Julie Fromentin, researcher and geographer

After doing her PhD at the University Paris 1 and INED and postdoc work at the University Gustave Eiffel and the University of Strasbourg, Julie Fromentin joined INED in 2023 as a research fellow and program manager. 

What path brought you to INED?

In 2016 I was given the opportunity to do a research internship at INED as part of my Master’s 2 program in geography at the Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne. The aim was to prepare to apply for PhD funding. INED researcher France Guérin-Pace was my mentor at the Institute and later became my thesis director. At the time I was particularly interested in questions of settlement structures, rural dynamics, and population mobility and movement. I earned my PhD in geography at the Université Paris 1 and at INED, where I worked in the “Mobility, Trajectories, and Territories” unit from 2026 to 2021 on the geography of immigration in France’s rural areas. After working as a postdoc for two years at the Université Gustave Eiffel and the Université de Strasbourg, I was hired at INED in 2023 as a research fellow and program manager—my current position here. 

What exactly is your role at INED?

Since 2025 I’ve been working with researchers and research survey engineers at INED to construct a quantitative survey on the life trajectories, circulation, social ties, and representations of both permanent and temporary inhabitants of rural areas in France. The work is part of an international research project, and this enables us to dialog and collaborate on these questions with colleagues from a considerable number of European countries.

My research is mainly on the spatial dimension of social inequalities, with particular focus on rural and suburban areas and small towns. I use public statistics data (population censuses, a permanent database on municipal facilities, social-fiscal data, etc.) that spatialize information at small, fine-grained levels—township, incorporated administrative unit, and even smaller socio-spatial entities—to study relations between dynamics in low-density areas and individuals’ social and residential trajectories. 

To conduct my research I belong to and participate in a range of different work groups connected to funded research projects or publishing activities, such as the Atlas Social de France and am also active in some of the major structuring national-level scientific communities such as the Commission de Géographie de la Population [Population geography commission] of the French National Geography Committee (CNFG). 

I am also scientific co-coordinator of INED’s weekly public seminar, the “Lundis de l’INED” (Mondays at INED), open to all and a key gathering for keeping up with multidisciplinary discussions and debate around population questions and issues. 

As you see it, what’s specific about INED? What do you appreciate most about working at the Institute?

INED is a national-level, reference institution for the study of population(s). The research done here on this one major subject is extremely varied and multidisciplinary. And the Institute is also very strong internationally, which makes it easy to dialogue with colleagues from other countries on our research topics. Another of INED’s strengths is that its ability to take part in public debate and to ensure wide diffusion of findings and new knowledge on its signature research topics. One of the things I appreciate most at the Institute is the ease of contacting and engaging with members of the different research units and support services—all within a human-scale institution.

More information about the RURALITIC project.