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Now that the CNAP concours is officially opened, it is time to seriously dive into the details of its application process. The CNAP concours process is quite different from the CNRS one, which we covered previously on this blog (e.g., Composition of Your CNRS Concours Application Dossier). Whether you already applied to the CNRS concours , or you’re aiming specifically for the Adjoint-Astronomer position at CNAP and you read our previous posts, here we will guide you through the different steps required for this concours.

You will have to submit your application via the GALAXIE portal. We will guide you through the structure of this portal step by step in a following blog post as it can be confusing at times.

Official List of Required Documents

First of all, let’s gather all the documents you will need. All full list of officially required documents can be found on the concours page of the CNAP website, which also contains links to the corresponding ministerial rulings (”arrêtés ministériels”).

The CNAP application is composed of three different sections:

  • Scientific application: A single PDF file gathering all the information about your research. The structure of this file is quite strict and detailed here: https://cnap.obspm.fr/CNAP-Fichiers/CNAP.2025.concoursAA.instructions.pdf. You can find templates for the application either in Word or in LaTeX.
  • Administrative application: A single PDF file gathering all the information about your identity and the proof that you have the required diploma. Note that documents written in another language than French need to be translated. Unlike for CNRS, official translations are not mandatory: your own translation with a signed declaration of honor (”attestation sur l’honneur”) asserting its correctness is sufficient.
  • Reference letters: You may include up to three letters of recommendation with your application. They must be sent before the deadline (10th of March 2025, at 4pm CET) or they will not be considered. If you’re looking for advice on how to ask your colleagues for reference letters, we have a blog post that covers this aspect. Note that in the last section of your scientific application, you will need to include some information about your referees (name, email address, relationship with you) so they can match them to your application.

The Scientific Application

This first document has a strict structure that needs to be followed: the margins are fixed in the templates and the font cannot be smaller than size 11. Moreover, the file name has to be LASTNAME_firstname_dossier_CNAP_2025.pdf and has to be less than 5 Mb otherwise you will not be able to upload it to GALAXIE. Note that you can write your application in English - however, as the Adjoint-Astronomer has a teaching duty, your ability to speak French can be tested during the audition.

This single PDF file is divided in several distinct sections:

  • A one page summary: On this page you summarize your whole application. It has specific sections that you need to fill in: e.g., your name, your requested host institution, but also a summary of your past and future research. Its structure is given in the templates.

💡This page has to be carefully written as the jury will use it as a base when they discuss the different applications. With your CV, it is the only part of your application that all the members of the jury will read for sure.

  • A summary of your publications: In this section, which is different from the full publication list we talk about further below, you need to provide summarized information about your publications. This includes the total number of your publications, and which kind of publications (in a peer-reviewed journal, conference proceedings, etc…). The template provides you with guidance on the format of this summary. You are also asked to make a selection of five publications which summarize the best of your scientific skills. For these five selected publications, you will need to write a brief summary for each, highlighting your contribution to each paper. You will also need to provide the links to these five publications, making sure to provide the complete URL.

⚠️ The GALAXIE portal breaks all hyperlinks, making them unclickable after submission. Please provide the complete URL for each link you want to include in your application.

  • An application letter: In this letter, you should mention the OSU (Science of the Universe Observatory, see the CNAP structure explained in our previous blog post) which you will be joining with your hiring, and the SNO (community task - tâche de service) that you’re suggesting to take charge of. With this letter, you should explain that you understand the different duties of an astronomer and how you plan to apply them. It can be seen as a motivation letter focused on why you want to become an astronomer at this institute, within this OSU, in particular as a CNAP adjoint astronomer.
  • A Curriculum Vitae: It has to be 2 pages max and should mention any interruption of activity (e.g., parental leave).
  • Your research information: Subdivided in 4 parts, this is where you should describe your past and future research projects.
    • Context: You have one page to explain the general context of your research, explaining how it fits into the French and international landscapes and what your key skills are in this regard.
    • Skills: In half a page, you are asked to summarize your detailed skills (methods, skillsets).
    • Past and current research: Like for the CNRS application, you have four pages to summarize your past and current research projects.
    • Future research: Again, like for the CNRS application, you also have four pages to build the research project that you plan to develop at your targeted host institute.
  • Description of your SNO (community task): At this stage of writing your application, you normally already know which community task you want to take charge of. If it is not the case, we advise you to learn a bit more about them in our Introduction to the CNAP blogpost, and to contact the person(s) in charge of the SNO that could work for you. In your application, you have to start this section by filling in the given table with the main characteristics of your SNO (type, name of SNO, name of specific task, name of the scientific lead, name of the involved institutes and OSU). Then, you should describe the task and how you can take charge of this task, in three pages max.
  • Teaching: In one page max, you’re asked to describe your previous experience in teaching as well as your teaching plan at the university you will be affiliated to if hired. The committee asks you to already know at time of application which classes you would be able to take over (and not only Master level classes, they are particularly interested in candidates willing to teach at the Bachelor level). This means that you need to make sure to contact the corresponding teaching coordinators before writing your application.
  • Responsibilities, outreach and industry applications: In max three pages, describe your implications in these different fields. They require that you distinguish between your responsibilities in your projects (e.g., project leader) and in the organisation of institute and general research life (e.g., conference organisation).
  • Optional: Message to the section: Here is the place to mention anything additional to the section. Various topics can be addressed here, like difficulties linked to parental leave, or the care of elderly persons or even side-projects that would not fit any other applicatoin section. This can be up to one page max.
  • Full list of publications and presentations: Here, you are asked to list all the scientific and technical productions that you wrote and presented. They should be numbered and in chronological order, following this structure:
    • Articles dans des revues à comité de lecture - Peer reviewed papers
    • Actes de conférences - Conference proceedings: indicate the format of your presentation (e.g., talk, poster)
    • Présentations sans compte-rendu à des conférences ou ateliers internationaux - Conference presentations without published proceedings
    • Séminaires - Seminars
    • Autres publications et communications - Other publication and productions (e.g., software packages)

    Only include accepted papers. If you have submitted papers that are accepted after the deadline, you will be able to contact the section to add them to your application for the following steps of the process.

  • Recommendation letters: As mentioned earlier, you can add up to three reference letters to your application. They have to be sent by your letter writers directly to concours.cnap@obspm.fr, in PDF format, with a specific file name: lastnameofcandidate_firstname_nameofreferee_cnap.pdf (all in lower caps, with either only the last name of your referee or their full name 🤷). They have to be sent before the deadline otherwise they will not be considered. In this section of your own application, you will need to indicate the names of your referees with their email addresses and their relationship to you (e.g., supervisor, collaborator …).
  • Appendices: Appendices are allowed only if they are of administrative nature. They cannot be of scientific nature.

All of these subsections need to be compiled in a single PDF file that you upload to GALAXIE as your Dossier Scientifique (scientific application file). It is long and has a lot of requirements but fortunately, once this is ready, you’re almost done! 🙂

The Administrative Application

Before diving into the GALAXIE portal (stay tuned for our following blog post), it is recommended to prepare the single PDF file with your administrative documents. As listed on the CNAP webpage, this file needs to be composed of:

  • A copy of your official identity document with your picture (i.e., national identity card, passport)
  • A copy of your diploma allowing you to apply: following article 5 of the ministerial ruling, accepted are either a PhD, or an HDR (”Habilitation à Diriger la Recherche”, diploma allowing you to supervise PhD students), or an engineering PhD. All foreign diplomas considered to be equivalent by the CNAP section are also accepted.
  • A copy of the defense report if you cannot provide the diploma yet.

⚠️ **Note that each year, some applications are dropped due to missing documents, in particular in the administrative part of the application. Please check carefully that you have all relevant documents in your administrative file.

Once you’re here, well done, the main part is done! You then need to upload your application to the GALAXIE portal. As this step alone can be challenging, it deserves its own blog post guiding you through the whole process 🙂 See you there!

Links:

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