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Stéphanie Balme is a prominent academic in the fields of political science and international relations, currently serving as the Director^[1][2] of the Centre for International Studies (CERI) at Sciences Po/CNRS, a position she was elected to at the end of 2023. Prior to this role, she was the Dean of the Sciences Po Undergraduate College from 2018 to 2023, where she played a pivotal role in developing the Bachelor of Arts and Sciences (BASc) program in collaboration with Nicolas Benvegnu, which integrates training in the humanities and sciences. During her tenure, she also focused on strengthening the connections between teaching and research, international cooperation as well as enhancing regional programs, particularly area studies on Sciences Po's local campuses.

She obtained her Habilitation in Law in 2016 and earned her PhD in Political Science under the supervision of Professor Guy Hermet in 2000^[3].Her academic background includes degrees from Sciences Po, INALCO, IEP Bordeaux, Fudan University (Shanghai), and the Faculty of Letters of Bordeaux. She has received several awards, including the 2021 Europa Forum Lucerne, the Montesquieu Prize in 2015^[4], awarded for the book “The Civil Trial in Original Version: Comparative Judicial Cultures: France, China, United States,” co-authored with Antoine Garapon, Daniel Schimmel, Li Bin, and Jean-Louis Langlois and the 1998 Prize from the Chancellery of Paris Universities.

Balme's academic career includes significant diplomatic experience; she worked as a diplomat at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, focusing on Franco-Chinese scientific cooperation while based in Beijing from 2018 to 2019. In addition to her administrative roles, she has been a professor at the Paris School of International Affairs (PSIA) and served as a Research Professor at the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques (FNSP/Sciences Po). In 2022, she was appointed as the academic freedom officer, reflecting her commitment to academic integrity and freedom.

As a founding member of the European Science Diplomacy Initiative (ESDI), established in 2020 alongside Pierre Lemonde and Enrico Letta, Balme has been instrumental in launching and developing courses on science diplomacy at Sciences Po^[5], aimed at training future diplomats, policymakers, journalists, and experts from NGOs. She is actively involved in various scientific and strategic councils, including the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations (IDDRI), the Institute for Advanced Studies in National Defense (IHEDN)^[6], and the European Institute of China Studies (EURICS). Additionally, she has served for many years as the vice-president of the EU-China Law Studies Association (ECLS)^[7].

Before her current roles, Balme directed the research program "Law, Justice and Society in China" and was a research associate at the Institute for Advanced Studies on Justice (IHEJ)^[8] alongside Antoine Garapon. She has worked and lived in China for 13 years, with a long-term mission for Sciences Po at the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 2003 to 2006, followed by a position at Tsinghua University’s Law School in Beijing from 2006 to 2012. Her experience also includes serving as the China delegate for the Médecins du Monde Adoption Initiative (1996-1998), managing the office for the Foundation for Continental Law (Civil Law Initiative 2010-2011), and working as a university and scientific cooperation attaché at the French Embassy in Beijing (2017-2018).

Balme has taught at various prestigious institutions worldwide, including in Paris, Hong Kong, Beijing, New Delhi (Ashoka University), Montreal (UQAM), Vancouver (UBC), and New York, where she was a Visiting Professor at Columbia University^[9] during the 2014-2015 academic year.

Stéphanie Balme's current research focuses on China’s science policies, the scientific rise from historical and political science perspectives, science diplomacy, and the relations between the European Union, China, and the United States, as well as deglobalization.

She is proficient in French, English, Chinese/Mandarin, and is currently learning Italian.

• Chine, les visages de la justice ordinaire – Entre faits et droit, Presses de Sciences Po, 2016, 336p.
• Le procès civil en version originale. Cultures judiciaires comparées : France, Chine, Etats-Unis (English Title: The Civil Trial in Original Version: Comparative Judicial Cultures: France, China, United States), co-authored with Antoine Garapon, Li Bin and Daniel Schimmel, Ebook, LexisNexis, Paris, New York, 2014.
• La Tentation de la Chine: Nouvelles idées reçues sur une puissance en mutation, Le Cavalier Bleu, Paris, April 2013, 350p.
• Building Constitutionalism in China (eds.) with Michael Dowdle, Palgrave-Macmillan CERI, New York, 2009, 322p.
• La Chine et les Etats-Unis: fascinations et rivalités, (English title: China and the US: Between Fascination and Rivalry), co-authored with Daniel Sabbagh (CERI/Sciences Po), Autrement, Paris, 2008, 172p.
• Vietnam’s New Order: International Perspectives on the State and Law Reform, with Mark Sidel (eds.), Palgrave-Macmillan CERI, 2006, 272p.
• La Chine – Les Idées Reçues, Cavalier Bleu, Paris, 2004, (2nd edition 2008), 140p.
• Entre soi, l’élite du pouvoir dans la Chine contemporaine, (English title: Power Elite in Contemporary China), Fayard, Paris, 2004, 474p.
• 你对法律了解多少? (in Chinese) (English title: What do you know about Law?), co-authored with Judge Wang Yaqin, Nanjing Shifan Daxue Chubanshe, Nanjing, 2009, 48p.

• “Chine : la règle de droit aux marges d'un empire bureaucratique et absolutiste (1978-2014)”, Revue Francaise d’administration publique, N. 150 September 2014, 2 Paris, pp.393–413
• “Rule of Law as a Watermark: China’s Legal and Judicial Challenges”, The World Bank Law Review, Washington, December 2012, 22p.
• "China: Law and Society", in Mireille Delmas-Marty; Pierre-Etienne Will, China and Democracy, 2011, 32p.
• "Local Courts in Western China: The Quest for Independence and Dignity”, Chapter 8 in Randy Peerenboom (eds.), Judicial Independence in China: A Comparative Developmental Approach, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2009, pp.154-180.
• “Ordinary Justice and Popular Constitutionalism in China”, Chapter 11 in Balme, Dowdle (eds.), 2009, 178-200p.
• “China’s Constitutional Research and Teaching: A State of the Art”, by Prof. Tong Zhiwei, (translated by author) in Balme, Dowdle (eds.), 2009, pp.98-112p.
• “Introduction to Chinese Political System” (in French) in Antonin Cohen; Lacroix Bernard, Comparative Political Science Textbook, La Découverte, 2009. 28p.
• "Droit et politique en Chine après Mao" (Law and Politics after Mao) (in French), in Mireille Demas-Marty; P.-E Will, La Chine et la Démocratie, Fayard, 2007, Paris, 50p.
• "China’s Soft Power Strategy", CERISCOPE, September 2013 (in French).
• “Access to Justice in China: Review of Efforts to Improve Judicial Efficiency and Reduce Judicial Costs”, EU-UNDP-The People's Supreme Court of the PRC, May 2012 (bilingual: Chinese/English), 40p.
• “‘世俗化’与法治的概念：关于法国“禁止在公共场所穿遮面长袍（burka）”新法案的讨论”, “French Conceptions of “Laicity” and Rule of Law: Debating the New Law Banning Full-face Veil in Public Places in France” (in Chinese), Tsinghua University Law Review, December 2011.
• "The Judicialization of Politics and the Politicisation of the Judiciary in China (1978-2005)", The Global Jurist Frontiers, vol 5, n° 1, 2005 (Berkeley Electronic Law Review)
• “Communism and Schizophrenia: Individual Citizens and Law in Post-Revolutionary China" (in French), Raisons Politiques, Special edition, n°3, Autumn 2001, Paris, 32p.

• Centre de recherches internationales (CERI)
• Sciences Po
• CNRS