Junior research scientist in Nutrition and Mental Health

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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 successful candidate will join the laboratory of Nutrition and Integrative Neurobiology (NutriNeuro), which includes over 40 tenured scientists and around 50 non-tenured specialists in nutrition, neuroscience, neuroendocrinology, psychiatry, and psychology. The position is based within the Nutrition and Neuropsychiatric Symptom Dimensions team (NutriPsy, Dir. L Capuron), which investigates how nutrition influences mental health through integrated and translational approaches bridging human and animal studies. Research in the team involves both clinical cohorts, including healthy individuals and patients with chronic conditions linked to poor dietary habits (e.g. obesity), and hospital-based studies involving depressed patients or individuals with severe obesity treated by bariatric surgery. The laboratory provides access to extensive clinical, neuroimaging, biological/preclinical and animal assessment facilities.
Mental disorders are a major public health issue due to their high prevalence, impact on quality of life, and socioeconomic burden. Among them, depression is the most frequent and disabling psychiatric condition, with treatment failure in more than one-third of patients. A growing body of epidemiological research highlights the strong relationships between dietary habits and mental health. Several studies indicate that unbalanced or obesogenic diets, as well as obesity, are associated with an increased risk of depression and poor response to antidepressant treatments. However, the mechanisms underlying these associations remain poorly understood. Our clinical and preclinical findings suggest that immuno-inflammatory mechanisms link diet and mental health, with the dopaminergic system emerging as a key point of convergence.
In this context, your main mission will be to develop a translational research program aimed at elucidating how inflammation related to obesity or imbalanced/high-fat diets alters dopaminergic function and affects mental health.
Main objectives:
1. Investigate the links between systemic inflammation related to dietary imbalance and dopaminergic activity in both general and clinical populations.
2. Explore the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying dopaminergic dysregulation induced by diet-related and obesity-associated inflammation in preclinical models.
3. Contribute to the development of targeted nutritional interventions addressing these mechanisms in both healthy and patient populations.
To develop this program, the candidate will work closely with the host team and have access to all unit and site facilities. He/she will benefit from a supportive environment for translational research, preclinical and human studies, with access to cohorts, dedicated assessment and data spaces, laboratories for biological sample analysis, and secure IT infrastructure. Proximity to Bordeaux University Hospital (CHU) and collaboration with Charles Perrens Hospital psychiatrists will facilitate clinical and neuroimaging studies. The candidate will also benefit from the team’s extensive national and international network and existing funding, enabling an immediate start of the project.

Training and skills

The candidate should hold a PhD (or equivalent degree) in neuroscience or integrative biology. Experience in translational research and in conducting human studies would be an asset.
Proficiency in English is required, as well as international experience, ideally acquired in an English-speaking country. Candidates who have not yet gained such experience will be expected to complete a research stay abroad at the end of their internship year.
The successful candidate will also be encouraged to apply for European funding opportunities (Marie Sk?odowska-Curie, ERC, etc.).

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 Guide for applicants 2026 pdf - 1.41 MB
2. I write down the profile number CR26-AlimH-1
3. I apply GO