Call for junior chairs

The call aims to enable a young scientist (10 years after obtaining their PhD) to create and lead a research team within an established laboratory in France in the field of microbiome and health.

This call for applications aims to fund a fourth chair to complement the three chairs funded in 2025. The objectives are to develop excellence in research in the field of the microbiome and human health, and to enrich the skills and expertise of the research environment and infrastructure currently being built in this field in France.

Applicants’ research expertise should cover at least one of the research priorities/axes of the “Microbiomes and Health” pilar of PEPR SAMS, and in particular those addressing the following issues:

• Developing cutting-edge research on the host-microbiome symbiosis;
• Identify the disruptive elements – internal to the microbiome, of environmental or dietary origin, or linked to the host itself – and explain the sequence of microbial, metabolic and immune events, etc. that cause disruption of the symbiosis and homeostasis;
• Identify biomarkers of risk, diagnosis and prognosis, as well as predictors of treatment response and toxicity, so that they can be included in the medical arsenal for personalised care;
• Developing new preventive and therapeutic strategies, as well as specific, controlled interventional studies, which identify and correct “defects” in the microbiome in order to improve prevention in the general population, patient management and optimise treatments;
• Developing data science relating to the study of human holobionts (host-microbiome) at the interface of biology and medicine, and mathematics (medical computing, statistics, modelling, artificial intelligence).

The Chair will run for 42 months maximum, with funding of up to €500k (excluding management costs).

The host laboratory must provide the selected candidate with office space and a dedicated laboratory large enough to accommodate a start-up team (approximately 50 m2), as well as access to local technology platforms.