The CERES, previously the North-South Center for Social Sciences (NRCS), 2008-2015, is an independent and not-for-profit research institute founded by a Moroccan group of researchers and experts with a large network of active members and advisers from world regions.

The CERES aims to develop research and expertise relevant to environment, climate change, and human security and their governance from a multidimensional and interdisciplinary perspective. In other terms, Ceres, through its research program, aims to investigate the links between environmental/climate change, their implications for human security and the needed shifts to be undertaken in both research and policy.

As a think tank, CERES aspires to serve as a reference point, both locally and globally through rigorous research and active engagement with policy-making processes. CERES aims as well to undertake original research, provide expertise and contribute to effective science and policy interactions through its publications, scientific meetings and expertise.