OPEN COMPETITIONS CR-2024-ALIMH-3
Junior Research Scientist on child eating behavior
21000 DIJON
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INRAE presentation
The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (INRAE) is a public research establishment under the dual authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Research.
INRAE is recruiting researchers by open competition and offering permanent position.
It is a major player in research and innovation created on 1st of January 2020. INRAE is a research institute resulting from the merger of INRA and IRSTEA. It is a community of 12,000 people with more than 200 research units and 42 experimental units located throughout France.
The institute is among the world leaders in agricultural and food sciences, in plant and animal sciences, and is 11th in the world in ecology and environment. INRAE’s main goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges. In the face of the increase in population, climate change, scarcity of resources and decline in biodiversity, the institute develops solutions for multiperformance agriculture, high quality food and sustainable management of resources and ecosystems.
Work environment, missions and activities
The Centre des Sciences du Goût et de l'Alimentation (Centre on Taste and Feeding Behaviour) is a multi-institute unit which project focuses on the study of eating behavior, its regulation and consequences on well-being and health.
The overall aim is to gain a better understanding of the physicochemical, biological and psychological mechanisms underlying sensory perception and eating behavior throughout life. Sensory perceptions and behaviors are studied under physiological conditions (development, experience, aging) or pathophysiological conditions (dietary imbalances).
The "Determinants of Eating Behavior over the Lifespan, Relationships with Health" team conducts fundamental and applied research to understand the mechanisms of action of the determinants of eating behavior, linked to food and eaters, in order to develop population-based interventions aimed at healthier and more sustainable behavior, at all stages of life. For over 20 years, the team has been developing original research on children's behaviour, which has been highlighted in the latest public health recommendations and in support of public policies on school catering. The team is fully involved in a continuum from the conduct of fundamental studies in the laboratory to population-based public health interventions, via collaborative work, in a translational approach from the laboratory to society.
Your scientific activity will focus on conducting fundamental work aimed at shedding light on the development of eating behavior at all ages of childhood, for example to (i) understand the early development of children's appetite control or eating attitudes, (ii) develop and evaluate interventions with young parents; (iii) develop and evaluate food education programs, for example in the context of school catering. You will need to have your protocols validated by qualified committees. You will interact with the team's technical staff, as well as with the ChemoSens platform's consumer division. You can supervise internships, theses or post-docs. You will benefit from a welcome package from the Human Nutrition and Food Safety Division (AlimH) of INRAE (60k€ in the first 2 years), and the Conseil Régional Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (50 k€, subject to eligibility), and will be supported in submitting applications to various funding agencies (ANR JCJC...).
Our research team tells you more about your future job
Possibility to run studies during lunchtime.
Travel to conferences.
Training and skills
Competition opened to candidates holding a PhD (or equivalent).
You have expertise in developmental psychology applied to food, or in the physiology of nutrition, or in the field of human eating behavior. Applications with multidisciplinary experience (biological sciences / humanities and social sciences) will be carefully considered, as our field lies at the interface of biology and psychology. Successful experience in conducting research on human eating behavior is essential. You must be familiar with good ethical and regulatory practices in such work (CPP, CER, RGPD, PGD...).
You know how to use the statistical tools required for data analysis. You have good writing skills. You enjoy communicating the results of your work to both expert and lay audiences (open science).
A good command of written and spoken English is highly desirable, as well as a long term international experience: the laureates who have not yet done so will have to carry out a stay abroad at the end of the internship year.
INRAE's life quality
By joining our teams, you benefit from:
- 30 days of annual leave + 15 days "Reduction of Working Time" (for a full time);
- parenting support: CESU childcare, leisure services;
- skills development systems: training, career advise;
- social support: advice and listening, social assistance and loans;
- holiday and leisure services: holiday vouchers, accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- collective catering.
For international scientists: please visit your guide to facilitate your arrival and stay at INRAE.
All persons employed by or hosted at INRAE, a public research establishment, are subject to its internal regulations, particularly with regard to the obligation of neutrality and respect for the principle of secularism. In carrying out their functions, whether or not they are in contact with the public, they must not express their religious, philosophical or political convictions through their behaviour or by what they wear.