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International research
Since its inauguration in 1888, the Institut Pasteur has embraced the profound and unwavering conviction that health knows no borders. Diseases spread globally. In order to understand, prevent and fight them, scientific excellence is needed, it too firmly rooted in a global, open and collaborative mindset.
Every day, scientists from all four corners of the globe come together to pool their knowledge in their shared efforts to identify real-world solutions aimed at improving patients' health wherever they may be in the world.
A global vision applied to human health for the common good
The Institut Pasteur is committed to generating knowledge and developing practical solutions that improve health for all the world's populations and are tailored to each global region's specific health realities. This approach is deeply rooted in our founder's humanist legacy which dictates that medical research should benefit everyone, everywhere.
Nowadays, we have over 85 nationalities on our Paris campus. The Pasteur Network is an extension of this dynamic, transcending borders to bring science to places with the most pressing needs, without exception.
Revisiting the origins of a global scientific phenomenon
The Institut Pasteur was founded on the basis of an international appeal, whose success was boosted by the profound global impact of the rabies vaccine discovery. However, the story goes back further than its inception!
In 1886, Louis Pasteur presented the French Academy of Sciences with a bold vision of training young scientists at a dedicated institution in Paris so they could take the rabies vaccination to South America (Chile, Brazil) and Australia. Louis Pasteur's ambition of developing a global research network for the benefit of human health was therefore clear even at this early stage.
In 1891, Albert Calmette became the first "young scientist" to represent Pasteur's values on the other side of the world. Thousands of miles from Paris, he founded the Institut Pasteur in Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh-City, Vietnam, providing the initial impetus for a network that has never stopped growing.
Science developed collectively in all four corners of the globe
No single laboratory can take credit for the emergence of modern microbiology. It is the product of a joint venture between scientists of different nationalities.
In 1876, German physician Robert Koch provided the first experimental proof that a specific microbe was responsible for a contagious disease, in this case anthrax. Reluctant to see a rival prove his own theory, Louis Pasteur initially disputed these findings... before confirming them with his own experiments. That's how scientific progress is made: through confrontation, rivalry and finally consensus. Health research is a fundamentally global phenomenon, something that is hardwired into the Institut Pasteur's DNA.
Global scientific cooperation protecting human health
The key role of partnerships in international research
The Institut Pasteur’s international activities are carried out within the public health, scientific, and institutional contexts specific to each region, with a particular focus on Europe. The scientific programs give concrete expression to the Institut Pasteur’s scientific priorities through projects coordinated across several countries. These international scientific programs bring together partners—particularly the Institut Pasteur’s international funders—around common objectives.
The Pasteur Network: 32 institutes, 5 continents, one mission
The Pasteur Network provides world-unique scientific infrastructure for tackling major global health challenges. It enables us to:
• investigate diseases in the places they emerge;
• ramp up epidemiological surveillance at global level;
• share knowledge quickly;
• pool expertise and technology;
• coordinate responses to global health crises.
Le Pasteur Network : 32 instituts, 5 continents, une mission commune
L'Institut Pasteur (Paris) est membre fondateur du Pasteur Network, une infrastructure scientifique unique au monde pour relever les grands défis de la santé mondiale. Il permet notamment de :
- étudier les maladies au plus près de leur zone d’émergence ;
- renforcer la surveillance épidémiologique à l'échelle internationale ;
- partager rapidement les connaissances ;
- mutualiser les expertises et les technologies ;
- coordonner les réponses face aux crises sanitaires mondiales.