Chair of Excellence in France

Permanent Position: Chair of Excellence at the Assistant-Professor Level in Toulouse, France

 

Centre de Recherches sur la Cognition Animale
CNRS - Université Paul Sabatier - Toulouse III - UMR 5169
118 Route de Narbonne
31062 Toulouse cedex 4
FRANCE

Phone (direct): 33 (0) 561 55 67 33
Fax: 33 (0) 561 55 61 54

Mail: giurfa@cict.fr
http://cognition.ups-tlse.fr/

Job description

We invite applications for a position at the assistant professor level in the team “Perception, Learning and Memory in Insects” (PLMI) led by Prof. Dr. Martin Giurfa at the Research Center of Animal Cognition (directed by M. Giurfa). The Center is a CNRS (French Research Council) – University of Toulouse institute whose main goal is the multidisciplinary and comparative study of cognitive processing in different animal models, from invertebrates to vertebrates.

The candidate will join the PLMI team so that his/her research will be centered on a multi-level analysis of perceptual (vision, olfaction, gustation) and cognitive phenomena (learning and memory) in insects. In an approach going from behavior to molecules, the team tries to understand how individuals extract pertinent information from their environment when they perceive and learn, and secondly to identify the neuronal and molecular mechanisms underlying these functions.

The team is looking for an expansion of its expertise and models so that research on fruit flies (but also on honeybees and eventually other insect models) and combination of behavioral and cellular/molecular approaches such as functional imaging (optophysiology), multielectrode recording and/or neurogenetics (among others) will be prioritized.

 

The position is announced as a Chair of Excellence, a privileged and competitive professorship, which will benefit, during the 5 first years of appointment, from a reduced teaching load and financial support from CNRS.

Foreign candidates do not require the traditional French procedure termed “Qualification” which gives the right to apply for a permanent position in France. It is, however, mandatory to be fluent in French for teaching activities and to demonstrate that they have been involved in consequent teaching activities.

The candidate is expected to conduct research, supervise PhD students, cooperate with senior and junior staff members in research and will have an active role in (inter)national research fundraising. In addition, the candidate will contribute to educational programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

Informal enquiries and letters of interest should be addressed to Pr Martin Giurfa (giurfa@cict.fr)