An Arctic archipelago, A territory of international science. Geography of scientific research in Svalbard.

Far from being a fringe of the world, Svalbard is actually an archipelago at the heart of international science. This dissertation falls within the field of the geography of science, which aims to study science as a spatial fact. It assumes that Svalbard is a constructed research territory which counts science among its resources and which, in turn, is, as a “control area” for climate change and as an “open-air laboratory”, a resource for science. New sources are mobilised, such as a set of interviews conducted with French and Norwegian scientists who have done research in Svalbard, and a database, Research in Svalbard. Reflecting on science as a resource allows us to understand that it is part of political claims on the territory. Thinking of the territory as a resource for science makes it possible to grasp the ways in which researchers choose a field of research, and to look at the impact of science on the space it studies; as well as new scientific practices.