Junior research scientist in plant pathophysiology to study plant susceptibility to fungi

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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 BIOGER (BIOGER – Biology and management of fungal plant pathogens) unit, comprising 44 permanent staff members and around thirty non-permanent staff. BIOGER is a reference centre for research on aerial diseases of major crops and the functional analysis of the determinants of fungal pathogenesis. You will work within the ‘Effectors and Pathogenesis in Leptosphaeria maculans’ (EPLM) team comprising 4 researchers with complementary expertise in genetics, epigenomics, metagenomics, plant pathology, and fungal functional genomics, and 4 engineers-technicians staff providing support in biochemistry, microbiology, genotyping, and epidemiosurveillance. You will benefit from the support of the cytology and bioinformatics platforms, air-conditioned chambers, phytotrons and BSL3 laboratories, as well as all the joint technical support (e.g. greenhouses, glassware service). You will collaborate with colleagues from the unit studying other Brassicaceae pathogens. As BIOGER is part of the Saclay Plant Sciences Graduate School, you will benefit from the close proximity of expertise in plant biology and Graduate School platforms to explore the functions of the genes/networks identified.
You will conduct your research within the EPLM team, which is working on the interaction between Leptosphaeria maculans and rapeseed, and has highlighted the existence of conserved proteins and structural families of fungal effectors shared among fungal plant pathogens. This discovery opens up new research avenues aimed at identifying common plant targets that can be eliminated or modified to achieve multi-disease tolerance. On this basis, you will develop a research programme to identify plant susceptibility factors to fungal diseases in Brassicaceae by analysing molecular interaction between plant proteins and fungal effector, focusing on effector families conserved among fungal pathogens (such as L. maculans and Colletotrichum higginsianum), and by studying plant responses to infection. Through your expertise in biology/plant physiology and knowledge of plant/pathogen interactions, you will contribute to characterise the modes of action of conserved fungal effectors and identify allelic variants of plant targets that confer enhanced tolerance to infection.
Your expertise in plant biology and defence mechanisms will help you develop a research project on the physiology of plant-pathogen interactions, focusing on the manipulation of the plant by the fungus during infection. For this purpose, you will use functional genomics approaches to identify plant targets of fungal effector proteins conserved among fungal plant pathogens, as well as the cellular processes they manipulate. You will use screening strategies to identify effector targets in various Brassicaceae species for which the genomes, transcriptomes, and proteomes are available (yeast two-hybrid assays, immunoprecipitation, in vitro affinity-based approaches, etc.). Rapeseed will be the main study model. For L. maculans, you will also take advantage of transcriptomic data generated during the infection of susceptible plants, plants with total or quantitative resistance, or non-host plants, as well as in the presence or absence of effectors. You will select the most relevant targets to be studied and validate them using genomic (search for allelic variants in the available genomes), molecular (generation and analysis of mutants or analyses of the available mutant collections), cytological (BiFC, co-localisation), and biochemical approaches. You will be able to rely on established collaborations with laboratories experts in plant/pathogenic fungi molecular interactions (I2BC, IPS2, IGEPP, PHIM, CBS, France; University of Amsterdam and Wageningen, the Netherlands; University of Melbourne, Australia; Massey University, New Zealand), as well as partnerships with breeders from the rapeseed sector and the interbanch institute Terres Inovia.

Training and skills

Competition open to candidates with a PhD (or equivalent). 
Recommended training: PhD in plant biology/physiology applied to plant-microorganism interactions. 
Desired knowledge: Expertise in plant biology/physiology and knowledge of plant-microorganism interactions are highly recommended. Expertise in functional genomics is recommended. Knowledge of plant cell biology would be appreciated.
Candidates should have excellent written and oral communication skills in English, and long-term international experience would also be desirable. Successful candidates who have not yet acquired this experience abroad will be expected to complete an international mobility period 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-SPE-6
3. I apply GO