About STEP UP
STEP UP is a Horizon Europe project, running from January 2024 to December 2027, that aims to upgrade livestock production in Europe by making it more sustainable. The project is tackling issues in European livestock farming by giving policymakers clear information on the possitive and negative effects of raising animals.
This information will quantify the economic value of these effects on the food system and the environment, supporting the establishment of sustainable, resource-efficient, and transparent farming methods across Europe.
INRAE: A Brief Introduction
The French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment (INRAE) is a public establishment. It is a community of 12,000 people with more than 200 research units and 42 experimental units located throughout France. The institute is among the world leaders in agricultural and food sciences in plant and animal sciences, and 11th in the world in ecology and environment. INREA’s main goal is to be a key player in the transitions necessary to address major global challenges.
Job opening at INRAE
Are you a Research Engineer passionate about leading environmental and nutritional assessments of monogastric farming systems using life cycle analysis? INRAE is looking for you!
Your workplace will be in the Pegase Join Research Unit (INRAE and Institut Agro-Rennes-Angers) based in Saint-Gilles (close to Rennes city, France). Within the Sysmo research team, our mission is to produce knowledge, methods, references and tools to optimise/improve the environmental balance and multiple intrinsic and extrinsic qualities of products from monogastric farming systems, by mobilising several livestock farming levels, including innovative feeding strategies.
Your mission will be in line with the ambitions of the Sysmo team and the objectives of the European research and innovation project STEP UP (2024-2027), supported by the Horizon Europe program. One of the main aims of STEP UP is to produce quantitative information/data on livestock farming, as an integral part of the food system and the wider ecosystem.
Through a variety of research methodologies and strong stakeholder engagement, STEP UP aims to provide European policymakers with a platform of robust scientific data on the impacts and externalities of more sustainable European Livestock Production Systems (ELPS). One of the main tasks of the project is to contribute to the implementation of a nutritional life cycle assessment (nLCA) of farmed animal products (meat).
You will contribute to the implementation of nLCA and the joint integration of intrinsic (product-related) and extrinsic (production-related) qualities of pork using multi-criteria approaches, within the “One Quality” concept. The project also aims to collect data from published E-LCA studies on pork production available in the literature to complete an in-house database.
Your responsibilites
- Contribute through a first literature review to identify and refine the impact categories and main indicators (metrics) allowing to implement a nutritional life cycle analysis (nLCA) of animal products (mainly meat) based on existing approaches/guidelines (McLaren et al., 2021).
- Propose/develop a nutritional LCA for pork products, using experimental and individual data including E-LCA results already available.
- Complete and enrich a database of E-LCA data/studies on pork production by means of a second literature review.
- Contribute to the study and critical analysis of the methodological obstacles and mathematical/statistical approaches required for the joint integration of the intrinsic (nutritional dimension) and extrinsic (environmental impacts) qualities of pork, using experimental and individual data.
This work will be under the supervision of M. Gagaoua and build on existing collaborations within Sysmo team, the STEP UP consortium and colleagues at SAS joint research unit (Rennes).
Training and Skills Required
- Recommended training: engineer or Master 2 in agronomy/animal production (or equivalent)
- Knowledge required: Life cycle assessment (LCA), Research methods and literature review, Sustainability of animal production.
- Appreciated experience: evaluation of environmental impacts and use of LCA tools and software (e.g., SimaPro, Open LCA, MeansInOut), Multicriteria evaluation, Statistics.
- Skills sought: Teamwork, Rigor, Able to work independently as well as to collaborate, Creativity, Good communication skills, including the ability to communicate and write well in English.
INRAE’S Life Quality
By joining our teams, you benefit from (depending on the type of contract):
- until 30 days of annual leave + 15 days “Reduction of Working Time” (for a full time);
- parenting support: CESU childcare, leisure services;
- skills development systems: training, career advise;
- social support: advice and listening, social assistance and loans;
- holiday and leisure services: holiday vouchers, accommodation at preferential rates;
- sports and cultural activities;
- collective catering.
Reception modalities
- Unit: UMR PEGASE 1348
- Postal code + city: 35590 Saint-Gilles, Rennes
- Type of contract: Temporary position
- Duration of the contract: 10 months
- Starting date: 01/10/2024
- Remuneration: Minimum gross monthly salary of 2.245 € depending on experience
If you would like to contribute your professional competence to our interdisciplinary research, please apply by the following deadline of July 30, 2024, by sending a motivation letter, CV and references to: Mohammed Gagaoua mohammed.gagaoua@inrae.fr
For further information, please contact Mohammad Gagaoua or visit the INRAE website.
