Postdoctoral Position (18–24 months) – Metabolomics and Human Adaptation to Extreme Environments

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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

This postdoctoral project is part of an innovative initiative aiming to identify recurrent human metabolic safeguard mechanisms that are activated in response to hostile environmental conditions. These mechanisms, termed Rescue Outcome Pathways (ROPs), may represent universal patterns of adaptive metabolic responses.

Current research on human adaptation to extreme environments (e.g., high altitude, extreme cold, prolonged fasting, hypoxia, etc.) generally focuses on isolated physiological aspects. In contrast, this project adopts an integrative approach by comparing multiple human cohorts exposed to various extreme contexts. Using advanced metabolomics, it aims to uncover common, yet undescribed, metabolic motifs – the ROPs (rescue outcome pathways).

This project is funded by the EXPLORAE program and is conducted in collaboration with CNES, University of Brest, University of Grenoble Alpes, IRBA, University of Avignon, University of Clermont-Ferrand, and University of Geneva.

Training and skills

We are seeking a highly motivated candidate with all or part of the following qualifications:

• Proven expertise in metabolomics, including hands-on experience with high-resolution LC-MS and analysis of complex metabolomic datasets.
• Strong academic background in integrative biology, systems biology, or biochemistry.
• Excellent command of R programming, particularly for multivariate statistics, modeling, machine learning, or data mining approaches.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary research environment, and to interact with experts in human physiology, environmental sciences, and artificial intelligence.
• Citizen of the European Union: this restriction is due to the national defense part of the program.

Previous experience working with human or animal models in the context of adaptation to extreme environments would be a plus but is not required.

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INRAE's life quality

• Contract Type: Fixed-term postdoctoral research contract
• Duration: 18 to 24 months (depending on profile and funding), starting September 2025
• Location: BIOMET Platform, Cardiovascular and Human Nutrition Research Center – Aix-Marseille University, La Timone Campus, Marseille
• Salary: According to Aix-Marseille University salary scale, based on experience
• Environment: Marseille is the second largest city in France, with an international airport, high-speed train access, a vibrant cultural scene, the Orange Vélodrome and Olympique de Marseille football club, and over 300 days of sunshine per year.

How to apply

I send my CV and my motivation letter