Junior research scientist in genetics for ruminant health in tropical environment

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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 join the Agroecology, genetics and tropical livestock systems research unit (UR ASSET), based in Guadeloupe and conducting its work mainly in the French West Indies and the Caribbean area. The unit research aims to enhance the resilience and efficiency of tropical production systems by improving the understanding of the specifics of local breeds of ruminants and monogastrics, of their integration in mixed crop-livestock farming systems, and of the interactions between the animal and plant components of agroecosystems. The unit brings together expertise in genetics, physiology, genomics, nutrition, modelling, and agroecology, and adopts approaches co-developed with local stakeholders and aligned with the socio-economic dynamics of the territories. You will join the team working on the improvement of animal resilience for livestock production and breeding, including studies on genetic variability and physiological mechanisms of heat tolerance in pigs, on resilience to gastro-intestinal nematodes in goats, and on adaptation to the tropical environment and ectoparasites in cattle. 
You will develop a research project aimed at characterizing the genetic determinism of resistance to diseases in ruminants, to propose levers of genetic improvement contributing to the sustainability of livestock systems in the tropics in the context of global change. At first, you will study resistance to tick infestations and associated diseases in cattle. 
You will initiate your project by drawing on the team’s sequencing and genotyping databases, enriched with recent phenotyping data on animal responses to ticks collected in ongoing projects. These initial studies will allow you to define new experimental designs aimed at characterizing the genetic bases of resistance to tick infestations, which you will conduct. You will mobilize the team’s key disciplinary expertise and its collaborative networks to plan your long-term experimental strategy through an optimal combination of analytical studies with deep phenotyping on limited animal numbers and larger-scale experiments enabling the estimation of genetic parameters. You will apply and develop integrated approaches in quantitative genetics and genomics, combining sequencing analysis, RNAseq, association studies, and fine phenotyping. In doing so, you will thus address the characterization of the mechanisms providing greater resistance using functional genomics approaches coupled with more traditional targeted phenotyping to identify relevant phenotypes as markers of resistance. These approaches will allow you to propose the use of genetic and genomic markers associated with disease resistance in tropical cattle breeding programmes. More broadly, you work will contribute to the analysis of the genome architecture of a local breed, including the identification of genomic features relevant to the “environmental resilience” of sustainable livestock systems. You will ensure the scientific dissemination of your work through high-quality publications and actively participate in the scientific life of the unit’s multidisciplinary team, combining autonomy and collaborative work.

Training and skills

Competition open to candidates with a PhD (or equivalent).
A PhD (or equivalent) in quantitative genetics, statistical genetics, or evolutionary genomics is highly recommended. 
Good knowledge of biology is desirable in order to address the complexity of the mechanisms of resistance/tolerance to infectious diseases. You must be able to work effectively in a multidisciplinary team, communicate your results clearly, and keep up-to-date with scientific developments in genomics (functional, integrative, quantitative) and animal health (parasitology, immunology), which are also valuable assets for this position.
Candidates should have a good command of English, 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).

Your future role explained in video

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-GA-2
3. I apply GO