Established in 2024 and named in honor of Marguerite de Navarre1, the Collège de France’s Marguerite Program aims to strengthen and foster reciprocal international exchanges between the institution and recognized academic partners. Supported by the Hugot Foundation of Collège de France, this program enables the Collège de France to host young international researchers—doctoral students or, in some cases, postdoctoral researchers—for short, one-month research stays at the institution’s chairs and laboratories, immersing them in the academic life of the institution at a pivotal moment in their careers. During its inaugural edition, ten students from four academic partners—Humboldt University of Berlin, the University of Chicago, the University of Tokyo (Tōdai), the University of Trento, and Uppsala University—benefited from mentorship by professors at the Collège de France.
The call for applications for the Marguerite Program is renewed each year in collaboration with the partner institutions.
1 Marguerite of Navarre (1492–1549) was the older sister of King Francis I, founder of the Collège de France in 1530. Together, they played a decisive role in creating the famous intellectual and cultural court of their era in France. A fervent advocate of the new ideas of her time, stemming from the Renaissance and the Reformation, she was an exemplary figure of the French Renaissance as an author and patron of literature and the arts. She befriended many artists and writers, including François Rabelais and Pierre de Ronsard, and offered them her patronage. In recognition of her contributions, the main auditorium at the Collège de France bears her name.
