Pierre Braunstein remained within the CNRS (French National Centre for Scientific Research), at the University of Strasbourg, for his whole career, except for one year at University College London (with Sir R. S. Nyholm) and another at the TU Munich (with E. O. Fischer, Nobel Laureate). He is now Emeritus CNRS Research Director.  

He is also affiliated with numerous universities in China. His main research interests lie in the inorganic/organometallic chemistry of the transition and main group elements. Focused on fundamental research, his work has also led to applications ranging from homogeneous catalysis, to cluster-derived nanoparticles for heterogeneous catalysis and nanosciences. He has (co)authored ca. 600 scientific publications and review articles and given over 480 Plenary, Keynote, and Invited talks at international conferences and institutions.

He has received numerous awards and honors from France, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Portugal, Singapore, Spain, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom. He is a member i.a. of the French Academy of Sciences, of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.