Engineer (IE) in Insect Molecular Biology Project ARDECO – INRAE – iEES-Paris (UMR 1392)

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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

Context :
The ARDECO project, funded under the Strategic Action Plan for Anticipating the Potential European Withdrawal of Active Substances and for the Development of Alternative Crop Protection Techniques (PARSADA), aims to structure and equip French research in chemical ecology, in order to accelerate the development of biocontrol solutions against insect crop pests. The objective is to identify, characterize, and validate semiochemicals (pheromones, kairomones) that modulate the behavior of agricultural pests. As part of this effort, INRAE is recruiting an engineer (IE) to take charge of two key components of the project: the expert annotation of odorant receptors and other chemosensory genes in several target insect species, and the experimental validation of predicted ligands for selected odorant receptors.

Missions :

At the iEES-Paris laboratory, you will contribute to the annotation of chemosensory gene repertoires in transcriptomic and genomic datasets (already available or to be generated), in collaboration with the BIPAA bioinformatics platform (Rennes). You will perform manual expert annotation, particularly of odorant receptors, and contribute to the selection of targets for experimental screening. You will then participate in the functional analysis of selected odorant receptors by expressing them in Drosophila olfactory neurons. You will be responsible for conducting genetic crosses and managing the genetically modified fly lines used for these experiments.

We offer :

• A direct role in a national strategic project, bringing together academic research, technical institutes, and private sector actors.
• A high-level research environment at the crossroads of functional genomics, neurophysiology, and applied ecology.
• Opportunities for skills development and contract extension depending on project progression.

 

Training and skills

Profile sought :

• Master’s degree (MSc or equivalent) in molecular biology, genomics, bioinformatics, or a related field.
• Prior experience in Drosophila genetics or genome annotation is a strong asset.
• Autonomy, scientific rigor, strong team spirit, and the ability to thrive in a dynamic research environment.

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