Vincent Kaufmann studied sociology at the University of Geneva, followed by a doctorate from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in 1988. Since then he has been an invited scholar at the University of Lancaster (2001) and at the Ecole des Ponts, Paris (2001 – 2002); and associate professor at the University of Cergy-Pontaise (2002-2003). He is now associate professor at the EPFL, where he directs the laboratory LASUR and the CEAT. His recent research has focused essentially on urban life (multi-residency, the temporal and spatial arrangements of programs of activity); the politics or urban planning and transport; as well as the notion of mobility and its importance in terms of setting social structures.