2015-12-14
14. GRID Release 2016-12-06
15. BabelNet
16. Aligned ISNI and Ringgold identifiers for institutions
17. [Source](https://tools.wmflabs.org/whois/gateway.py?lookup=true&ip=193.48.45.14)
18. [Source](https://www.canal-u.tv/producteurs/)
19. Source
20. [Source](https://orcid.org/signin)
21. Microsoft Academic Knowledge Graph
22. FactGrid