Postdoctoral Research Position in Social Sciences and Statistics (M/F)

Job Description

Missions

Territorialized Food Systems (TFS) – including short food supply chains, local procurement for public catering, and territorial food policies – are widely regarded as a key lever for the transition towards more sustainable food systems. Despite their growing development, they remain insufficiently documented, particularly with regard to intermediary actors (processing, logistics, distribution) and their contribution to sustainability. Since 2019, the Innovation Joint Research Unit (INRAE/CIRAD/L'Institut Agro) has been developing the Observatory of Territorialized Food Systems (ObSAT), which is now integrated into the PLA4TERFOOD project. The observatory currently includes more than 10,000 processing and distribution sites, a database containing over 4 million price records collected since 2021, and a set of indicators designed to assess the impacts of Territorialized Food Systems.

The aim of the postdoctoral project is to expand and exploit these data in order to:

analyse the factors explaining the location of Territorialized Food System actors;
assess their impacts on food systems at the territorial level.

More specifically, the research will address questions such as: Which existing and missing datasets are needed to characterise the location, diversity, and dynamics of Territorialized Food System actors? What are the social, economic, geographical, and agronomic characteristics of the territories in which these actors emerge and develop? Is a higher concentration of Territorialized Food System actors associated with more sustainable agricultural practices? These are among the key issues that will be investigated.

The research will be conducted within a participatory research framework involving both academic researchers and territorial stakeholders, including local authorities, Chambers of Agriculture, associations, and food distribution networks.

Activity

The successful candidate will be expected to:
Assess the quality, representativeness, and potential biases of the ObSAT databases by comparing them with other national and European data sources (Agricultural Census, FADN, SIRENE, Agence Bio, FSDN, etc.).
Analyse the territorial determinants of the development of Territorialized Food Systems using socio-economic, agricultural, geographical, and local food policy data, drawing on statistical and spatial analysis methods.
Quantify the impacts of Territorialized Food Systems at the territorial level by contributing to the development of a national data collection framework based on representative samples of Territorialized Food System actors, and by combining ObSAT data with indicators of sustainability, population health, and price trends.
Conduct, where necessary, complementary qualitative fieldwork in the pilot territories of the PLA4TERFOOD project.
Disseminate research findings through scientific publications, conference presentations, reports to project partners, and, where appropriate, methodological notes.

Your Profil

Skills

•Knowledge and qualifications: A PhD in quantitative sociology, quantitative geography, economics, or agronomy, with a strong understanding of food systems and agricultural sectors. Knowledge of issues related to short food supply chains and territorial food policies would be an asset.

•Technical skills: Experience in compiling, matching, and statistically analysing large datasets using R or Python; spatial analysis and GIS mapping skills; experience in network analysis, spatial econometrics, or price data analysis would be an advantage.

•Personal skills: Ability and motivation to work collaboratively in interdisciplinary teams; interest in partnership-based research and engagement with non-academic stakeholders.

Your Work Environment

The postdoctoral position is part of the PEPR Transform programme, within Work Package 2 (WP2), which is dedicated to the study of actors and initiatives from the “third sector” supporting agri-food transitions. Here, the notion of “third sector” is understood in a broad sense, encompassing the non-market sector (e.g. associations, trade unions), market-based organisations operating on a non-profit or limited-profit basis (e.g. social and solidarity economy organisations, professional groups), as well as small-scale for-profit organisations (e.g. cooperatives).

Through this perspective, WP2 will explore several dimensions of agri-food transitions addressed by a wide range of third-sector actors. The successful candidate will join a large research team composed primarily of sociologists and economists and will be hosted at LISIS (Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Science, Innovation and Society). As a leading French laboratory for the study of science and technology in society, LISIS provides a rich and diverse scientific environment, with extensive resources and expertise related to agricultural and food issues.

The research will be conducted in close collaboration with two other postdoctoral researchers recruited on distinct topics (see positions UMR9003-BAPBED-001 and UMR9003-BAPBED-003), while sharing several cross-cutting research questions regarding the role and place of the third sector in the ecological transition of agriculture.

The postdoctoral researcher will be co-supervised by researchers from the Innovation Joint Research Unit (UMR Innovation), who have been studying short food supply chains for many years and who coordinate the Réseau Mixte Technologique Alimentation locale (Local Food Network), bringing together all relevant stakeholders.

The main scientific contacts are Baptiste Bedessem (INRAE/UMR LISIS), Yuna Chiffoleau (INRAE/UMR Innovation), Grégori Akermann (INRAE/UMR Innovation), Madeleine Akrich (CSI/Mines Paris), Philippe Larédo (University of Manchester), and Vanessa Léa (CNRS/UMR Géode, Toulouse).

Compensation and benefits

Compensation

From 3131€ 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

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