Missions and activities

The Institute’s overall missions are to study all aspects of populations, to train in and through research, to keep the government, public authorities and general public informed on demographic questions and to disseminate French demographic research internationally.

Specifically, INED’s missions are defined as follows in the Code de la Recherche articles R327-1 and following:

Article 1. INED undertakes, develops and encourages, on its own initiative or at the request of the government, all forms of research on population issues;

Article 2. It evaluates, conducts or commissions all relevant research into population issues and all research contributing to the economic, social and cultural development of the country;

Article 3. It collects research data, centralizes and develops all research in France or abroad relevant to its field of activity, and keeps the government and public authorities informed of all knowledge acquired;

Article 4. It contributes to training in research and through research in its different areas of expertise;

Article 5. It informs the public about demographic issues;

Article 6. It disseminates French demographic research internationally and develops demographic information while promoting the use of the French language.

INED researchers come from a wide variety of backgrounds and they study not only demographic phenomena properly speaking—nuptiality, fertility, mortality, spatial mobility—but also how to measure them, their causes and effects, demography applied to social life, economics, public health, epidemiology, human geography, history, ethnology and other fields. They conduct research at the scale of France and in countries and regions throughout the world. The disciplinary openness—a major development in demography—that characterizes the Institute is also found today in Europe and the United States.

INED belongs to and is active in several research networks and participates in many national and international projects, the latter in both Northern and the Southern countries.

Its many activities include coordinating the iPOPs (Individuals, Populations, Societies) Laboratory of Excellence, in partnership with several French universities. 

It is also a founding member of the new human and social sciences teaching and research institution, Campus Condorcet, together with several institutional partners (the Universities of Paris 1, Paris 8, Paris 13, the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales [EHESS] and others). (See “Partnerships and Strategies”)

INED provides training in research and through research. Every year, the Institute hosts several doctoral students and offers post-doctoral research work contracts, thereby providing young researchers with a springboard for their academic career.

Since its founding, INED has published works of reference in demography, and it has an exceptionally complete, free-access library on population questions. Through its internet site, its monthly bulletin Population & Societies, addressed to a general readership, and its scientific journal Population, the Institute ensures access to research results for both specialised and lay publics.