Dear colleagues,
As each year, the CNRS (centre national de recherche scientifique) will hire a number of people that will work in one of its associated laboratories (nation-wide in France), requiring candidates to provide a research project as well as a list of possible laboratories (associated to CNRS) in France where they could perform the proposed research.
- Why should you apply?
CNRS positions are full permanent research positions that are, to my knowledge, one of the most flexible in terms of how you do your research.
CNRS offers quite a lot of opportunities (e.g., international labs) in case you want to make long foreign stays or develop your research into a product at some point.
As a CNRS researcher, you are mostly free to join any joint CNRS lab. This means that moving within France is very easy.
The institute is committed (and I can tell that by experience) to perform qualitative rather than quantitative assessments. So no obligation to publish or perish to prosper, but you can still play the game if you want.
- Why should you not apply?
The salary is a priority for you: while it is quite decent at the start and quickly increases (in a rather predictable manner, as for all French state employees), it is probably below the level of tenured people in other European countries, notably due to the fact that France has historically chosen to have a lot of permanent public researchers/lecturers/professors (so monetary means are not concentrated nor subject to competition between universities). There is a number of ways to increase it (work part-time in company, give hours of teaching, providing some expertise, having salary supplements within projects), but most take some time away from research.
Learning French is not an option for you: while CNRS hires on a very regular basis non-french speaking researchers, daily life in France is definitely much more difficult if you do not have a working French. This can typically be acquired within some years (or maybe less) after arrival.
- How should you apply?
Calendar: application files are typically to be submitted around January, with interviews in May. In order to prepare the candidacy, it is advisable to take contact with prospective teams/laboratories in October, November at the latest (preparing the application files take quite some time, and should be done in coordination at least with your preferred team)
Application file: It consists of a CV, a research statement (of about 10 pages in average), and of a research project that explains your scientific project for the next 5/10 years, understandable for specialist of the section you apply to (in computer science, the committee includes people from artificial intelligence, quantum computing, logic, mathematical programming, …). Within the project must be given three CNRS laboratories and teams (to be selected by the candidate among all the possible ones) in which you would like to perform this project.
Contacting laboratories/teams: if you have a laboratory/team you would like to join in case you are selected by CNRS, you should contact it as soon as possible.
If you are interested or if you think of someone that could be interested, I will be happy to answer further questions, for instance to recommend labs where you could apply depending on your research project.
Best regards
Sébastien