Working as an Astronomer in France

Congratulations! You’ve done it—you’ve either just earned your PhD or are about to, and now you’re looking ahead to your postdoc years. It’s also the perfect time to start thinking about long-term, permanent positions to prepare for your future career. The world is your oyster, but for one reason or another, you’re particularly interested in pursuing a position in France. Why not? France offers a range of opportunities that can make a career in astronomy an attractive option.

In this article, we will explore the different jobs that allow you to conduct research in astronomy in France, how they compare, and how their hiring processes differ from one another.

Before diving into the specifics, it’s important to note that the roles at CNRS, CNAP, and universities (CNU) are all civil servant positions, known as fonction publique in France. These roles come with certain benefits and responsibilities unique to the French public sector.

Moreover, these positions are permanent, offering job security through what’s called a “Contrat à Durée Indéterminée” (CDI). This contrasts with the temporary “Contrat à Durée Déterminée” (CDD - a time-hire contract) used for postdoctoral positions. The permanence of these roles allows researchers to plan long-term projects and build stable careers in astronomy within France.

It’s also worth noting that there is another category of positions in French research institutions: the ingénieurs de recherche (research engineers). These roles often involve significant research responsibilities and can be an alternative path for those with a research background. However, since these positions have different constraints and career paths, we won’t cover them in detail in this post, and will dedicated very little time to them on the blog overall. Our focus will be on the primary research positions in astronomy.

Positions for Astronomers in France

There are four main types of institutions that provide permanent positions for astronomers in France:

• CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)
• CNAP (Conseil National des Astronomes et Physiciens)
• Universities / CNU (Conseil National des Universités)
• Other institutions: CEA (Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique), ONERA (Office National d’Etudes et de Recherches Aérospatiales), etc.

The first three are the key players, offering research positions in the public sector. CNRS and CNAP are national agencies that coordinate research and research positions across the country, while universities manage these at a local level. All of them are public institutions, meaning their employees are civil servants (fonctionnaires).

The fourth group lists individual institutions that operate very differently from the others. We include them for completeness, but they have their own unique hiring processes and are not the focus of this post.

Differences in Research, Teaching, and Service Duties

The three main research positions (CNRS, CNAP, Universities) differ mostly in their application processes (more on that below) and in their respective requirements for teaching and community service (tâche de service). Below is a breakdown of how time is typically allocated in each position:

Employer	Research	Teaching	Community service
CNRS	100%	0%*	0%
CNAP	50%	20%	30%
University	50%	50%	0%

*Note that a CNRS position does not prevent you from teaching, but it is not included in your mandatory duties. Teaching becomes a voluntary option depending on the university needs.

While all three tracks put you in a junior researcher role first, allowing for promotion to a senior position later in your career, the job titles differ across institutions:

Employer	Junior scientist position	Senior scientist position
CNRS	Chargé de Recherche (CR)	Directeur de Recherche (DR)
CNAP	Astronome Adjoint (AA)	Astronome
University	Maître de Conférence	Professeur

The junior positions correspond to an adjoint astronomer or assistant professor, while the senior positions correspond to a full astronomer or full professor.

As of 2018/2019, there were 707 researchers in astronomy and astrophysics in France’s public sector. Their distribution across the three employment categories is as follows:

Employer	Percentage	Total number
CNRS	~40%	284
CNAP	~33%	234
University/CNU	~27%	192

Source: Bot & Buat 2020, Fig. 1 (http://sf2a.eu/Bot_Buat.pdf).
CNRS and CNAP data date from 2019, CNU data date from 2018.

Employer vs. Workplace: Research Laboratories and Tutelles

A unique aspect of the French research system is the concept of tutelle and unité mixte de recherche (UMR). Understanding these terms is crucial for grasping how research laboratories operate in France, and therefore what career options you have in the French research landscape.

What is a Tutelle?

A tutelle (loosely translated as “guardianship” or “supervision”) refers to the higher institutions that oversee and support a research laboratory. Most French research labs are overseen by multiple tutelles, which can include:

• Universities
• National research organizations (like CNRS or CNES)
• Other public institutions

Each tutelle contributes resources, funding, or personnel to the laboratory and has a say in its governance and strategic direction.

Here are some examples (non-exhaustive list) of French astronomy/astrophysics laboratories and their respective tutelles:

Laboratory	Tutelles	Source
Laboratoire d’Études Spatiales et d’Instrumentation en Astrophysique (LESIA)	Observatoire de Paris-PSL (OBSPM), CNRS, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité	https://lesia.obspm.fr/-Presentation-du-LESIA-.html
Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris (IAP)	Sorbonne Université, CNRS	https://www.iap.fr/institut/presentation/presentation.php
Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Bordeaux (LAB)	Université de Bordeaux, CNRS	https://astrophy.u-bordeaux.fr/?page_id=7
Laboratoire d’Astrophysique de Marseille (LAM)	Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), CNRS, CNES	https://www.lam.fr/laboratoire/presentation/
Laboratoire J.-L. Lagrange	Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur (OCA), CNRS, Université Côte d’Azur	https://lagrange.oca.eu/fr/accueil-lagrange/presentation-organigramme

CNAP is not listed as a tutelle because it primarily serves as an employer for astronomers in national observatories, rather than overseeing research laboratories directly.

Understanding a Unité Mixte de Recherche (UMR)

When a laboratory is affiliated with multiple tutelles, it is designated as a Unité Mixte de Recherche (Joint Research Unit) or UMR. This structure is common in France and has several implications:

• Diverse funding sources: UMRs can access resources from multiple institutions.
• Interdisciplinary research: The involvement of different institutions often facilitates cross-disciplinary work.
• Complex administration: UMRs must navigate the policies and requirements of multiple overseeing bodies.

For astronomers, this means that regardless of which hiring process you go through (CNRS, CNAP, or University), you could end up working in the same laboratory. The lab itself might be a UMR, affiliated with multiple institutions, creating a dynamic research environment.

Hiring Processes

The hiring process differs significantly between university positions and the national competitions for CNRS and CNAP. In this blog series, we will focus primarily on the national selection processes for CNRS and CNAP. To begin, we want to highlight the key specifics of each process.

Maître de Conférence Positions

The hiring process for a maître de conférence is directed by the university offering the position, making it a highly localized process. Applicants compete for a position in a given laboratory, which is similar to tenure-track applications in other countries.

To apply for a maître de conférence position, you must first go through a “qualification” process, which takes place annually in the fall. This process is called the “Campagne de qualification aux fonctions d’enseignants-chercheurs,” referring to the certification required to apply for university positions (enseignants-chercheurs). Typically, the qualification campaign begins in mid-October and ends in early December. Once obtained, the qualification is valid for several years, allowing you to apply for university positions without repeating the process annually.

In summary, the hiring process for a maître de conférence is characterized by:

• A local process steered by a specific university.
• Application submission for a position in a given laboratory.
• A requirement to obtain the qualification beforehand, which remains valid for several years.

National Competitive Hiring Process - the concours: CNRS and CNAP

In contrast to the localized university process, the positions within CNRS and CNAP are filled through a national hiring process called concours (meaning “competition”). This means there is a set number of positions available nationwide, in any laboratory affiliated with CNRS or CNAP.

Since CNRS and CNAP are divided into several scientific sections, the positions are allocated accordingly. For the astronomy section of CNRS, this typically means a handful of positions are open each year—usually four to six. These positions are not assigned to a specific laboratory in advance; rather, applicants determine which lab they wish to join based on their research projects and career plans.

The call for applications usually opens in early December, with the deadline in early January. All documents are submitted online, though the CNAP application website is notoriously cumbersome compared to CNRS’s, which has led to applicants dropping out in the past due to missing documentation. Once all applications are in, the respective hiring committees begin their work, formally admitting applicants to the concours and validating non-French PhD degrees. They then review application materials and decide whom to invite for interviews, which generally take place in mid-May in Paris. By June, the successful applicants are officially announced.

In summary, the hiring process for CNRS and CNAP positions is characterized by:

• A national process, with positions available across laboratories affiliated with CNRS or CNAP.
• Centralized application for a set number of positions allocated to different scientific sections.
• No pre-assignment to a specific laboratory; applicants choose their desired lab through their research proposals.

Although this sounds straightforward, there are many nuances when applying to these national competitions, with distinct differences between CNRS and CNAP processes. In this blog series, we aim to shed more light on these details, so we hope you stick around for our future posts! Until then, keep talking to your supervisors, mentors, and collaborators if you plan to submit an application this year!

Links:

• CNRS: https://www.cnrs.fr/en
• CNAP: https://cnap.obspm.fr/
• CNU: https://conseil-national-des-universites.fr/cnu/#/
• Bot & Buat, "Bilan statistique de la part des femmes dans les postes permanents en Astronomie et Astrophysique (CNU section 34, CNAP Astronomie et CNRS section 17)", 2020. http://sf2a.eu/Bot_Buat.pdf