Interdisciplinary "Chaire of Junior Professor (CPJ)"

The CNRS Institute of Human and Social Sciences has announced the creation of an interdisciplinary Chaire of Junior Professor (CPJ), for which the Institut Jean Nicod (IJN) is a potential recipient.

INSHS - Learning and Cognition : Biological and Machine Learning-Based Approaches (APPCO)
At the intersection of the humanities and computer science, the APPCO Junior Professorship seeks to combine computational modeling, behavioral experimentation, and conceptual analysis in analytic philosophy and the sciences (cognitive science, biology) : specifically, the cognitive foundations and computational models. The goal is to model cognitive abilities (causal reasoning, spatial, numerical, and social cognition, as well as communicative and linguistic abilities) under ecologically realistic conditions, in order to test whether a priori biological knowledge is necessary for their emergence. The question of modular/generic architectures is central here : what organizational structure promotes generalization, learning, and the transfer of learning ? Socially interactive agents would constitute a relevant evaluation tool, since human cognition is deeply linked to social interactions.

Host laboratories :
• Institut Jean-Nicod (IJN - CNRS/EHESS/ENS-PSL)
• Institute of Intelligent Systems and Robotics (ISIR-CNRS/Sorbonne University)

To apply :
• Official job posting : late June 2026
• Application deadline : late August 2026
• Interviews with preselected candidates : October or early November 2026
• Notification of successful candidates : mid-November 2026
• Start date : January 1, 2027

Candidates interested in working at the IJN are asked to contact a member of the IJN with whom they intend to collaborate, to assess the relevance of their project and, if suitable, receive assistance in drafting their application.
The IJN is organized around three major thematic areas (philosophy, linguistics, social sciences), and the Director will prepare letters of acceptance for the candidates nominated by each area.
The final decision on recruitment rests with the CNRS.
Information about the CPJ can be obtained directly from the CNRS.

To learn more about the CPJ, click here or follow this link : https://www.ins2i.cnrs.fr/en/cnrsinfo/list-cnrs-informatics-tenure-tracks-2026