Postdoctoral position OT-30516
Interdisciplinary review on One Water Data & FAIR paradigm
35000 RENNES
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
You will be welcomed in the unit UMR 1069 SAS (https://umrsas.rennes.hub.inrae.fr/) which develops researches on interactions between agriculture and the environment and develops digital services for archiving, publishing, and reusing research data and models produced and used in UMR SAS in the form of interoperable APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). The post-doc position is part of a synthesis project of the PEPR One Water – Eau Bien Commun – Water as a Common Good project, one of the Priority Research Programmes and Facilities launched under the Future Investment Plan (PIA4) by France 2030, with the aim of ‘Understanding and innovating for viable, equitable and sustainable water management’. As part of your duties, you will take part in the various events organised by the National Programme.
Your mission will be to coordinate an interdisciplinary review on the “Application of the FAIR paradigm to water data: reality, power and limitations” focusing on France, then expanding the scope to Europe and the international level for interlinked and cross-border frameworks. You will coordinate the writing of a synthesis paper with a group of 5-8 researchers from various disciplines (digital sciences, open science, hydrology, hydrogeology, hydrogeochemisty, hydrobiology, social and economic sciences applied to water…). This synthesis will be a critical and documented analysis of open and FAIR data as a necessary condition for changing the current management paradigm and for having water recognized as a common good, intended for the water sciences community in all its disciplinary diversity. Your review will aim at diagnosing the level of fragmentation of water data and its consequences for research and for management. You will also identify improvement perspectives by sharing a clear definition of what Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability and Reusability is, and selecting use cases for illustrating success or failure. You will analyze the limitation associated with open and FAIR data, including risks related to validity limits, use of artificial intelligence, institutional and cultural limitations.
You will be more specifically in charge of:
- Synthesizing the state-of-the-art, criticizing and improving the first analysis made by the group
- Organizing an interdisciplinary work seminary to compare your synthesis with other expert opinions and with perspectives from stakeholders in the water sector
- Write a scientific article presenting this synthesis and submit it to an international peer-reviewed scientific journal
- Write a popular science version of the previous review for publication in a relevant media
Special conditions of activity: the geographical location can be discussed if needed but will have to be consistent with the consortium of the project
Training and skills
Recommended training: PhD. Degree in any field of water sciences or in open environmental data
Desired knowledge: Open data and FAIR principles, water management in France or Europe
Appreciated experience: use of (either biophysical or social) data related to water, interdisciplinary work
Skills: scientific reviews, scientific writing, group coordination, collective writing coordination, good organizational skills, autonomy, ability to work as part of a team and willingness to work in a multidisciplinary and inter-institutional 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
All persons employed by or hosted at INRAE, a public research establishment, are subject to the Civil Service Code, particularly with regard to the obligation of neutrality and respect for the principle of secularism. In carrying out their functions, whether or not they are in contact with the public, they must not express their religious, philosophical or political convictions through their behaviour or by what they wear. > Find out more: fonction publique.gouv.fr website (in French)