Your gift powers discovery and global health solutions
Every breakthrough at the Institut Pasteur begins with a question: how can we better prevent and treat disease to improve lives around the world? Members of Le Cercle de Pasteur make these questions possible to answer — at the highest level of scientific ambition.
We provide critical funding for cutting-edge projects that push the boundaries of what is possible in medicine and global health.
Our fellowship programs empower the next generation of researchers to continue Louis Pasteur's legacy of curiosity, discovery, and innovation.
By translating research into action, we help bring lifesaving treatments and tools to the communities that need them most.
Le Cercle de Pasteur is the major donor program of the Pasteur Foundation — the American nonprofit that channels philanthropic investment to the Institut Pasteur in Paris, one of the world’s foremost biomedical research institutions, founded in 1888.
Founded by Louis Pasteur himself, the Institut has produced ten Nobel laureates and pioneered discoveries that have transformed the course of human health — from the germ theory of disease and the development of vaccines to the discovery of HIV and the ongoing fight against emerging infectious diseases.
Members of Le Cercle join a tradition of patrons who understand that the greatest breakthroughs begin not with government mandates, but with private courage and generosity. Your gift makes possible the science the world needs most. All gifts are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
— Louis Pasteur
Morning
Exclusive behind-the-scenes access to active laboratories, with a presentation on current flagship programs in infectious disease, immunology, and neuroscience, led by a senior researcher.
MIDDAY
A private after-hours visit to Pasteur’s own apartment, preserved exactly as it was in 1895, accompanied by the museum curator. Includes the Byzantine-style crypt where Pasteur and his wife Marie are buried
EVENING
A private dinner reception in the historic salons of the Institut de France, where Pasteur delivered some of his most celebrated lectures. Guest of honor: a member of Institut Pasteur scientific leadership.
TGV Paris → Arbois, Jura
Morning
A scenic two-hour high-speed train journey to the Jura, with an onboard briefing on Pasteur’s relationship to his native region and the terroir that shaped his curiosity about fermentation and living organisms.Exclusive behind-the-scenes access to active laboratories, with a presentation on current flagship programs in infectious disease, immunology, and neuroscience, led by a senior researcher.
Afternoon
A private after-hours visit to Pasteur’s own apartment, preserved exactly as it was in 1895, accompanied by the museum curator. Includes the Byzantine-style crypt where Pasteur and his wife Marie are buried.
EVENING
A private dinner reception in the historic salons of the Institut de France, where Pasteur delivered some of his most celebrated lectures. Guest of honor: a member of Institut Pasteur scientific leadership.
Dole, Jura
Morning
A scenic two-hour high-speed train journey to the Jura, with an onboard briefing on Pasteur’s relationship to his native region and the terroir that shaped his curiosity about fermentation and living organisms.
Afternoon
A private after-hours visit to Pasteur’s own apartment, preserved exactly as it was in 1895, accompanied by the museum curator. Includes the Byzantine-style crypt where Pasteur and his wife Marie are buried.
EVENING
A celebratory dinner at a Michelin-recognized restaurant in the region, with remarks from the Pasteur Foundation President and a senior Institut Pasteur scientist on the transformative research donors are making possible.
Paris
Optional
An exclusive after-hours or pre-opening guided visit to the Musée d’Orsay or the Louvre, arranged by the Pasteur Foundation — a reminder that the France Pasteur loved was a nation of art as well as science.
Optional
A final lunch at a restaurant connected to Paris’s Belle Époque intellectual life — the era of Pasteur’s greatest fame — before departing for the airport.
