FRESH is a "Réseau Thématique" funded by CNRS (INEE)

A French Network for the Evolutionary Study of Humans

We are an interdisciplinary scientific community of researchers who use evolutionary and ecological approaches to study human behaviour, biology and culture. Most FRESH members are working in France or have strong links to France.

ABOUT

Our mission

We aim to facilitate research that takes an integrative, evolutionary, and interdisciplinary approach to studying human behaviour, including, but not limited to, human cognition, physiology, culture, communication, genetics, demography and health.

The network organizes an annual conference, workshops, and opportunities for exchange to build a strong network of evolutionary human scientists in France.

FRESH encourages rigorous, ethical science, including basic and applied research with strong theoretical foundations that incorporates open science practices.

Annual conference

Our 2025 annual conference will take place in Montpellier on November 4-5, with Prof Pascal Boyer & Dr Nicolas Rascovan.

Deadline for abstract submission: September 15th

More details

Research groups

Note that for each group, only some researchers are part of the network

arc de triomphe in france
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Evolutionary Anthropology

Montpellier University

The Montpellier Evolutionary Anthropology group develops research programs in human behavioural ecology, primate socio-ecology and evolutionary medicine and public health. We study topics related to sociality and health across human populations and non-human primates.

view of traditional residential buildings and hotels in paris france
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Evolution & Social cognition

Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris

The ESC team studies social cognition in a broad sense (e.g. morality, communication, argumentation, social influence) in light of evolutionary biology, in order to better understand a variety of social and cultural phenomena such as religion, mass communication, policy, art, institutions, or social norms.

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Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse

Toulouse University

The IAST is an interdisciplinary project involving ten disciplines (anthropology, biology, economics, history, law, mathematics, philosophy, political science, psychology, and sociology) aiming to study the behavior of human beings as evolved biological organisms who live in groups, form networks and coalitions, are governed by formal institutions and informal norms, produce and exchange scarce resources, and are inspired by ideals and beliefs.

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Eco-anthropology

Musée de l’Homme, Paris

At the Musée de l’Homme, the Eco-anthropologie lab develops interdisciplinary research on humans (individuals or societies) and their interactions with their environment. The UMR offers an original insight by studying how humans – and their closest cousins primates – perceive and act on their environment and shape cultures, and how environments and cultures shape human biology, particularly over time through our evolution.

Photo by Kasia Pisanski

Sensory Neuro-Ethology (ENES)

St-Étienne

The ENES lab specialises in the evolution of animal communication, including the human animal. From production to perception the bioacoustics team explores the mechanisms, development, evolved functions and phylogenetic roots of vocal behaviour in a range of species, including an active research program on human nonverbal vocalisations such as cries, screams, roars and laughs. In 2021 ENES launched an international Master’s course in Bioacoustics.

fountain on place des jacobins in lyon
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Laboratoire Dynamique Du Langage (DDL)

Lyon

The DDL lab explores two key features of human language: its extraordinary diversity (i.e., there are a very large number of languages and linguistic categories throughout the world) and its uniformity (as a cognitive capacity shared by all humans). Each of these axes addresses the evolution of human communication, either through the evolution of languages (DiLiS axis) or through the evolution of linguistic cognition (DENDY axis).

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