OPEN COMPETITIONS CR-2024-MICA-2
Junior Research Scientist in food safety and multiple risk assessment
44300 NANTES
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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 SECALIM project focuses on the characterization and quantification of microbial risk in food, in relation to new production and consumption practices. SECALIM is part of the European drive for innovation and research into multi-criteria assessment linked to the transition of food systems, by placing food safety within a more global dimension (sustainability, regional economy, new consumer expectations, etc.) of studying complete food systems. This much more global integration of food safety opens up new research prospects in this emerging and competitive field. SECALIM's aim is to strengthen its core competencies in microbiological food safety, and to develop multi-criteria methods for the holistic assessment of food systems.
You will be fully involved in this objective, focusing your work on the integration of microbiological food safety into a holistic, multi-criteria assessment of the global risk assessment challenges associated with the transition of food systems. Your main task will be to assess microbiological risks, quantitatively where necessary. In addition, you will develop holistic risk assessment approaches and test them on different food systems (lentil, chicken, etc.), in line with SECALIM's thematic priorities. This research work will enable you to identify and evaluate strategies for controlling health risks, in order to anticipate and better manage the risks associated with current transitions.
You'll be welcomed into Secalim, a single-team facility with 17 permanent staff and a dozen PhD students, post-docs and contract staff, while benefiting from Secalim's many national collaborations (eg. within INRAE with units of the MICA and AlimH departments, outside INRAE with Anses and the Actia network) and international collaborations acquired through European projects such as Protect (Predictive mOdelling Tools to evaluate the Effects of Climate change on food safeTy, http://www.protect-itn.eu/), Saffi (Safe Food for Infants in the EU and China, https://saffi.eu/) and Holifood (Holistic approach for tackling food systems risks in a changing global environment, https://holifoodproject.eu/).
In the short term, you will be involved in the latter project (which runs from 2022-2026) to familiarize yourself with holistic assessments combining microbiological risks, chemical risks, nutritional benefits and risks, environmental risks and economic risks of the lentil system. In the medium term, you will continue to develop the research theme of "integrating microbiological safety into a holistic, multi-criteria assessment" within the unit and the institute.
Our research team tells you more about your future job
Training and skills
Job offer open to candidates with a PhD (or equivalent).
Solid training and experience in food safety and quantitative assessment of microbiological risk: desirable.
Strong interest in biostatistics, risk modeling and their implementation tools (R software in particular): desirable. Ability to bring together and analyze knowledge from different disciplines (microbiology, toxicology, nutrition in particular): desirable.
Successful experience in national or even better international projects: desirable.
Fluency in English is desirable, as is long-term international experience: candidates who do not already have such experience will be required to spend a year abroad at the end of the placement 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.