Junior research scientist on vine ecophysiology

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INRAE presentation

INRAE, the French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment, is a public research organization bringing together 12,000 employees across 272 units in 18 centers across France. As the world’s leading institute specializing in agriculture, food, and the environment, INRAE plays a key role in supporting the necessary transitions to address global challenges.

Faced with population growth, food security challenges, climate change, resource depletion, and biodiversity loss, INRAE is committed to developing scientific solutions and supporting the evolution of agricultural, food, and environmental practices.

INRAE is recruiting researchers by open competition and offering permanent position.

Work environment, missions and activities

You will develop your research within LEPSE (Laboratory of Ecophysiology of Plants under Environmental Stress), a joint research unit of INRAE and Institut Agro-Montpellier, whose objective is to identify and model the key processes involved in the construction of the phenotype of cultivated plants under abiotic stress. LEPSE has high-throughput phenotyping infrastructures and develops methods to access ecophysiological traits on large populations of genotypes subjected to different abiotic stresses. You will be part of the ETAP team (Efficiency of Transpiration and Adaptation of Plants to Dry Climates), which conducts its research primarily on vines, particularly on the impact of climate change on vine growth and water needs. 

Among the many concerning impacts of climate change, increasingly long and repeated heatwaves and episodes of drought lead to very erratic yields from year to year, as well as a significant increase in mortality rate. A progressive depletion of carbon reserves seems to be involved in these phenomena. Your objective will be to identify agronomic and varietal levers to optimize the management of carbon reserves on an annual and multi-annual basis to limit the impact of climate change on the sustainability of vines and their production. You will study the ecophysiological determinants of carbon allocation between the different organs of the plant, including the processes of loading/unloading of carbon reserves. Modelling approaches will be needed to highlight multi-year trends, as simply relying on experimental approaches would require too many setups to maintain over many years. 

You will therefore propose formalisms that account for the allocation of carbon assimilates in the different compartments of the plant, emphasizing the reserve compartments. You will integrate these formalisms into multi-year modelling approaches including other processes involved in the control of carbon fluxes studied and modelled within the team (photosynthesis, respiration, growth rate of organs, water and nitrogen fluxes) from the scale of the organ to the entire plant. You will base your approach on structure-function models to account for carbon, nitrogen, and water fluxes between the different topologically connected organs. To build and test these models, you will rely on experimental data already acquired or to be acquired in the field and a controlled environment. This approach should identify, with the help of modelling, the genotype x management combinations that would follow ideal trajectories for the evolution of carbon reserves. 

You will work closely with the team’s ecophysiologists to acquire and share experimental data, as well as to couple modelling approaches, but also with other agronomy research units to evaluate innovative cultural practices in the vineyard, and genetics to analyze and model genetic variability and genotype x environment interactions.

Driving license recommended, outdoor work in summer, staggered hours possible, sustained computer work.

Training and skills

Competition open to candidates with a doctorate (or equivalent). PhD in ecophysiology, plant biology or agronomy, with a sound knowledge of interactions between plants and their environment is recommended. Solid skills in modelling the functioning and growth processes of plant organs and the whole plant are recommended, as well as an appetite for experimental approaches to link in situ measurements with the models to be developed. You have good interpersonal skills and are open to multidisciplinarity and collaboration with geneticists and agronomists. Candidates should have a good command of English (both written and spoken), and long-term international experience would also be desirable. Successful candidates who have not yet acquired this experience abroad will be required to do so after their probationary period (1st year).

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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. 

How to apply

1. I download the applicant guide Application guidelines CRCN 2025 pdf - 3.93 MB
2. I write down the profile number CR-2025-AGROECOSYSTEM-10
3. I apply GO