Researcher positions at CNRS in France
Dominik Peters
Dear all,
The 2026 application period for researcher positions at France’s National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) has opened last Friday, for appointments starting in September 2026 (with option to postpone by up to 5 months). Applications are due by 12 January 2026.
CNRS researchers work at universities and institutes all across France in all disciplines (there are 11,000 of us in total). These positions are unique in that they come with unrivaled freedom to do research, with full autonomy and no teaching obligations. CNRS researchers become tenured permanent civil servants after 1 year in the job. There is also some freedom to combine the CNRS position with a second affiliation, as well as the possibility to move one’s position to a different lab, city, or even discipline.
Of interest to junior researchers in social choice and computational social choice (junior usually meaning at most 7 years since you started as a PhD student, excluding parental leave etc), this year there are
- 3 positions in economics (N.40/02), and
- 7 positions in computer science (N.02/02),
- further afield: 1 interdisciplinary position for a “research program in Informatics informed by humanities and social sciences (uses, interactions, regulations, impacts, etc.)” (N.53/02).
https://carrieres.cnrs.fr/en/external-competitions-for-researchers-m-f/ (general information about the process)
https://gestionoffres.dsi.cnrs.fr/fo/offres/default-en.php (list of all positions)
There are also positions for senior researchers (“directeur de recherche”). These mainly serve as promotions of junior researchers (“chargé de recherche”), but the competition is open to researchers worldwide for whom a number of slots is reserved.
To apply, you need to identify 2-3 labs that would be willing to host you and support your application. The application jury makes decisions on the national level, and labs don’t have to pay your salary if you get assigned to them, so labs are eager to help good candidates with the preparation of their application. They will also write recommendation letters to the national jury. If you are interested, now is the time to get in touch.
In economics, relevant labs for social choice and related topics include:
- CES, the Centre d’Économie de la Sorbonne in Paris (stephan...@univ-paris1.fr),
- GATE Lyon Saint-Etienne (stephane...@univ-st-etienne.fr and tar...@gate.cnrs.fr)
- CREM in Caen/Rennes (vincent...@unicaen.fr)
- PJSE, Paris Jourdan Science Economiques, the CNRS lab of Paris School of Economics (jean-mar...@psemail.eu or jean-franc...@ens.fr)
In CS labs, relevant labs for computational social choice include:
- LAMSADE, the “lab for analyzing and modeling systems for decision support” at Université Paris Dauphine (jerom...@lamsade.dauphine.fr and dominik...@lamsade.dauphine.fr)
- LIP6, the CS lab at Sorbonne Université in Paris (decision team: olivier....@lip6.fr, multiagent systems team: nicolas...@lip6.fr)
- LIG, the CS lab of Grenoble (sylvain....@imag.fr)
- IRIT, the institute for CS research of Toulouse (AI department: emilian...@irit.fr for COMSOC-related queries also contact umberto...@irit.fr)
This is just a selection, and many other labs also host CNRS researchers in Economics or CS.
An advantage of the French system compared to some other countries is that labs often have several people working on similar topics, rather than aiming for maximum subject coverage, which means you’ll have a large pool of excited collaborators.
CNRS positions are among the most sought-after academic jobs in France, and competition is strong but not impossible (last year, there were 150 applications for 7 computer science jobs and 47 applications for 4 positions in economics and management). To apply, knowledge of the French language is not necessary, as academics all speak English; but if selected you’d want to eventually pick up the basics for day-to-day life. Civil servant positions have very high job security but the pay is lower than what academics make in some peer countries; in your initial years you can expect a salary of about €40-45k (which for me is about €32-35k after taxes, pension contributions, and health insurance), which can be topped up with teaching or other science-related activities.
To apply, you will need a detailed document describing your past research and a plan for future research, a certified translation of your PhD certificate into French, as well as reference letters. See https://cn2.fr for instructions focussed on CS candidates (click “version anglaise” under “Critères d’évaluation et recommandations” on the homepage; note this is a new website which does not have much content yet, but you can consult last year’s website at https://cn6.fr), and https://sites.google.com/view/section37-2021-2026/Menu/concours-chercheurs for instructions focussed on Economic candidates. I’ve also written an article describing my experience applying and working at CNRS that you may find helpful: https://dominik-peters.de/blog/apply-to-cnrs/.
Please get in touch for any questions or advice.
Best,
Dominik Peters
CNRS chargé de recherche since 2022
LAMSADE, Université Paris Dauphine - PSL