Research panorama 2025
The data presented below was extracted in June 2025. Each year, we refine our classification systems and enrich this panorama with new elements. A thorough update was carried out in 2025.
The researchers' network
Répartition
In our directory, 456 people declare that they work on themes related to the end of life. Five years ago, there were 312, an increase of 46%.
Women are more represented than men (64% versus 36%).
68% of these researchers are affiliated to a research unit.
106 directory members conduct research while practicing in hospital or medical services.
| Number of research units | Number of researchers.s |
|---|---|
| 175 research units (EA, UR, UMR, UPR, UAR...) | 310 |
| 11 clinical research structures (CIC, URC, UIC) | 20 |
Disciplinary fields
Our classification, built on the basis of researcher declarations, counts 57 specialties. 48% belong to the medical, paramedical and life sciences and 52% to the humanities and social sciences.
Not included in this chart are disciplines with only one occurrence, namely: cardiology, forensic medicine, clinical pharmacy, psychomotricity, image semiotics, genetics, mathematics, maieutics and biostatistics.
Methodology
A single person may have reported using several methods in their research work. The graph below shows the number of researchers.s using each method:
Populations and pathologies
The populations predominantly studied are palliative care patients, cancer patients, healthcare professionals and the elderly, as well as relatives and caregivers.
Aging and older people and the elderlyFamily and caregivers
| Palliative care patients | 128 | |
| Cancer | 115 | |
| Health professionals professionals | <112 | |
| 88 | ||
| <83 | ||
| Vulnerable vulnerable | 63 | |
| Neurodegenerative diseases | 49 | |
| Resuscitation | 41 | |
| Pediatrics, children, neonatology | 40 | |
| Persons with disabilities | 28 | |
| Teens and young adults | 24 | |
| Funeral professionals | 23 | |
| Psychiatric diseases | 21 | |
| Organ failure: nephrology (6), cardiology (7), pulmonology (7) | 20 | |
| Primary care and general medicine (14), Internal Medicine (2) | 16 | |
| Volunteers | 13 | |
| Emergency Medicine | 11 | |
| Past populations | 9 | |
| Patients partners | 8 | |
| Genetic diseases | 7 | |
| Migrants | 6 | |
| Orphans | 6 | |
| Obesity | 1 |
Research themes
| End-of-life settings: home (54), institutional (67) | 121 |
| Ethical issues | 113 |
| Patient support | 107 |
| Experiences and perceptions of end of life | 99 |
| Support for loved ones and caregivers | 95 |
| Anticipation / Advance directives | 87 |
| Decision-making processes | 83 |
| Social and cultural representations | 78 |
| Bereavement | 77 |
| Death Wish/Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide | 69 |
| Sedation | 68 |
| Evaluation of professional practices / Devices / Tools and scales | 62 |
| Psychic and existential suffering | 62 |
| Law and legislation | 56 |
| Quality of life | 56 |
| Early palliative care | 56 |
| History of palliative care (18) / History of death (31) | 49 |
| Pain management | 48 |
| Care pathways | 48 |
| Professional training/Pedagogy | 45 |
| Communication | 42 |
| Drugs / Therapeutics / Medical Devices | 38 |
| Interprofessional collaborations | 35 |
| Symptom assessment and management | 34 |
| Organization of care | 33 |
| Limitation and discontinuation of treatment | 32 |
| Spirituality and religion | 28 |
| Philosophy of death | 27 |
| Funeral practices/Post-mortem care | 27 |
| Autonomy and people at the end of life | 26 |
| Health policy | 26 |
| Organ donation and procurement | 19 |
| Food / Artificial nutrition | 16 |
| Agonia | 14 |
| Pandemic - Covid 19 | 13 |
| Alternative and complementary medicine | 12 |
| Analysis of the public debate | 11 |
| Therapeutic education | 10 |
| Depressive disorders | 9 |
| Supportive care | 9 |
| Economic issues | 7 |
| Biology of aging | 6 |
| Predictive markers of death/Prognostic factors | 3 |
| Neurobiological mechanisms of death | 3 |
| Analysis of causes of death | 1 |
| Animal mediation | 1 |
Thesis
Since 2019 we have been listing theses on subjects related to end-of-life and palliative care (source theses.fr).
However, this census is not exhaustive and does not take into account theses practicing in medicine or pharmacy.
In 2025, there were18 thesis registrations (stable compared with the previous year) and 8 theses defended (14 more than previously). In total 73 theses have been defended since 2019.
As of June 2025, 92 theses are in progress. These are 81% in human and social sciences (SHS) laboratories and mostly by women (77%).
Disciplinary fields
Thematics
The data below concerns both theses in progress and theses defended.
| Thematics | Number of theses |
| Experiences and perceptions of the end of life | 30 |
| Death wish/Euthanasia/Assisted suicide | 26 |
| Organ donation and removal | 19 |
| Psychic and existential suffering | 18 |
| Ethical issues | 15 |
| Health policies | 15 |
| Decision-making processes | 15 |
| Communication | 14 |
| Therapeutic education | 14 |
| Bereavement | 13 |
| Anticipation / Advance directives | 10 |
| Funeral practices / Post-mortem care | 10 |
| Patient support | 9 |
| Social and cultural representations | 9 |
| Care pathways | 8 |
| Support for relatives and carers | 7 |
| Law and legislation | 7 |
| End of life in a hospital/medical-social institution | 7 |
| End of life at home | 5 |
| Limitation and discontinuation of treatment | 5 |
| Organization of care | 5 |
| Pain management | 5 |
| Evaluation of professional practices/devices/tools and scales | 4 |
| Sedation | 4 |
| Early palliative care | 4 |
| Autonomy for people at the end of life | 3 |
| Interprofessional collaborations | 3 |
| Symptom assessment and management | 3 |
| Philosophy of death | 3 |
| Professional training/Pedagogy | 2 |
| Predictive markers of death / Prognostic factors | 2 |
| Spirituality and religion | 1 |
| Analysis of public debate | 1 |
| Neurobiological mechanisms of death | 1 |
| Economic issues | 1 |
Project directory
The research projects directory has 5 more projects than the previous year: 92 projects in total were posted by our network members.
The sources of funding are diverse: Institut national du cancer (INCa), Agence nationale de la recherche (ANR), Direction générale de l'offre de soins (DGOS) of the Ministry of Health and Prevention, Fondation de France...
These projects are listed on the initiative of researchers and PhD students. The list is therefore not exhaustive.
Disciplinary fields
| Disciplines mentioned | Number of projects |
| Palliative care | 41 |
| Sociology (18), Anthropology (11) | 29 |
| Psychology (26), Psychoanalysis (1) | 27 |
| Oncology (13), Hematology (1) | 14 |
| Public Health | 14 |
| Philosophy (3), Ethics (11) | 14 |
| Law | 12 |
| Linguistics (3), Information and Communication Sciences (3), Language Sciences (2) | 8 |
| Nursing sciences | 7 |
| Architecture (4), Arts (1) | 5 |
| Educational sciences | 5 |
| Demography (3), Geography (2) | 5 |
| Epidemiology | 4 |
| General Medicine | 3 |
| Geriatrics (2), Gerontology (1) | 3 |
| Economics | 2 |
| Neurology | 2 |
| Emergency Medicine | 2 |
| Resuscitation | 2 |
| Algology | 1 |
| History | 1 |
| Physiotherapy | 1 |
| Nephrology | 1 |
| Neurosciences | 1 |
| Pediatrics | 1 |
| Pharmacology | 1 |
| Political Science | 1 |
| Biology | 1 |
| History | 1 |
Thematics
The topics covered in these projects are diverse.
| End-of-life places: home (21), institutional (26) | 47 |
| Accompaniment of loved ones and caregivers | 27 |
| Accompaniment of patients | 27 |
| Experiences and perceptions of the end of life | 25 |
| Evaluation of professional practices / devices / tools and scales | 21 |
| Anticipations / Advance directives | 18 |
| Bereavement | 18 |
| Care pathways | 16 |
| Decision-making processes | 15 |
| Law and legislation | 14 |
| Death wish/Euthanasia/Assisted suicide | 13 |
| Social and cultural representations | 13 |
| Quality of life | 12 |
| Professional training/Pedagogy | 12 |
| Sedation | 11 |
| Ethical issues | 11 |
| Organization of care | 11 |
| Autonomy for people at the end of life | 9 |
| History of death (7), History of palliative care (2) | 9 |
| Early palliative care | 8 |
| Communication | 7 |
| Interprofessional collaborations | 7 |
| Psychic and existential suffering | 7 |
| Funeral practices/Post-mortem care | 7 |
| Symptom assessment and management | 6 |
| Medications / Therapeutics / Medical devices | 6 |
| Health policies | 6 |
| Philosophy of death | 5 |
| Limitations and cessation of treatment | 5 |
| Therapeutic education | 3 |
| Pandemic - Covid 19 | 3 |
| Agonia | 3 |
| Spirituality and religion | 3 |
| Pain management | 2 |
| Predictive markers of death / Prognostic factors | 2 |
| Economic issues | 2 |
| Food / artificial nutrition | 1 |
| Organ donation and procurement | 1 |
| Supportive care | 1 |
European projects
We have improved the census of European projects on the end-of-life theme.
There are 31, mostly funded by Horizon Europe (14 projects), then Horizon 2020 and ERC (6 each). The COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology), Interreg and Erasmus + programs are represented by just one project each.
These results show that the end-of-life theme is well integrated into major European research programs, particularly those geared towards innovation and basic research.
France appears as coordinator of only one project (the INSPIRE project). The countries most represented in project coordination are The Netherlands (8), Spain (5) and Belgium (8). Germany coordinates two, and Finland, Romania, Portugal, Italy, Greece, Norway and Ireland one each.
For more information, see the page dedicated to European projects on our website
Updated 10/07/2025
Data extraction and processing: Sophie Aupet