A confederal structure, where the research centres are viewed as the real “manufacturing” places of research and that it is the Institute’s responsibility to support and promote their activities; a collegial decision-making process, conducted by the Institute's board of directors, which meets once a month and is made up of the heads of all the research centres, representatives of scientific staff and the Institute's coordinator; a centralized and transversal offer of services, which supports the research centres in areas that they do not have the means to develop on their own, namely: logistical support for research, editorial support, journal management, organization of events, and management of major research contracts; shared rules, particularly in budgetary matters (two-thirds of the operating costs are repaid back to the centres), support for the publication and translation activities of researchers, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary and inter-centre synergies, etc.); and finally, specific activities, such as welcome and support sessions for young researchers, the organization of a bi-annual colloquium, and the continuation of a cycle of "major conferences" in conjunction with student associations.