About IAST

The Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse is an interdisciplinary research community dedicated to understanding human behavior in its full complexity. IAST brings together researchers from the social, behavioral, computational, and biological sciences to study human beings as evolved organisms who live in groups, form networks and coalitions, build institutions, follow norms, exchange scarce resources, and act on ideals and beliefs.

Imagined by TSE Honorary Chairman and Nobel laureate Jean Tirole, IAST was created in 2011 with the support of a €25 million grant from the French government, renewed in 2020. Since then, it has become a distinctive environment for researchers who want to pursue ambitious questions that often fall between established disciplines.

At the heart of IAST is its research fellowship program. Each year, IAST offers two- or three-year fellowships to outstanding postdoctoral researchers, giving them the time, resources, and intellectual autonomy to develop their own scientific projects within a vibrant interdisciplinary community.

Over the years, the program has supported more than 100 fellows, many of whom have gone on to faculty positions at leading institutions and remain connected through the Friends of IAST alumni network.

IAST researchers have strong quantitative training in fields including anthropology, biology, economics, mathematics, political science, psychology, and sociology. They work on questions that transcend disciplinary boundaries, often discovering unexpected complementarities between the concepts, methods, and tools of different fields.

After more than 15 years of fostering interdisciplinary dialogue, we know that it requires researchers to question assumptions, explain their methods clearly, give and receive criticism constructively, and remain open to unfamiliar perspectives. IAST is built around the conviction that an open mind and a respectful attitude will turn these challenges into a source of scientific creativity. Interdisciplinary collaboration is not imposed at IAST, but it naturally emerges from daily interaction, shared curiosity, and sustained exposure to different ways of thinking.