Job offer

The CEA recruits a Research Engineer to design and implement new tools for its phytotechnology platform, PHYTOTEC

A permanent research engineer position is open in the « Phytotechnology platform PHYTOTEC », a plant experimentation platform at the service of research and industry within the Bioscience and biotechnology Institute of Aix-Marseille located in the Cadarache Centre, Southern France (Provence).

Mission and activities of the host team

You will benefit from the expertise of the host team (https://www.cite-des-energies.fr/en/home-biam/technological-platforms/phytotec/) and from the environment of the Bioscience and biotechnology Institute of Aix-Marseille (BIAM), CEA and Aix-Marseille University (https://www.cite-des-energies.fr/en/home-biam/).

The Phytotec team is composed of two engineers, two technicians and one scientist.

One of the main research axes of BIAM institute is the response and acclimation of living organisms to environmental challenges. For plants, one of this challenge is the adaptation to climate change with increase in drought, temperature and CO2 level. To help answer these questionings, the PHYTOTEC platform brings together a set of resources for plant growth and phenotyping under controlled conditions. It is open to all actors from the fields of research or industry, to carry out experiments on plants. In direct interaction with the BIAM teams working on plant biology, it offers original tools and equipment to respond to their needs, particularly non-invasive phenotyping, dynamic environment control and stable isotopes labelling.

Requirement

The position is open to candidates with a PhD or Master’s degree in Engineering or Technologies supported by at least three years of tracked record experience. The candidate will be in charge of the design, development and implementation of new tools and platform facilities in direct interaction with the plant biology research teams of BIAM. He/she will supervise and ensure the operation and technological evolution of existing equipment, in particular the ‘Imaplant’ phenotyping chamber(s).

The candidate should have strong expertise in the fields of instrumentation, physical measurements, hardware and software programming used in automation, industrial vision and computing. A strong interest or academic background in biology and plant science is an essential asset. Good oral communication, writing skills and ability to interact with researchers as well as with the platform staff are of key importance. The person recruited will also be in charge of grants application to main agencies supporting the platform.

A good command of English is important. French is needed in the laboratory and to facilitate the insertion in the social life.

Application procedure

Please send your application file at cite-des-energies@cea.frincluding:

  • A cover letter
  • Your recent CV including a list of publications
  • Major achievements/technical and research contributions (2-5 pages). The whole document (Arial 12, single space, all margins 2 cm) must not exceed 5 pages.
  • Name and contacts of 2-3 references who could provide a letter of recommendation

Please, submit your application as a single pdf file and name the file with your last name first and the name of team (PHYTOTEC), e.g. DUPONT_application_PHYTOTEC.pdf.

The deadline to apply is August 30, 2023 11:00 p.m. CET.

 

Shortlisted candidates will be invited to discuss with the host team and finalize their project of integration within the platform. Interviews of candidates will be held as of September 2023 for a position in December 2023.

CEA's life quality

Expected salary range at the beginning: net salary from 2600€/month to 3200€/month for 1 to 6 years of experience.

Social benefit: 52 days of annual paid holidays; retirement plan; French national social security for health and retirement, free school system and international school for foreign children.

For scientific questions, please contact : monique.sabaty@cea.fr