Our mission

Created in 1963 by the historian Fernand Braudel, the FMSH continues the original project, while adapting it to contemporary circumstances. Our Foundation supports innovative, pioneering and international research in humanities and social sciences, and disseminates knowledge to the greatest number of people in order to respond to the major challenges facing our society.

By supporting each year nearly 400 researchers from around the world and ensuring the dissemination of a wide range of scientific resources, the FMSH is the largest humanities and social sciences foundation in France.

For 60 years, the Foundation has been advancing knowledge in humanities and social sciences to better understand the complexity of the world and explore the common challenges facing our societies.

A model unique in Europe

Based on international cooperation, the Foundation's model rests on three pillars:

• Promote the free circulation of knowledge
  Designed to facilitate the circulation of researchers and writings, the Foundation's scientific and editorial programmes aim to decompartmentalize knowledge and multiply perspectives to enrich the field of knowledge.
• Nurture interdisciplinary and intercultural dialogue
  As a platform for connecting scientific communities, the Foundation forges cooperative tools and programmes that promote diverse and inclusive thinking.
• Disseminate research widely
  The Foundation has developed strong expertise in dissemination of research work. It ensures that everyone - scientific community, decision-makers, civil society actors and citizens - has access to scientific knowledge in order to act and positively transform our society.

This model is the source of its innovative strength. It enables to nurture pluralism in order to renew our way of thinking and seeing the world, and to change the way we look at the problems we face.