Research Engineer in Agricultural or Environmental Economics

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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 position is part of the project ‘Monitoring, Reporting & Verification (MRV) systems for carbon farming’ (MARVIC, funded by Horizon-Europe, 2024-2027). MARVIC’s main goal is to develop effective and robust MRV systems for carbon farming that (i) are in line with the EU carbon removal certification regulation, (ii) have an optimal trade-off between costs and accuracy, (iii) consider the local context, (iv) reduce administrative burden and (v) consider risks of non-permanence. The selected candidate will be fully integrated into the project team, which includes soil scientists, agronomists, remote sensing specialists, climate experts, economists, and social scientists.

This position will contribute to the project through the analysis of the socio-economic challenges of climate change mitigation scenarios. His/her main task is to contribute in (i) assessing the cost effectiveness of selected carbon farming (CF) practices and their associated MRV systems across Europe, (iii) evaluating the impact of financial support mechanisms on the adoption of CF and MRV, and (iii) estimating the mitigation potential of the French agriculture sector by carbon sequestration using a farm-level modeling approach. The starting date is flexible, ideally not later than January 2026.

You will be based at the Agro Paris-Saclay campus, approximately 25 km southwest of Paris (around 40 minutes by public transport from downtown Paris), in a dynamic and stimulating working environment with lots of facilities (collective catering, sports facilities, etc.).

Training and skills

You have a PhD (or are close to completion) in Agricultural or Environmental Economics or a minimum of 5 years of proven research experience after at least 3 years of university studies, attested by a diploma. You are familiar with recent economic research on climate change mitigation and adaptation. You have strong analytical and communication skills and a strong methodological expertise in one or more of the following areas: mathematical programming, econometrics, data management, and policy analysis. You have proven programming skills in GAMS and/or R/Python. You have good English communication skills. Knowledge of French is an advantage but not a requirement.

INRAE's life quality

We offer :

We offer a full-time contract as a researcher engineer for a period of one year, with the possibility of extension for another year. The salary is based on the French standards and considers past professional experiences. You can look forward to an exciting working environment, cultural diversity, and attractive offers and benefits, including subsidized meals, partial reimbursement of public transport costs, up to 45 days of annual leave, and up to 100 days per year of remote working.

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