(Joined work with Don Stanley)

   Let M be a closed manifold. We study the homotopy type of the configuration space of k points in M, F(M,k) with the tools of rational homotopy theory. In particular we construct an algebraic model of this space in some category of DG-modules. Moreover in many cases this model is a differential algebra and seems to be the right candidate for a model, in the sense of Sullivan, of the rational homotopy type of F(M,k)