Ceramic consisting of an inorganic base material doped by an element J, said inorganic base material having a melting point above 300°C, said dopant consisting of one inorganic material or of a mixture of at least two inorganic materials having a doping effect on the inorganic base material, said ceramic being represented by formula E α-x' k J x' m O β-x'(k-m)/2 2- □ x'(k-m)/2 wherein: - Eα k O β 2- denotes the inorganic base material; - E denotes at least one metal from groups I to VIII of the Periodic Table of the Elements, and k denotes the average degree of oxidation of E in formula I; - J represents at least one metal from groups I to VIII of the Periodic Table, and m denotes the average degree of oxidation of the element J which is partially substituted for E, m is a positive integer such that m < k; - α, k and β are positive numbers comprised between 1 and 20, such that αk - 2β = 0; - x' denotes the substitution rate and is a positive number such that x' < α; - □ represents an anionic vacancy; said ceramic being characterized by a bixbyite type crystalline structure and in that the inorganic base material is In 2 O 3, the ceramic having a conductivity greater than 70% of the theoretical conductivity, and comprising molar percentages in Sn0 2 and Zn0 each between 3 and 15 %, with a percentage of ZnO greater than or equal to that of Sn0 2, said ceramic being characterized in that it has at least one of the following properties: (i) a macroscopic electrical conductivity, measured according to the four-point method (four-probe measurements) with a Keithley device (model 2400 Source Meter), which is greater than 300 siemens per cm; (ii) an improved apparent density, measured according to the mercury porosimeter method, which is between 6 and 7.1 g/cm 3; (iii) a (total) surface area greater than 5 cm 2; (iv) an improved percentage of grain boundary irregularities, measured according to the high-resolution electron microscopy method, which is less than 30% of that of a corresponding ceramic prepared without addition of doping element by the conventional method; and (v) a size of the pores present in the ceramic, measured by the high-resolution SEM method, which is between 0.1 and 0.8 micrometers. - Eα k O β 2- denotes the inorganic base material; - E denotes at least one metal from groups I to VIII of the Periodic Table of the Elements, and k denotes the average degree of oxidation of E in formula I; - J represents at least one metal from groups I to VIII of the Periodic Table, and m denotes the average degree of oxidation of the element J which is partially substituted for E, m is a positive integer such that m < k; - α, k and β are positive numbers comprised between 1 and 20, such that αk - 2β = 0; - x' denotes the substitution rate and is a positive number such that x' < α; - □ represents an anionic vacancy; (i) a macroscopic electrical conductivity, measured according to the four-point method (four-probe measurements) with a Keithley device (model 2400 Source Meter), which is greater than 300 siemens per cm; (ii) an improved apparent density, measured according to the mercury porosimeter method, which is between 6 and 7.1 g/cm 3; (iii) a (total) surface area greater than 5 cm 2; (iv) an improved percentage of grain boundary irregularities, measured according to the high-resolution electron microscopy method, which is less than 30% of that of a corresponding ceramic prepared without addition of doping element by the conventional method; and (v) a size of the pores present in the ceramic, measured by the high-resolution SEM method, which is between 0.1 and 0.8 micrometers.