Junior Research Scientist in food safety and multiple risk assessment

The SECALIM project focuses on the characterization and quantification of microbial risk in food, in relation to new production and consumption practices. SECALIM is part of the European drive for innovation and research into multi-criteria assessment linked to the transition of food systems, by placing food safety within a more global dimension (sustainability, regional economy, new consumer expectations, etc.) of studying complete food systems. This much more global integration of food safety opens up new research prospects in this emerging and competitive field. SECALIM’s aim is to strengthen its core competencies in microbiological food safety, and to develop multi-criteria methods for the holistic assessment of food systems.

You will be fully involved in this objective, focusing your work on the integration of microbiological food safety into a holistic, multi-criteria assessment of the global risk assessment challenges associated with the transition of food systems. Your main task will be to assess microbiological risks, quantitatively where necessary. In addition, you will develop holistic risk assessment approaches and test them on different food systems (lentil, chicken, etc.), in line with SECALIM’s thematic priorities. This research work will enable you to identify and evaluate strategies for controlling health risks, in order to anticipate and better manage the risks associated with current transitions.

You’ll be welcomed into Secalim, a single-team facility with 17 permanent staff and a dozen PhD students, post-docs and contract staff, while benefiting from Secalim’s many national collaborations (eg. within INRAE with units of the MICA and AlimH departments, outside INRAE with Anses and the Actia network) and international collaborations acquired through European projects such as Protect (Predictive mOdelling Tools to evaluate the Effects of Climate change on food safeTy, http://www.protect-itn.eu/), Saffi (Safe Food for Infants in the EU and China, https://saffi.eu/) and Holifood (Holistic approach for tackling food systems risks in a changing global environment, https://holifoodproject.eu/).

In the short term, you will be involved in the latter project (which runs from 2022-2026) to familiarize yourself with holistic assessments combining microbiological risks, chemical risks, nutritional benefits and risks, environmental risks and economic risks of the lentil system. In the medium term, you will continue to develop the research theme of “integrating microbiological safety into a holistic, multi-criteria assessment” within the unit and the institute.