CNRS applications / Philosophy

The Institut Jean-Nicod (IJN) is considering applications in philosophy for positions as Chargé.e de Recherche at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).

About the IJN :

Located at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) in Paris, the Institut Jean-Nicod has 29 permanent teacher-researchers, working on analytic philosophy, linguistics and social cognition, with the mind and the nature of mental representations as a unifying theme.

About the profile :

The philosophical component of the IJN intends to develop specific themes of analytic philosophy, such as philosophy of language and logic, philosophy of emotions, philosophy of the environment, philosophy of science and in particular cognitive science, cognitive epistemology, and value theory.

CNRS research associate positions are full-time, permanent positions for candidates at the beginning or middle of their career. Post-doctoral research experience of 4 to 5 years, possibly in a non-French laboratory, will be appreciated. We expect candidates to present an established and promising research and publication record. Candidates must have published articles and/or books in reputable academic journals or publishing houses (French or international).

CNRS is an equal opportunities employer. We encourage applications from under-represented groups.

CNRS researchers are not statutorily required to teach. However, most CNRS researchers at the IJN teach in one or other (or both) of the two Master’s courses, Master Philosophy and Master Cognitive Sciences. We would greatly appreciate it if you would agree to contribute to our teaching effort (typically, one 24h course per year).

About conditions :

The position is that of a civil servant. Although basic salaries may seem uncompetitive internationally https://carrieres.cnrs.fr/en/ remuneration-of-civil-servants/ (data 2022), the French system offers a number of important guarantees : permanent position after one year’s probationary period ; free schooling (including kindergarten) ; low university fees ; free basic healthcare, with partial compensation for supplementary health insurance ; various family, mobility and residence allowances ; various bonuses, including for research productivity.

Environment :

Paris is an ideal city for research, with a critical mass of internationally renowned research and teaching institutions. Located on the Panthéon hill, the Institut Jean-Nicod is affiliated with the Department of Cognitive Studies (DEC) and the Department of Philosophy of the Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS), which is part of the Paris Sciences Lettres conglomerate (PSL, which includes, among others, the Collège de France and Université Dauphine). The IJN’s secondary supervisory body is EHESS, the Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Students from these institutions are selected at the highest national and international level, and are integrated into our research activities as trainee researchers at MA and PhD level.

About the procedure :

The IJN does not recruit directly. The CNRS, one of its parent institutions, recruits researchers through a national competition. In this context, candidates are encouraged to select one or more research laboratories to which they would like to be assigned, and the support of the laboratory is crucial to a successful application.

The present call concerns this preliminary stage of laboratory support by the Institut Jean-Nicod ; the formal application to the CNRS will be submitted by the candidate at a later stage (the deadline for submission of applications is normally early January, note that for recruitment 2024 the deadline was unusually late - February 9, 2024).

We will accompany and advise the candidates we support in their application to the CNRS, which is itself a competitive process.

Knowledge of French is not a prerequisite for working at the IJN. However, the national competition may require the oral examination to be conducted in French.

Potential candidates wishing to be supported by the Institut Jean-Nicod are invited to contact the laboratory by sending a CV (including a list of publications and at least the names of 2 references, no letter of recommendation is required) and a short description of their medium-to-long-term research program (2 pages excluding references), with a covering letter indicating their motivation to work at the IJN. Both documents should be sent in pdf format to the IJN management :

roberto.casati@ens.fr and frederique.de.vignemont@ens.fr

For your application to be fully considered, please submit it before November 25, 2025.

Candidates selected as eligible by the IJN will be contacted as soon as possible, but no later than the first half of December.

In the event of eligibility, mock interviews will be offered to candidates supported by the IJN, to prepare them for the national competition.