CRH – Centre de recherches historiques (EHESS–CNRS)

What CRH – Centre de recherches historiques (EHESS–CNRS) does

CRH (Centre de recherches historiques) is a French public research laboratory designated as UMR 8558, jointly operated by EHESS (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) and CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and headquartered at 54 Boulevard Raspail in Paris. Functioning as an interdisciplinary consortium rather than a commercial entity, it coordinates more than 20 specialized research groups and collectives covering economic, social, cultural, environmental, gender, literary, political, and demographic history from the medieval period to the contemporary era. Its research community comprises research directors (directeurs d'études), affiliated researchers, post-doctoral scholars, and doctoral candidates enrolled in the EHESS doctoral program, with international visitors such as Joshua Cole (University of Michigan) participating in 2026.

CRH's primary outputs are scholarly publications, peer-reviewed journals, research databases, and digital humanities infrastructure. Core research assets include the cartographic, iconographic, and textual databases maintained under the "Sources et données de la recherche" section, alongside a GIS platform (Plateforme SIG) and a geomatics engineering collective (Ingénierie géomatique pour l'histoire) supporting spatial historical analysis. The center publishes Histoire & Mesure (history of measurement and quantification), L'Atelier du CRH (interdisciplinary electronic journal), and Les Dossiers du GRIHL (literary history), and produces 50+ publications per year through major academic presses including CNRS Éditions, Éditions de l'EHESS, Belin, Gallimard, MIT Press, Oxford University Press, and Cambridge University Press. Distribution occurs via OpenEdition, Persée, the institutional website, and physical/digital channels.

CRH operates on a non-commercial public funding model, with its core budget derived from French government research allocations to EHESS and CNRS; it does not sell commercial products or services. Scholarly dissemination is pursued through seminars, doctoral workshops, conferences, summer schools, and public events such as the Festival Allez Savoir. Its primary constituencies are academic historians, doctoral candidates, post-doctoral researchers, and broader public audiences engaging with historical knowledge. Governance is jointly held by Raphaël Morera and Dinah Ribard, and the center benefits from a large international visiting-scholar and publishing-partner network across Europe, North America, and Asia.

Name

CRH – Centre de recherches historiques (EHESS–CNRS)

Legal name

Centre de recherches historiques (EHESS–CNRS)

Website

https://crh.ehess.fr

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CRH is a French public research laboratory (UMR 8558, EHESS-CNRS) in Paris that coordinates 20+ interdisciplinary historical research groups, supports doctoral training, and disseminates scholarship through journals, databases, and digital humanities infrastructure for academic and public audiences.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Institutional Funding: CRH operates as a joint research unit (UMR 8558) jointly funded by EHESS (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales) and CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), France's premier public research organizations. Core funding derives from French government research allocations.
2. Publication Revenue: Revenue generated from sales of academic publications through partnered publishers (CNRS Éditions, Éditions de l'EHESS, Belin, Gallimard, etc.). Royalties from scholarly books authored by affiliated researchers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

The Centre de recherches historiques (CRH, UMR 8558) is a French public research laboratory jointly operated by EHESS and CNRS, conducting historical research across periods from antiquity to the contemporary era. It produces peer-reviewed academic journals, scholarly monographs, research databases (cartographic, iconographic, textual), GIS-based digital humanities infrastructure, and organizes conferences, seminars, summer schools and doctoral training programs for affiliated researchers and doctoral candidates.

Product overview

The Centre de Recherches Historiques (CRH) is a historical research laboratory (UMR 8558, EHESS-CNRS) based in Paris, operating as a consortium of research groups rather than a commercial product company. Its offerings consist primarily of academic publications and journals (Histoire & Mesure, L'Atelier du CRH, Les Dossiers du GRIHL), research databases (cartographic, iconographic, and textual databases), and GIS/digital humanities infrastructure (Plateforme SIG, Ingénierie géomatique). CRH does not develop or sell commercial software products; its outputs are scholarly publications, research datasets, and academic events for the historical research community.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• AHLoMA: Anthropologie Historique du Long Moyen Âge - research group on medieval anthropology
• Études Juives (EJ)
• GEHM
• GEI
• GrHEco
• Groupe sur l'Histoire du Genre
• RHiSoP
• GRHEN
• GRIHL
• HHS
• LaDéHiS
• Centre François Simiand
• ERHIMOR

Products and services

• Histoire & Mesure Peer-reviewed academic journal published by Éditions de l'EHESS, focused on the history of measurement and quantification in historical research. Full text accessible via Persée (1986-2000) and OpenEdition (since 2001). For historians and social scientists interested in quantitative and measurement-based approaches.
• L'Atelier du CRH Electronic journal of the Centre de Recherches Historiques publishing interdisciplinary research across historical periods and themes, with bilingual (French/English) content. For academic historians and social scientists.
• Les Dossiers du GRIHL Digital publication series from the Groupe de Recherches Interdisciplinaires sur l'Histoire du Littéraire (GRIHL), focusing on literature, authority, and historical representation studies. For scholars of literary history and interdisciplinary humanities.
• Bases de données cartographiques et iconographiques Digital archive of historical maps and iconographic materials maintained by CRH for research purposes, accessible through the Sources et données de la recherche section. For historians and researchers requiring cartographic and visual primary sources.
• Bases de données textuelles Textual databases developed by CRH researchers, providing searchable historical source materials and primary documents for scholarly analysis. For historians and doctoral researchers working with digitized primary text sources.
• Plateforme SIG Geographic Information System (GIS) platform for historical research, enabling spatial analysis and cartographic visualization of historical data and phenomena. For historians and researchers conducting spatial or environmental historical analysis.
• Ingénierie géomatique pour l'histoire Geomatic engineering collective and tools supporting historical research through spatial data analysis, mapping technologies, and geographic visualization methods. For historians adopting digital and computational methods.

Quantifiable outcome

• Published over 50 scholarly works in 2017-2026 period, spanning multiple disciplines and historical periods.

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• University of MichiganminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Visiting researcher Joshua Cole from the University of Michigan will visit CRH in May-June 2026, indicating ongoing academic exchange with North American institutions.
• EHESS (École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCRH operates as UMR 8558, a joint research unit jointly managed by EHESS and CNRS. EHESS provides the primary institutional framework, academic programs, doctoral training, and administrative infrastructure. This is the founding institutional partnership without which CRH cannot exist.
• CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAs co-tutelle partner with EHESS, CNRS provides national research funding, institutional recognition, and administrative support as France's premier public scientific research organization.
• Japanese Partner Universities (Yoshida Publishing)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGRIHL (CRH research group) maintains longstanding collaboration with Japanese scholars, evidenced by joint publications with Yoshida Publishing (Tokyo) including volumes on literature and authority themes.
• École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Asian historical research, particularly documented in publications on calendars, Chinese history, and cross-cultural historical studies.
• MIT PressminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAcademic publishing partnership for 'Cultures of Contagion' (2021), edited by Béatrice Delaurenti and Thomas Le Roux, published in English by MIT Press with contributions from CRH researchers.
• Oxford University PressminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAcademic publishing partnership for 'Genealogy and Social Status in the Enlightenment' (2021), edited by Stéphane Jettot and Jean-Paul Zuñiga.
• Cambridge University Press / OpenBooks PublishersminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPublishing partnership for 'Diversity and Rabbinization' (2021), edited by Gavin McDowell, Ron Naiweld, and Daniel Stökl Ben Ezra, with EPHE contribution.
• CNRS ÉditionsminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPrimary French academic publishing partner for numerous CRH-affiliated works including 'Balzac nous appartient' by Judith Lyon-Caen and 'Historiciser le mal' by Florent Brayard.
• Éditions de l'EHESSminorGTM or Marketing PartnerIn-house publishing partner for journal 'Histoire & Mesure' and various CRH-affiliated monographs and collective works.
• Belin PublishersminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPublishing partner for journals including 'Clio. Femmes, Genre, Histoire' and 'Revue d'histoire moderne et contemporaine' featuring CRH research.
• FayardminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAcademic publisher for 'Historiciser le mal' (2021), the critical edition of Mein Kampf co-published with the Institut d'Histoire de Munich.
• Institut d'Histoire de MunichminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGerman partner institution that published the critical German edition of Mein Kampf in 2016, collaborated with Fayard on the French 'Historiciser le mal' project.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Centre d'études supérieures de la Renaissance (CESR): CNRS-affiliated UMR 7323 based in Tours, dedicated to Renaissance and early modern history research. Comparable to CRH as a French CNRS research unit publishing peer-reviewed scholarship and training doctoral researchers in historical methods.
• Centre Marc Bloch: Franco-German interdisciplinary humanities and social sciences research center based in Berlin. Comparable to CRH as an internationally oriented humanities research center with French academic lineage, hosting visiting scholars and producing peer-reviewed scholarship in history and related fields.
• Centre de recherches sur les arts et le langage (CRAL): UMR 8566 (EHESS-CNRS), a sister EHESS-CNRS joint research unit focused on arts and language research. Directly comparable as a peer EHESS-CNRS UMR with similar governance, funding model, publication output, and doctoral training mission.
• Laboratoire de médiévistique occidentale de Paris (LAMOP): UMR 8589 (CNRS-Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne), focused on medieval Western history research. Directly comparable to CRH's medieval research groups (e.g., AHLoMA) as a French public research unit producing peer-reviewed historical scholarship and training doctoral researchers.
• Institut d'histoire de la Révolution française (IHRF): French academic research center dedicated to 18th-19th century revolutionary history. Comparable to CRH as a Paris-based historical research institution with similar academic publishing output, doctoral training programs, and French public funding model.
• Centre Georg Simmel (CGS): EHESS-affiliated research center for historical anthropology and comparative historical sociology. Comparable to CRH as a Paris-based EHESS research center using interdisciplinary methods and hosting international visiting scholars.
• Institut d'histoire moderne et contemporaine (IHMC): UMR 8066 (EHESS-ENS-PSL-CNRS), another major French academic research center focused on modern and contemporary history. Directly comparable to CRH in structure (UMR joint research unit), funding model (French public research), and mission (historical scholarship with doctoral training).

Emerging players

• Institut français du Proche-Orient (IFPO): French public research institution under the MEAE umbrella conducting historical and social science research in the Middle East. Comparable to CRH as a French public research institution with doctoral training, scholarly publishing, and reliance on government funding.
• École française d'Extrême-Orient (EFEO): French public research institution studying Asian civilizations including historical research. Already a Minor partner of CRH, EFEO is comparable as a French public research institution with international scholarly networks and historical research focus.

Regional players

• Max Planck Institute for History of Science: German Max Planck Institute conducting historical research with a strong digital humanities and quantitative methods focus. Comparable to CRH in mission (historical research with methodological innovation) and digital humanities capabilities, but primarily German rather than French-based.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/crh.ehess.fr
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@Vid%C3%A9os_CRH_EHESS_CNRS
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/centre-de-recherches-historiques

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about CRH – Centre de recherches historiques (EHESS–CNRS)