Magda Tomasini

Those orientations are determined by way of a foresight analysis conducted in the institution with the aim of projecting it into the future. The first point is to determine the institution’s strengths. The second is to determine the specific actions that, combined with those strengths, will enable it meet anticipated challenges and successfully carry out research studies. The results of this analysis are then written up in a report, a strategic document that defines INED’s scientific policy. The document also provides the basis for the Contract of Objectives and Performance that INED signs with its two overseeing state administrations, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health and the Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research.  

The above-cited analysis identified four fundamental research directions for the future:

• renewing analysis of demographic phenomena;
• further developing and detailing analysis of individual trajectories and life stages;
• studying interactions between actors and public policies;
• developing studies on population movements and mobility.

The fifth fundamental direction—methodological renewal—runs across and is complementary to all the others.
Given these research orientations and the challenges INED will be facing in the years to come, our institution’s strategy will be organized into five main fields of action.
The first is “successfully moving and integrating INED into the Campus Condorcet,” an objective that covers the human, scientific and material dimensions of the move.
The second is “strengthening our engagement at the European and international levels by developing new activities and maintaining partnerships.” Here there are two goals: to construct an international strategy, and to continue to develop ties with universities by capitalizing on the successes of the iPOPs Labex.
The third field of action is to further publicize and disseminate INED research. Here we will be fulfilling our public service mission to publish and diffuse research studies in the demographic sciences, creating a publication on initial survey findings and making our scientific production more accessible by way of an open archive.
The fourth field of action is to invest in research and data infrastructures. Here we need to bolster the professionalization of INED survey project management and the development of innovative data collection methodology, and to consolidate investment in the Elfe cohort.
The fifth field of action is to pursue the process of modernizing INED management. We will be working to provide legal accompaniment in the area of innovation and to consolidate funding. This field also encompasses the human resources dimension: we will be seeking the best match between Institute needs and individual profiles, with a continual concern for working conditions.

These strategic orientations were developed on the basis of suggestions and contributions from INED research teams, research support services, and the services of the secretariat-general. They were debated in the Board of Administration and the Technical and Scientific Councils. In compliance with INED regulations, they have been approved by our Scientific Council and Board of Administration.

Clearly, moving to and getting properly integrated at Campus Condorcet are concerns that will structure INED operations in the years to come. INED moves to the Campus in the second half of 2019, joining some of its main national partners: the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS), the École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), and teams from the CNRS, the École Nationale des Chartes, the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l’Homme (FMSH) and the Universities of Paris 1, 3, 8 and 13. While this new arrangement will definitely foster scientific collaborations, it also involves a strong human dimension that requires considerable vigilance about working conditions.