Since the 1970s, the social sciences have analyzed science as a historically and geographically situated social practice, an approach that has undoubtedly transformed our view of scientific production. SciOUTPOST sheds light on scientific places at the margins of French overseas territories inherited from its colonial past. This project proposes to test and theorize the concept of “scientific outpost” as one possible development for lab-studies, useful to characterize scientific places that are neither calculation centers nor fieldwork sites: these outposts are remote, permanent, relatively autonomous. They induce a temporary monastic-life where scientists and nonscientists, private and intensive professional life, are intertwined. Place-based practices in these outposts shaped by geopolitical (often postcolonial) context also produce universal knowledge and exclude possible local knowledge. This project will be pursued in an interdisciplinary manner, linking approaches from STS, political sociology, anthropology, geography and history. Moreover, SciOUTPOST will promote exchange with natural scientists working in the investigated infrastructures. Each case study will be carried out through a combination of fieldwork (in-situ observation, life histories, interviews) and archival study, guided by the shared conceptual framework. The concept of outpost will be tested by progressively extending the comparison, from a first stage already explored with space launch centers (Algeria), volcanological observatories (Martinique) and tropical biology stations (Fr. Guyana), to astronomical observatories, polar stations (Arctic and Antarctic), TAAF Islands, meteorological stations, or archaeological stations in Maghreb. The comparison will also be made between historical periods, geographic areas (and ecosystems), various disciplines, and then the "nationality" of these scientific infrastructures, beyond the French overseas territories which remain the focus of SciOUTPOST.