The 32 member institutes of the Institut Pasteur International Network (IPIN), and partners and associates in scientific research, public health services and education alliances, join the Network on a voluntary basis. These institutes have signed the Institut Pasteur International Network Cooperation Agreement. A charter of Pasteurian values has therefore been adopted by all members of the network.
Present on five continents, researchers from the Institut Pasteur International Network — women and men from many different cultural backgrounds — are united by the same Pasteurian culture, scientific rigor and values.
The Council of Directors of the International Network decides on which institutes can join the network. It is made up of the Director of each member institute and chaired by the Institut Pasteur’s President. It meets once or twice a year and elects twelve representatives at the Institut Pasteur’s General Meeting. When they meet, the Directors draw up and approve the main areas of development for the International Network and the conditions of application.
The Pasteur International Network Association, set up in 2011 under the 1901 French law, is the legal entity of the Institut Pasteur International Network. International Network institutes make up its membership. Chaired by the Institut Pasteur via its President, this Association has two governing bodies:
a General Meeting, bringing together all member institutes,
a Board of Directors, featuring 12 members: five representatives from member institutes, elected by region (Africa-Indian Ocean, the Americas, Asia-Pacific, Europe, North Africa-Iran), five representatives from the Institut Pasteur and two external co-opted members.
On this basis, it manages the International courses (around 15 courses a year, put on in Network institutes), organizes Regional Meetings — to foster links between researchers —, and sets up new scientific projects for international cooperation. In addition, it develops several initiatives to promote the role and raise the profile of the Network in terms of health research worldwide.
In this capacity, it was recognized as an organization in "Official Relations" with the World Health Organization in 2016, highlighting the role of the Institut Pasteur International Network in global public health.
The Department of International Affairs is tighly associated with the coordination of joint activities and participation in the board of directors' and scientific council meetings of International Network member institutes. It also oversees funding and the secondment of staff to certain institutes from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, with the backing of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development and the Ministry for Higher Education and Research.