Tenure-track Junior Professor Chair - Intelligent and Sustainable Transitions Towards Fossil Carbon-free Economies
Tenure-track Junior Professor Chair - Intelligent and Sustainable Transitions Towards Fossil Carbon-free Economies
INRAE - National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment
Toulouse, France
INRAE presentation
The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (INRAE) is a public research establishment under the dual authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Research. It is a community of 12,000 people with more than 200 research units and 42 experimental units located throughout France.
The institute is among the world leaders in agricultural and food sciences, in plant and animal sciences, and is 11th in the world in ecology and environment. INRAE’s main goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges. In the face of the increase in population, climate change, scarcity of resources and decline in biodiversity, the institute develops solutions for multiperformance agriculture, high quality food and sustainable management of resources and ecosystems.
Work environment, missions and activities
Context
Launched in 2020, INRAE’s circular bioeconomy strategy aims to develop new production sectors based on the use of renewable carbon and CO2. For INRAE, the bioeconomy will be rooted in the territories where it will contribute to closing major biogeochemical cycles, reducing waste, and ensuring the prosperity of the population, and integrated globally where it will contribute to the national low carbon strategy and attenuating climate change.
To ensure bioeconomies are fully sustainable, the flows of energy and matter within the territories need to be controlled. INRAE thus aspires to conduct studies, in particular to establish accurate inventories of the flows and their dynamics on a territorial scale and to develop optimisation strategies and decision-making tools. Having already launched the interdisciplinary research programme (BETTER metaprogramme) addressing these questions, INRAE would now like to recruit new skills in terms of bioeconomy, more particularly to study transition pathways and, ultimately, propose plausible scenarios.
Nature and purpose of the research project to be developed and related activities
This chair aims to support sustainable and intelligent transitions towards low carbon (fossil) footprint economies of tomorrow. The person recruited will study and propose new roadmaps for strategic investments. The scope of the studies will be regional, national, or global but linked to territorial units. As these transitions are unprecedented, the research will go beyond the context of the circular bioeconomy, thus integrating all sources of carbon, including atmospheric CO2, new artificial carbon sinks, and fossil carbon already circulating. They will also consider essential services (food or not) currently provided by the biomass and the need for certain land not to be used for agriculture. Amongst other things, this involves integrating non-carbon vectors such as hydrogen (non-fossil). The studies conducted within the framework of the chair will thus go beyond the question of the energy transition by also considering other sectors (chemistry, materials...) that currently depend on fossil carbon. In terms of disciplines, the research will be at the crossroads between engineering (process, biological, chemical, environmental) and agronomic and social sciences.
Nature and purpose of the teaching project
The teaching of the TRANSIDEC Chair will fall within the Toulouse ecosystem. The chair will participate in teaching at the EUR Bioeco (INSA, UPS, UTC, INP, IMT Mines Albi), more particularly at Master's level, and organising international summer schools. The chair will contribute to the new international Masters (e.g. BiotechEco, Water Engineering) proposed by INSA and INP, and possibly the ECIU (European Consortium of Innovative Universities; INSA). In conjunction with the international ambition of the Chair, the teaching will be mainly in English and based on innovative methods and the results of cutting-edge research. The Chair will notably encourage the students to take up sustainable innovation "challenges" presented by public or private stakeholders involving the development of fossil carbon-free strategies. Likewise, the students will contribute to the research of the Chair through computing projects. Finally, the Chair will accompany students participating in the IGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition, which is in line with the ambition of the Shift Project (INSA Group) to offer training in key challenges of the 21st century.
Funding and related resources
ANR package
- 18 months post-doc: 69 314€;
- Co-funding PhD: 50 685€;
- Operating costs: 60 000€;
- INRAE costs from ANR funding (10%): 20 000€.
Subtotal: 200 000€
Additional contribution INRAE
- Co-funding PhD: 49 934€;
- Allowance hosting PhD student: 5 000€;
- Hosting JP: 30 000€;
- Earmarked incentive: 30 000€.
Subtotal: 114 118€
Additional contribution Insa Toulouse
- Co-funding PhD: 49 284€.
Subtotal: 49 284 €
Project total: 364 118€
Training and skills
PhD or equivalent
PhD or equivalent in Environmental science or technologies or Environmental engineering. To conduct the expected research, the successful candidate will ideally specialise in life cycle analysis methodologies and possess expertise backed by publications in the circular economy and/or bioeconomy. The successful candidate will already have 3 months post-doc experience and will have shown their dynamism and ability to develop projects and lead small research teams.
INRAE's life quality
By joining our teams, you benefit from:
- 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.
Type of contract
Tenure-Track Junior Professor Chair is a new career route at INRAE. It enables the recruitment of scientists based on a research and teaching project that lasts three years. At the end of this period, and following an assessment of your scientific achievements and professional capabilities, you may obtain a full-tenure position as Research Director (DR2).
A research and teaching agreement will specify the path you will follow towards full-tenure and enable you to acquire the qualifications necessary to become a full-tenure Research Director in your field.
You have until February 7, 2022 to submit your application. Only candidates previously selected on file by the selection committee will be invited to the hearing.
