Between 2 to 6 November 2026, the seventh edition of the Itinerant Doctoral School (EDI) will take place at Félix Houphouët-Boigny University in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire). This doctoral school is a partnership between the Institut de recherche sur le Maghreb contemporain (IRMC – Tunis), the Institut français de recherche en Afrique (IFRA – Nigeria), the Centre Jacques Berque (CJB – Rabat), the Scientific Interest Group “Pensées Genre Penser Autrement” (GIS – PGPA) of Félix Houphouët-Boigny University, and Alassane Ouattara University.
Doctoral students in social sciences enrolled in a PhD program at a university or research institution located in an African country can apply to participate in the doctoral school.
Application deadline: June 10, 2026
Download the full call in English
Download the full call in French
CONCEPT NOTE
The seventh edition of the Itinerant Doctoral School (EDI) will take place at Félix Houphouët-Boigny University in Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire), from November 2 to 6, 2026. It is a partnership between the Institut de recherche sur le Maghreb contemporain (IRMC – Tunis), the Institut français de recherche en Afrique (IFRA – Nigeria), the Centre Jacques Berque (CJB – Rabat), the Scientific Interest Group “Pensées Genre Penser Autrement” (GIS – PGPA) of Félix Houphouët-Boigny University, and Alassane Ouattara University.
This edition, entitled “The Making of the Research Object in the Social Sciences: Methodologies, Ethics, and Practices”, will be devoted to a multidisciplinary reflection on the construction of research objects and their embedding within multiple processes of translation: linguistic translation; the transformation of empirical materials into theoretical corpora; the adaptation of artistic methods into tools for empirical inquiry; and the conversion of scientific objects into forms of expertise and vice versa.
Far from being a natural given, the “object” of the social sciences is continuously produced and transformed at the intersection of languages as well as theoretical, methodological, material, and symbolic stakes. It acquires meaning within heteronomous arenas (disciplinary, linguistic, expert, academic, etc.) across which knowledge circulates.
This raises key questions: How can research objects be defined and redefined depending on fieldwork constraints? How can methodological choices be articulated with conditions of inquiry and the situated organization of knowledge production? What forms of translation operate within our practices, constrain them, or transform them? What ethical dilemmas arise in accessing data, conducting interviews, or disseminating findings? These issues take on particular resonance on the African continent, due to plurality of knowledge regimes, the material constraints of research, and the often unequal relationships between institutions in the Global North and South.
The school will address these questions through concrete situations experienced by doctoral candidates and researchers, treating them as entry points for re-examining contemporary logics of knowledge production, research and writing practices, and the various forms of dissemination that follow from them.
The EDI will provide close mentorship through in-depth methodological workshops, writing sessions, discussions on fieldwork practices, and intergenerational exchanges between senior and early-career researchers.
Travel and accommodation for selected participants will be fully covered by the organizing institutions.
OBJECTIVES
The 2026 EDI program will be structured around five main training axes:
- Exploring the making of the research object: examining how research objects are constructed, displaced, or transformed throughout fieldwork and inquiry, by articulating theoretical choices, practical constraints, and material conditions.
- Practicing translation in a broad sense: engaging in practical exercises and reflections on the stakes, tools, and contributions of the multiple forms of translation that occur throughout research processes.
- Debating the ethical dimensions of research: reflecting on dilemmas related to data access, linguistic inequalities, relationships with research participants, and modes of dissemination.
- Interrogating methodological tools: comparing and experimenting with different research methods (observation, interviews, archives, mapping, photography, drawing, digital and sensory methods), and discussing their complementarity.
- Working on the thesis in everyday practice: advancing the structuring, writing, and dissemination of doctoral research, while exchanging concrete strategies for producing and sharing knowledge in the social sciences.
APPLICATION PROCEDURES
The Itinerant Doctoral School is open to doctoral candidates in the social sciences. Applicants must be enrolled in a PhD program at a university or research institution located in an African country.
Languages of instruction: French and English
To apply, please send the following documents in a single email to:
- Completed application form (see below)
- Cover letter (maximum 1 page)
- Curriculum vitae
- Presentation of the doctoral research project (2 to 5 pages maximum)
- Proof of PhD enrollment
Application deadline: June 10, 2026
Notification of results: August 3, 2026
ABOUT THE ITINERANT DOCTORAL SCHOOL
Initiated by the IRMC in 2016 and supported by numerous partnerships, the Itinerant Doctoral School is designed for doctoral candidates enrolled in African universities in disciplines within the social sciences, including sociology, political science, history, geography, anthropology, economics, and communication studies. Its objective is to provide complementary training tailored to social science methodologies, in order to support the progress of doctoral research.
The school also enables early-career researchers to establish—or strengthen—their integration into transnational research networks. Sessions presenting participants’ work alternate with methodological workshops and lectures.
Since 2016, the doctoral school has promoted both North–South and South–South cooperation. This itinerant program has successively been hosted at the University of Letters and Human Sciences of Bamako (Mali), Gaston Berger University in Saint-Louis (Senegal), the University of Abomey-Calavi in Cotonou (Benin), the University of Sousse (Tunisia), Alassane Ouattara University in Bouaké (Côte d’Ivoire), and Cheikh Anta Diop University in Dakar (Senegal).
SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
Francis Akindès (Alassane Ouattara University)
Amin Allal (CNRS – CERAPS)
Layla Baamara (IRD – LAM)
Camille Cassarini (IRMC)
Anouk Cohen (CJB)
Myriam Catusse (IRMC)
Prisca Justine Ehui (Félix Houphouët-Boigny University)
Pauline Guinard (IFRA – Nigeria)
Firmin Kra (Alassane Ouattara University)
Stefan Le Courant (CNRS – IFRA Nigeria)
Delphine Manetta (IFRA – Nigeria)
Nessim Znaien (University of Marburg, IRMC)
Project Coordinator: Pablo Maissin (IRMC)