Researcher (M/F) in Architecture and Landscape – Career Paths of Former Landscape Architecture Students at ENSAP Bordeaux

Job Description

Missions

As it becomes increasingly urgent to provide concrete responses to the ongoing ecological, climate, social and technical upheavals, landscape architects are experimenting with and implementing, at various scales of intervention, ways to adapt our living spaces to climate change, by testing project methods based on resident participation or come up with economical and understated ways of designing them. In other words, in this era of ecological crises, landscape architects have been making, for several decades now, a remarkable contribution to transition policies.
Yet the profession remains little known, not only by the general public but by policy-makers as well, who take action within and across regions. Worse still, the profession's representative bodies, higher education institutions and relevant government departments lack any truly reliable data on the socio-demographics of the profession and the diversity of its practices.
It was to address (at least in part) this blind spot that, during the 2025–2026 academic year, an initial postdoctoral research project was carried out at the Passages laboratory (CNRS UMR 5319) and the École nationale supérieure d'architecture et de Paysage de Bordeaux ( ENSAP Bordeaux) and funded by the Ministère de la Transition Écologique (MTE).
The study aimed to map the diversity of career paths followed by former students of the landscape architecture programme at ENSAP Bordeaux. Based on a methodology combining qualitative approaches using semi-structured interviews, with quantitative approaches involving statistical data analysis, this research has produced a particularly accurate picture of these career paths. Indeed, more than a hundred former students of ENSAP Bordeaux contributed to the survey. Of all the studies carried out on the landscape architecture profession, such a level of detail had never before been achieved.
The aim here is to conclude this ongoing project by finalising the design and testing of the system for tracking the career paths of landscape architecture graduates from ENSAP Bordeaux. The researcher will continue to produce research materials, carry on structuring the tools and databases which can be maintained by the institution, and will help share the results to teaching, academic and professional teams.

Activity

Main activities:
- Consolidate the summary review of existing scientific and documentary materials and contribute to help promote their use.
- Continue to collect and monitor information relating to landscape architecture graduates from ENSAP Bordeaux according to the method initiated during the first phase of the project.
- Initiate the development of a computerised tool for the geographical/cartographic tracking of former students across the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, which can be used and maintained by the administrative staff of ENSAP Bordeaux.
- Initiate the creation of a qualitative database on the practices and projects of landscape architects, with an in-depth focus on one or two sample departments.
- Carry out further qualitative field surveys and interviews, in collaboration with key contacts and partners in the departments of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

Secondary activities:
- Produce accessible formats for presenting findings, notably short films profiling landscape architects and materials combining text, visuals and maps.
- Contribute to discussions regarding a publication which would give regional visibility to the work of graduates and organise a seminar to discuss and present their work.

Your Profil

Skills

- Experience in qualitative research, interviews on career paths and analysis on accounts of professional life.
- Mapping open-source data and utilising tools from the field of participatory science.
- Ability to produce reports and presentations combining written text, visuals, films and maps.
- Knowledge of the landscape architecture profession and its practices, as well as the recent history of their development, particularly in Nouvelle-Aquitaine.
- Design of simple, well-documented monitoring methods, protocols and tools that can be replicated by the administration.
- Organisation and facilitation of seminars for discussion and presentation of research.

Your Work Environment

The workstation is based at the Passages laboratory (CNRS UMR 5319) on the ENSAP site in Talence. The role is full-time and involves several assignments in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The successful candidate will report jointly to Rémy Bercovitz (MCF) and Cyrille Marlin (PR), lecturers and researchers at ENSAP Bordeaux and members of the Passages UMR. Seminars are planned with members of the landscape programme, as well as exchanges with other ENSAP laboratories.

Constraints and risks

No specific risks. However, the position involves travels and fieldworks in Nouvelle-Aquitaine area.

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

Between €3,041 and €4,216 gross per month, depending on experience

Annual leave and RTT

44 jours

Remote Working practice and compensation

Pratique et indemnisation du TT

Transport

Prise en charge à 75% du coût et forfait mobilité durable jusqu’à 300€

About the offer

About the CNRS

The CNRS is a major player in fundamental research on a global scale. The CNRS is the only French organization active in all scientific fields. Its unique position as a multi-specialist allows it to bring together different disciplines to address the most important challenges of the contemporary world, in connection with the actors of change.

CNRS

The research professions