1981-1995: new projects

From 1981, the Foundation received more substantial State aid and was able to begin developing its own resources. In 1980, Michel Gentot took over from Jacques Chapsal as Administrator of the Foundation. He was succeeded in turn by Alain Lancelot, in 1987. In 1981, René Rémond was elected president of the Foundation. Together, these officers placed research among their top prioritie.

In autumn 1980, the Foundation gave permission for the creation of the OFCE (the Centre for Research in Economic Forecasting and Policy) as part of Sciences Po. The new Centre was headed by Jean-Marcel Jeanneney from 1981. Under the directorship of Pierre Milza, the CHEVS (Centre for Twentieth-Century European History) was created in 1984. That same year, under the directorship of Annick Percheron and Alain Lancelot, the Foundation and the CNRS jointly launched the OIP (Inter-Regional Political Observatory), followed in 1988 by the OSC (Centre for the Study of Social Change), directed by Henri Mendras; lastly, they brought the LSCI (Laboratoire de Sociologie du Changement des Institutions), directed by Renaud Sainsaulieu to the Rue Saint-Guillaume.

In 1991, the establishment of an Office of Research Management, led by Serge Hurtig, created a framework for the coordination of all research activities. The curricular reforms introduced by Alain Lancelot enabled researchers to become more involved in teaching activities.

In September 1995 the European Centre was launched, involving Sciences Po directly in European issues and leading to its participation in schemes such as SOCRATES and TEMPUS.

The documentation facilities were fully computerized from 1988, beginning a period of unprecedented growth.