Junior research scientist on climate science

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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

The goal of the ISPA (Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Interactions) unit is to understand how soil, plants, and the atmosphere interact within agricultural and forest ecosystems that are subject to disturbances brought on by global changes. Within the unit, you will join the YSYS (PhYSique à l'interface des EcoSystèmes) team, whose research deals with issues involving turbulent wind, micro-meteorology, and material transfers (water vapour, CO2, biotic and abiotic particles), as well as energy transfers on various spatial scales, including landscape, ranging from a few meters to several kilometres. The YSYS team relies on field experiments and numerical models of atmospheric flow. YSYS has gained considerable expertise in modelling micro-meteorology on a landscape scale with high spatial resolution by explicitly simulating turbulent exchanges using an LES approach (Large-Eddy Simulations). The use of agricultural and forest land is subject to tensions between economic, social and environmental interests. Its dynamics are the result of compromises and competition between the need for new energy infrastructures (such as solar farms) and the many services provided by forests and agrosystems. The biophysical interactions between these surfaces and the atmosphere, and their effects on local and regional climate remain poorly understood due to the complexity of the landscape structure. Your research will focus on understanding and predicting atmospheric interactions between rural landscape surfaces and their effects on exchanges with the atmospheric boundary layer, from landscape to regional scale. The aim of your work will be to better describe the climate on the scale of the territory and the evolution of the environmental conditions of the canopies under different climatic and land use scenarios. You will develop a body of knowledge on atmospheric transfers within the landscape mosaic and on feedback effects between surface heterogeneity and the atmosphere on a regional scale. To do this, you can rely on meteorological models to link the landscape scale, currently studied by the YSYS team, to the regional scale. Your research will provide a new and innovative approach to the representation of surface heterogeneities in regional-scale meteorological models based on high-resolution models. From a more applied point of view, you will be able to deduce from your work simplified parameterizations of the microclimatic effects of surface heterogeneities for integration into models of ecosystem functioning over long time scales and decision support models.

Extended work on computer.

Training and skills

Competition open to candidates with a PhD (or equivalent). A specialist in weather or climate modelling with knowledge of turbulent surface-atmosphere interactions is recommended. Autonomy in the use and development of weather models as well as in the processing of these model outputs is recommended. The ability to create and conceptualize new parameterizations to represent surface-atmosphere exchanges is also desired. A taste for teamwork and the ability to implement national and international cooperation would be appreciated. Experience in statistical analysis of complex data would be a plus. 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).

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-3
3. I apply GO