Junior research scientist in functional microbiology

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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 work in the ‘Vineyard Health and Agroecology’ (SAVE) laboratory located at the INRAE research centre in Villenave d'Ornon, near Bordeaux, France. The unit leads major research projects on the agroecological transition in viticulture, in close collaboration with professionals in viticulture and biocontrol. It is part of the Institute of Vine and Wine Sciences (ISVV), a world-renowned institute for its research, training, and knowledge transfer activities.

Within the SAVE unit, you will be part of the Microbiota team, which focuses on the protective role of the grapevine microbiota against airborne diseases. The team’s objectives include the identification and functional characterization of microorganisms that protect the grapevine holobiont in order to develop microbial biocontrol strategies and promote pesticide-free viticulture.

Your main mission will be to analyze the protective role of the microbiota against grapevine downy mildew. You will test whether microbial functional diversity reduces the invasion potential of leaf tissues by this pathogen. To study the relationship between diversity and invasion potential, you will design in vitro experiments involving synthetic microbial communities (SynComs). You will use multi-omic approaches (shotgun metagenomics, metatranscriptomics, and metabolomics) to characterize microbial functional diversity and elucidate the metabolic interactions responsible for the protective effect. You will benefit from strong collaborations with modellers from INRIA and the MathNum department of INRAE for the analysis of microbial metabolic networks. You will also collaborate with agronomists and ecologists to identify agroecological practices, at plot and landscape level, that promote functional microbial diversity and the protective microbial functions that you will have identified. Your results will contribute to the development of conservation-based microbial biocontrol, of which you will assess the efficacy in combination with other control methods (prophylaxis, resistant varieties). You will benefit from the skills and equipment of the BC2Grape biocontrol facility within the SAVE unit to test, both in the laboratory and in the vineyard, the biocontrol solutions derived from your results.

Training and skills

Competition open to candidates with a PhD (or equivalent). Specialization in microbiology or microbial ecology would be desirable, as well as experience in multi-omic approaches. Experience in plant pathology would be an asset. 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-SPE-1
3. I apply GO