ADES is a multidisciplinary unit whose common object of study is the understanding of the bio-cultural complexity of man, in particular through the prism of "the human body and biomaterials in their diversity, their representations and their uses" according to a diachronic and synchronic approach.
It explores this field from the point of view of scientists from different disciplinary backgrounds (ethnology, health anthropology, philosophy, ethics, forensic medicine, odontology, medical imaging, law, biology, medicine, etc.).
A significant part of this research falls within the field of "action research" with field questions (problems arising from the legal and medical world or directly from society itself) explored with the tools and rigor of research, ensuring a return to the field that allows for the advancement of knowledge from different disciplines.
This research is facilitated by the positioning of ADES in one of the largest universities, opening up valuable exchanges with numerous specialists as well as access to various platforms. It is also facilitated by the hosting of an osteotheque of nearly 10,000 skeletons, a biology laboratory, the Aix-en-Provence health law center, as well as an ethical space, a real place for interdisciplinary meetings and exchanges as well as public and citizen debates.
This research is divided into 3 teams: "Bio-anthropology of the Bone: Nature, Evolution, Societies" ("BONES"), "Bodies, Norms and Health" and "Blood Cell Biology and Anthropology".
The comitology of ADES is based on a laboratory council, a management council and team councils which ensure, in all transparency, the steering of the unit and the definition of the research strategy both within each team and between teams. This organization is completed by an ethical and deontological orientation council supporting the researchers in the elaboration of their project
