Tenure-Eligible Junior Professor Chair Position Understanding and steering microbial communities in agroecosystems to enhance the delivery of ecosystem services

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INRAE presentation

The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) is a major player in research and innovation. It is a community of 12,000 people with 272 research, experimental research, and support units located in 18 regional centres throughout France. Internationally, INRAE is among the top research organisations in the agricultural and food sciences, plant and animal sciences, as well as in ecology and environmental science. It is the world’s leading research organisation specialising in agriculture, food and the environment. INRAE’s goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges. Faced with a growing world population, climate change, resource scarcity, and declining biodiversity, the Institute has a major role to play in building solutions and supporting the necessary acceleration of agricultural, food and environmental transitions.

Work environment, missions and activities

The Chair is part of the HARMI « ExcellencES » project (Harnessing Microbiomes for sustainable development) funded by the French government's Investment for the Future Program (France 2030). The HARMI project aims at creating the first European Interdisciplinary Centre of Excellence in the Bourgogne Franche-Comté region dedicated to the use of the microbes for addressing the most crucial societal and environmental challenges (https://www.ubfc.fr/en/recherche/projets-de-recherche/harmi/). The aim of this junior professor position is to understand and steer microbial communities in agroecosystems to enhance the delivery of ecosystem services. The research themes encompass (i) consequences of agricultural management practices for microbial communities and their functions (ii) mechanisms of microbially-mediated transformations of agriculture inputs (iii) impact of climate change on soil microbes and mitigation, (iv) plantmicrobe as well as microbe-microbe interactions. We welcome applications from people working in the fields of microbial ecology, environmental microbiology, biogeochemistry and plant-microbe interactions. The person recruited will be based in Dijon at the Agroecology Department (https://eng-umragroecologie.dijon.hub.inrae.fr/). The department is currently composed of 4 research sections and 4 platforms for a total staff of more than 350 people. Scientists are microbiologists, agronomists, soil and plant scientists and ecologists. The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (INRAE) is a public research establishment under the dual authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Research. It is a community of 12,000 people with more than 200 research units and 42 experimental units located throughout France. The institute is among the world leaders in agricultural and food sciences, in plant and animal sciences, and is 11th in the world in ecology and environment. The position is expected to contribute to the department’s and INRAE’s mission to accelerate agroecological transitions by reducing negative environmental and health impacts of production, and increasing food system resilience to global changes. 

Type of contract
The person recruited be provided a 390 k€ grant (including salary for this position and a postdoc, consumables, travels, small equipments, etc…) for a period of three years, supported by the HARMI Excellence project funded by the French 2030 program. The salary will be negotiated on the basis of education and experience. Recruitment will be operated by the INRAE. It will integrate a benefit package including retirement, health insurance, annual and sick leave. During the 3-year period, the successful candidate will be committed to apply for a European Research Council (ERC) grant. At the end of this period, and following an assessment of your scientific achievements and professional capabilities, you may obtain a full-tenure position by applying to the INRAE open competition for Research Director (DR2) in the Agroecology department. 

Application
We invite the interested candidates to follow the link https://www.ubfc.fr/en/research/research-projects-2/harmi/#CPJ to download the form to be filled and returned by email to harmi@ubfc.fr in pdf format (file name
: CPJ-HARMI2025-[Lastname].pdf), before April. 30th, 2025. Only candidates selected by a jury based on their application will be invited to the hearing. 

For additional information, please contact harmi@ubfc.fr and Laurent.philippot@inrae.fr

 

Training and skills

The Junior Professor Chair is intended for scientists with a PhD who have already demonstrated their ability to produce excellent research, evidenced by a strong record of high-quality publications in international peerreviewed journals. The position is mainly dedicated to research. The person recruited will hold a PhD in Microbiology or a related field, with at least five years of independent and demonstrable research experience following the completion of the PhD. Knowledge in soil microbiology and biotic interactions would be particularly appreciated. Experience in supervision as well as in leading or participating in national, European or international research projects is strongly recommended. 

 

INRAE's life quality

By joining our teams, you benefit from (depending on the type of contract and its duration):

- up to 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.

How to apply

I send my CV and my motivation letter