Who are we ?
The Labex Who Am I? is an interdisciplinary project, bringing together teams of biologists, physicists, psychoanalysts, historians, and philosophers of science around the central question of identity. Together, we explore the determinants of identity at various scales (chemical, molecular, cellular, and social) through collaborative approaches.
The Labex
Launched in 2012, and renewed in 2020, Who Am I? is an ambitious project which aims to address the fundamental question of the bases of identity. To this end, it mobilizes around one hundred research teams, representing 1,200 people, grouped into 7 partner units. It is co-coordinated by Claire ROUGEULLE (biologist, Epigenetics and Cell Fate unit) and Benoît LADOUX (physicist, Jacques Monod Institute).
The project is built around three lines of research:
– Transmission of identity across generations
– Integrity in response to stress and challenge
– Plasticity and changes in identity
The identity
Recent discoveries and technological developments have helped shed light on new mechanisms involved, particularly in the organization of the genome and epigenetic regulation, cell plasticity and stem cell dynamics, or in the impact on our environment. In light of these new elements, it becomes necessary to reassess how the genome and the environment interact and help define who we are at the molecular, cellular and organism scales. This debate must also be placed in the context of society, at the level of the individual and the perception of identity and its altered states.
Laboratory of Excellence
The Labex program, or Laboratory of Excellence, is one of the instruments of the Investments for the Future program of the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation. The Labex call is intended to support research by all teams on a given scientific theme.
Supported by Université Paris Cité, Who Am I? is one of the 71 winners of wave 2 of the Laboratories of Excellence call for projects. It has a total budget of 16 million euros.
Find out more about Labex and Investments for the Future by clicking here.
À lire aussi
Closing Conference 2024 – Interdisciplinary perspectives on identity
The Labex Who Am I? invites you to its closing conference, “Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Identity: from Single Cells to Organism and Beyond”, which will take place on November 27-29 in Paris. The Labex Who Am I? final conference will take place on November 27, 28...
Pint of Science festival 2024
Once again this year, the Labex Who Am I? is partnering with the Faculty of Sciences of the Université Paris Cité, the Genetics and Epigenetics New Education (G.E.N.E.) Graduate School, and the Major Research and Innovation Domain BioConvergence for Health...
Visiting Professors programme: Matthias Peter
As part of its Visiting Professors programme, the Labex Who Am I? is delighted to welcome professor Matthias Peter, professor of Biochemistry and group leader at ETH Zurich, Switzerland. © Peter group, ETH Zurich Matthias Peter...
Rhythms and resonances: coming into contact with otherness
The Labex Who Am I? co-funds the “Rhythms and resonances: coming into contact with otherness” workshop. © Gerd Altmann from Pixabay Interdisciplinary doctoral workshopThe “Rhythms and resonances: coming into contact with otherness”...