CNRS Researcher in philosophy

The Institut Jean-Nicod (IJN) is seeking to support applications in philosophy to Research Associate (Chargé.e de Recherche) positions at the French 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 faculty members, working on analytic philosophy, linguistics, and social cognition, with as unifying theme the mind and the nature of mental representations.

About the profile :

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

CNRS Research Associate positions are full-time permanent positions intended for candidates in their early to mid career. 4-5 years of post PhD research experience, possibly in a non-French laboratory, will be appreciated. We expect candidates to show an established and promising research and publication record. This should include articles and/or books in distinguished academic venues (French or international). 

CNRS is an equal opportunity employer. We encourage applications from underrepresented groups.

CNRS researchers are not statutorily expected to teach. However, most CNRS researchers at IJN teach in either (or both) of the two MA tracks, the Master Philosophie and the Master Sciences Cognitives. We would clearly appreciate a willingness to contribute to our teaching endeavor (typically, a course of 24h per year).

About the conditions :

The position is that of a civil servant. Although base salaries may appear to be internationally not competitive https://carrieres.cnrs.fr/en/remuneration-of-civil-servants/ (2025 data), the French system provides a number of important safeguards : tenured position after one year of tenure track ; free education (including pre-k) ; inexpensive university fees ; free basic healthcare, with partial compensation of secondary healthcare insurance ; various family, mobility and residential allowances ; various bonuses, including for research productivity.

About the environment :

Paris is a great city for doing research, as it has a critical mass of internationally renowned research and teaching institutions. Centrally located on the Pantheon hill, Institut Jean-Nicod is affiliated with both the Department of Cognitive Studies (DEC) and the Department of Philosophy of Ecole Normale Supérieure (ENS), itself part of the conglomerate Paris Sciences Lettres (PSL, that includes, among others, Collège de France et Université Dauphine). IJN’s secondary parent institution is EHESS, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales. Students at these institutions are selected at the top national and international level, and are integrated in our research activities as trainee researchers at MA and PhD level.

About the procedure :

IJN does not recruit directly. CNRS, one of its parent institutions, recruits researchers by way of a national competition. In this framework, applicants are encouraged to select one or more research labs to which they would like to be assigned, and lab support is crucial for a successful application.

The present call pertains to this preliminary step of lab support by the Institut Jean-Nicod ; the official CNRS application will be submitted by the candidate at a later stage (the deadline to submit applications is normally early January).

We would accompany and advise candidates we support in their CNRS application, itself a competitive process.

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

Prospective applicants that wish to be supported by the Institut Jean-Nicod are invited to contact the lab by sending a CV (including a publication list and at least the name of 2 references, no recommendation letter are required) and a short description of their medium-long term research agenda (2-pages excluding references), with a cover letter indicating their motivation for working at IJN. The two documents must be sent in pdf format to the IJN’s director,

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

To ensure full consideration, please submit your application by Nov. 25, 2025.

Candidates that are considered for support will be contacted starting as early as possible and not 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.