Stéphanie
BALME
Stéphanie Balme was elected Director of the CERI (Sciences Po / CNRS) in 2024. Previously, she served as Dean of the Sciences Po Undergraduate College (2018–2023), where she developed the Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (BASc) program, a pioneering curriculum integrating training in both the humanities and the natural sciences. During her tenure, she also strengthened the links between teaching and research, as well as the development of area studies programs.
From 2018 to 2019, she joined the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a diplomat based in Beijing, focusing on Franco-Chinese scientific cooperation. As Professor at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) and Director of Research at the FNSP, she was appointed Academic Freedom Officer in 2022.
As founding member of the European Science Diplomacy Initiative (ESDI), created in 2020, she launched the Science and Tech Diplomacy courses at Sciences Po, aimed at training future diplomats, policymakers, and journalists. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University, and serves on several scientific and strategic councils, including those of the IDDRI (Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations), IHEDN (Institute for Advanced Studies in National Defense), and EURICS (European Institute of Chinese Studies).
Stéphanie Balme is Vice-President of the ECLS (EU–China Law Studies Association) and a member of the European Scientific Council of Springer Nature. Having lived 13 years in China, she has taught at numerous institutions around the world, including Paris, Hong Kong, Beijing, New Delhi (Ashoka University), Montreal (UQAM), Vancouver (UBC), and Columbia University in New York, where she was a Visiting Scholar (2014–2015).
She is the author of over 50 academic articles and 10 books, including Defending and Promoting Academic Freedom: A Global Issue, an Urgent Matter for France and Europe. Findings and 65 Propositions for Action (2025), available here.
She teaches the courses Science, Power and the Power of Innovation in China, Introduction to Science Diplomacy, Science & Tech Diplomacy, and Navigating the G3 (EU–US–China) Dynamics.
