Since 1972 — Professor of the University of Geneva, since 2000 — distinguished professor. Director of the European Institute in the University of Geneva (1997–2000), Rector of the Lomonosov Russian University in Geneva (2002–2010). A member of Academia Europaea (London). Honoris causa of the National University "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy" (Ukraine), Institute of Russian Literature of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Pushkin House) and the Harbin University (China).
He translated works by Andrei Bely, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Andrei Sinyavsky, Joseph Brodsky and other authors into Russian. He is the author of such books as Sur Soljenitsyne (About Solzhenitsyn; Lausanne, 1974), Soljenitsyne (Solzhenitsyn; Paris, 1980, Rus. Translation: London, 1984), Vers la fin du mythe russe (The End of the Russian Myth; Lausanne, 1982), Coming Back to Europe: Articles on Russian Literature (M., 1999), Vivre en russe (Lausanne, 2009) and others, as well as of numerous articles about Russian culture.
A co-editor of History of Russian Literature in six volumes that was released in French and Italian (1987–2005); Editor of the historical collection Les sites de la memoire russe (Natural Boundaries of Russian Memory) the first volume of which was released in 2007. In 2011, he organized Alexandre Soljenitsyne: Le courage decrire (Alexander Solzhenitsyn: A Bravery of Writing), the first largescale exhibition of Alexander Solzhenitsyn's manuscripts, in the Martin Bodmer Museum (Geneva).