École pratique des hautes études

• Two institution-specific postgraduate degrees (in each of the three Sections): “Diplôme de l’EPHE”, “Diplôme post-doctoral de l’EPHE”;
• Two master's degrees: The Master in Biology, Health, Environment (research degree, 3 specialties), The Master in Historical, Philological and Religious Sciences (Religious Sciences and Society, European, Mediterranean and Asian Sciences);
• The Doctorate, in three subjects areas prepared at the same Doctoral School: Integrated Systems, Biodiversity and Environment (“SIEB”), History, Documents and Texts (“HTD”), Religions and Thought Systems (“RSP”).

The EPHE also confers the Habilitation à diriger des recherches (HDR) and offers joint university degrees (“DIU”) in collaboration with other institutions.

The Earth and Life Sciences Section groups faculty and laboratories in Paris and throughout France. All laboratories have joint research units in place with other institutions (universities, CNRS, INSERM, INRIA, MNHN). One laboratory is in French Polynesia on the island of Moorea, where the EPHE has a research station. The School also has a station in coastal geomorphology in Dinard on the coast of Brittany. The Section's research is carried out within four networks: environment and cellular regulation; neurosciences; environment and Society; biodiversity dynamics.

The Historical and Philological Sciences Section covers the study of languages, the explanation and commentary of documentary sources, written and book history, and the history of knowledge. Geographically, the emphasis is on the Mediterranean, Asia and Europe, where writing was earliest developed. It remains a field of choice for philological and, more generally, scholarly criticism of written and unwritten sources, aimed at resolving questions of language and history. The Section may also be regarded as one large laboratory devoted to the study of works, cultures and power systems in periods preceding contemporary times, and reaching back over a very long time span within a vast Eurasian area.

In 2010, the Section included 92 full professors and lecturers, and it welcomes every year a large number of foreign scholars as guest fellows.

Topics covered by the Historical and Philological Sciences Section fall into eight broad categories:[5]

• Ancient Near and Middle East;
• Classical Antiquity;
• Muslim worlds;
• History and Philology of Medieval Period;
• Modern and contemporary History of the West;
• India and the Far East;
• History of the Arts and Archeology;
• Linguistics.

Historical and Philological Sciences Publications : The Historical and Philological Sciences Section publishes two collections at Editions Honoré Champion:[6]

• Bibliothèque de l’École des hautes études, Historical and Philological Sciences;
• Advanced studies in contemporary history).

It also publishes six other collections at the publisher Droz Publisher:[7]

• Advanced studies in numismatics;
• Advanced oriental studies, divided in two series : Near and Middle East, Far East;
• Advanced studies of the Greco-Roman world;
• Advanced studies in comparative Islamic and oriental history;
• Advanced studies of medieval and modern times;
• History and civilization of the book.

Established in 1886, the Religious Sciences Section is reputed for its original scholarship in the subject of religions, which it examines in a secular and cross-cultural spirit. By emphasizing comparative and interdisciplinary study, it is the only academic body in France to cover this field so extensively, using a wide range of scientific approaches. The Section's teaching in the area of research extends into the most diverse cultural and linguistic fields, from Antiquity to modern and contemporary times. Strongly committed to the philological tradition, it also naturally draws on disciplines or resources as diverse and complementary as history, archeology, iconology, law, philosophy, ethnology, anthropology and sociology, as well as the cinema and new technologies.

The Section included 54 full professors and 12 lecturers in 2010, and it welcomes every year a large number of foreign scholars as guest fellows. Topics covered may be grouped in nine broad categories:[8]

• Religious ethnology (Africa, Americas, Europe, Australia/Oceania);
• Religions of Asia;
• Polytheistic Religions of the Ancient World;
• Judaism;
• Christianity and its margins;
• Islam;
• Laicities and Religions in the Contemporary World;

The Religious Sciences Section publishes two collections:

• The "Bibliothèque de l'École des hautes études", Religious Sciences (BEHE, SR), published by Brepols,[9] which includes two series: History and prosopography of the Religious Sciences Section and Sources and documents.
• The Conferences of the EPHE, published by Le Cerf.[10] Of interest to both specialists and the educated general public, this recently created collection notably includes transcripts of lectures given at the School by guest research fellows.

The Doctoral School is also responsible for the attribution of scholarships, grants and financial aid. It implements the EPHE's doctoral studies program in accordance with the plan defined in the institution's quadriennal contract. It operates with other services of the EPHE such as the Education and International Relations divisions. The Doctoral School is organized along three subject areas:

• Integrated Systems, Environment and Biodiversity;
• Religions and Thought Systems;
• History, Texts and Documents.