Towards a Circular Bioeconomy: Territorial Scenarios for the Valorization of Market-Gardening Biowaste

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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

YOUR MISSION AND ACTIVITIES

You will join an innovative research project led by two recognized INRAE research units:

• UMR Agronomy and Environment (LAE, Colmar, France)
  http://lae.univ-lorraine.fr/accueil/
  LAE specializes in the modelling and assessment of agricultural and bioeconomy systems. You will benefit from strong scientific and methodological supervision in scenario development, simulation, and sustainability assessment.
• Biopolymers, Interactions and Assemblies Unit (BIA, Nantes, France)
  https://www6.angers-nantes.inra.fr/bia
  BIA is a research unit bringing together around 200 researchers and engineers and is a leading laboratory in the valorization of biopolymers derived from agricultural biomass.

The internship is part of a research project aiming to develop an environmental biorefinery for market-gardening and horticultural biowaste in the Pays de la Loire Region. The objective is to design practical biomass valorization solutions in order to promote biomass circularity and strengthen the territorial bioeconomy.

You will be involved in:

• Developing prospective scenarios for biomass valorization at the territorial scale, in close collaboration with the supervisory team.
• Running simulations using a dynamic and spatially explicit logistics model already developed within the project. This stage will include the handling and analysis of spatial data using GIS.
• Assessing the environmental and economic performance of the simulated scenarios using relevant indicators. This part of the internship may also involve additional developments in R.

Through this internship, you will directly contribute to informing local stakeholders, including local authorities and agricultural value-chain actors, about the feasibility and potential benefits of contrasting scenarios for the valorization of market-gardening biowaste in peri-urban areas.

WHAT YOU WILL GAIN

• A research experience supervised by two leading laboratories in the fields of bioeconomy and biomass valorization.
• The opportunity to develop highly sought-after skills, including scenario development, territorial modelling, and environmental assessment.
• Hands-on experience in an applied research project supporting the ecological transition and the circular economy.
• Excellent preparation for pursuing a PhD or starting a professional career in research, sustainability consulting, or environmental engineering.

 

Training and skills

THE PROFILE WE ARE LOOKING FOR

We are looking for a motivated and curious student who is eager to contribute to a multidisciplinary research project.

• Education: Master’s degree student (M2 level) or final-year engineering student in life sciences, environmental sciences, agronomy, geography, or a related field.
• Desired skills and interests:
  • Interest in sustainability assessment and prospective/scenario-based approaches;
  • Good knowledge or basic experience in GIS and modelling (biophysical, logistics, or territorial modelling);
  • Familiarity with the processing and valorization of agricultural biomass.
• Additional assets:
  • Experience with Life Cycle Assessment (LCA);
  • Modelling or data analysis using R;
  • Experience in developing or using GIS-based approaches.

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