Ancestors

Written by David Monniaux on 2025-01-25 at 15:49

Let me repeat a few points.

1. There are in France tenured research positions that do not have conditions of citizenship (at CNRS, INSERM, INRIA etc.).

The deadline for 2025 has passed at CNRS and INSERM but is February 10 for INRIA. There will (normally) be positions in 2026 too.

Contact groups affiliated with CNRS, INSERM, INRIA that you would like to join in advance, ideally months before the positions are even announced. For 2026, this means contacting them during the Fall, perhaps even before.

I advise you not to wait for the positions to be announced, and not to try to apply alone, without advice and support from people who know how this works.

2. There are temporary positions (post-docs etc). They are advised by labs in addition to centralized sites.

In addition, a lab may create a postdoc position for you if they have funding even if they did not publish a call. Ask people.

3. Professorships may be more difficult because most of them involve teaching in French. In some cases you may argue that you will learn French and they may manage to assign you in the meantime to international programs taught in English.

In addition professorships have something called "qualification", which needs to be done well in advance.

As usual, if you wait for the positions to be announced, it's too late to deal with "qualification" and so on.

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from MonniauxD@sciences.re

Toot

Written by Dr. Victoria Grinberg on 2025-01-25 at 16:30

@MonniauxD hmmmm, but the tenured research positions do, in an unwritten way, require a strong connection to France; at least in my area I haven't seen ppl get them without already established very strong network and a lot of local support and the usual recommendations is to apply 3-5 times before getting it to show growth and commitment. I think it's rather important to not raise expectations. (If different in different areas, I stand corrected.)

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from vicgrinberg@mastodon.social

Descendants

Written by David Monniaux on 2025-01-25 at 16:32

@vicgrinberg Competitiveness differs between areas. You're in astrophysics, right? It's, as far as I understand, the hardest area to get a position in the "exact sciences".

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from MonniauxD@sciences.re

Written by Dr. Victoria Grinberg on 2025-01-25 at 16:33

@MonniauxD ah, good to know! The way my colleagues told it, it applied to all areas but they may have just wanted me not feel bad (I did have strong connections to France and would have considered applying but in the end never did for various reasons 😅)

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from vicgrinberg@mastodon.social

Written by Boris Barbour on 2025-01-25 at 17:15

@vicgrinberg @MonniauxD

I don't know specifically about astrophysics, and it's true things may not work first time around. But, in general, a good candidate with a reasonable plan stands a genuine chance. About 30% of CNRS researchers were not born in France.

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from BorisBarbour@mastodon.social

Written by CCochard on 2025-01-25 at 18:22

@vicgrinberg @MonniauxD I applied twice: once in 2019 because I wanted to know how the system works but wasn't a good fit and didn't click with the people and in 2023, I didn't know anyone there but knew of people who knew them, I got that one.

I think there's a big part of luck for an opening in your area to open (or lobbying and therefore the need for connexions)

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from CCochard@sciences.re

Written by Dr. Victoria Grinberg on 2025-01-25 at 18:27

@CCochard @MonniauxD in astro, the normal case is at least 3 applications, often more, and proven rack of close collaborations in France. People are outright told that the first two times are necessary to prove interest and commitment. I'm glad it's not like this in all areas!

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from vicgrinberg@mastodon.social

Written by CCochard on 2025-01-25 at 18:31

@vicgrinberg @MonniauxD I was in a special position though where they didn't have someone in mind and a very strong record otherwise.

The first time I applied I was indeed told I was never get it. I think it's also people dependent and how forward thinking they are

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from CCochard@sciences.re

Written by Frédéric Grosshans on 2025-01-25 at 22:06

@vicgrinberg @MonniauxD It doesn't fit with my experience, but as you say it can depend on the field. In the team I work in (6 CNRS researcher, 1 University professor, only 2 of us did their PhD in France, and 2 other did a postdoc here). Our team is a bit an extreme case (I'm the only one out of 7 who was French at the time of hiring), but foreign people (as in "not even a postdoc in France") hired by CNRS is quite common.

What you need to do is to discuss soon with people from your field in France to see how to apply. And do it early: these hiring are typically younger than in other countries. For C?RS computer science, most of the hiring are for people with less than 7 years since the start of their PhD, and all over the las 3 years for 10 years or less.

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from fgrosshans@mathstodon.xyz

Written by Dr. Victoria Grinberg on 2025-01-25 at 22:17

@fgrosshans @MonniauxD I'm glad it's different in other fields! (I'm not on the market myself for a while now, but some of the folks I write rec letters for are now going through the process...)

=> More informations about this toot | More toots from vicgrinberg@mastodon.social