Dr Marion Maisonobe

IAS Fellow at St Aidan's College, October - December 2026

Contact Details

• Home Institution email: TBC
• Durham email: TBC
• Durham Tel: TBC

Dr Marion Maisonobe is a CNRS Research Fellow since 2019, based at the Géographie-Cités laboratory (CNRS / EHESS / Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne / Université Paris Cité) in the Paris region. She is part of the PARIS team (“Advancing Research on Spatial Interaction”), where she investigates global networks of scientific collaboration, spatial dynamics of research fields, and the circulation of knowledge. Her research explores the relations between geography of science, international relations, urban systems, and research policies.   

A specialist in the geography of science and spatial scientometrics, she earned her PhD in 2015 with a thesis on the global geography of scientific research, supervised by Professor Denis Eckert. She has received invitations as a Visiting Fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities at the University of Edinburgh (2018 and 2019) and at the University of Edinburgh (2024). In 2025, she was awarded the CNRS Bronze Medal for her contributions to human geography.    

Her work employs network analysis, data visualisation, and digital tools. She leads the development of the NETSCITY web application to map and analyse global scientific exchange. She is currently PI of the ANR OCEANLINKS research project on the role of marine stations in structuring the world community of ocean science.    

While an IAS Fellow, she will be involved in the project Community as an Enabler of Scientific Progress and Innovation led by Professor David Alexander (Physics) and Professor Sara Uckelman (Philosophy). Her skills in mixing bibliometric approaches and qualitative research will complement the quantitative approaches of the other team members. Her specialism will complement the expertise which the local Durham team members bring in terms of astronomy and astrophysics. Dr Maisonobe's expertise in how geography and geographical space contribute to the development of communities and networks will also open opportunities for interactions with Durham’s Geography department.   

As the only geographer in the core project team in Durham, Dr Maisonobe will be continuously engaging with researchers outside her home discipline, including sociologists, astronomers and other scientists, philosophers, and members of the Business School. In addition, she will present her work within the Geography department, and she will participate in CHESS events, as well as relevant research clusters within the Sociology and History department.  

 Dr Maisonobe's most recent co-publications include ‘Geographical and Disciplinary Coverage of Open Access Journals: OpenAlex, Scopus and WoS ‘ (2024, PLOS ONE); ‘Comprehensive Carbon Footprint of Earth, Environmental and Space Science Laboratories: implications for sustainable scientific practice’ (2024; PLOS Sustainability and Transformation); ‘Field Science and Scientific Collaboration in the Svalbard Archipelago: beyond science diplomacy’ (2024, Science and Public Policy; ‘Peer-making: the interconnections between PhD thesis committee membership and copublishing’ (2021, Quantitative Science Studies).  
 
In France, Dr Maisonobe is a member of the editorial boards of two STS journals (Zilsel and La Revue d’Anthropologie des Connaissances), and one geography journal (Mappemonde). She co-runs the editorial committees of two Diamond open access journals: ARCS (Network Analysis for the Social Sciences and the Humanities) and Rzine (computational articles with R). At the international scale, she serves as a reviewer for journals in social sciences, STS and scientometrics as well as for multidisciplinary journals such as Nature and PLOS One.  

Events

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