More controversial junior professorships created

Unions grumble as second wave of new pre-tenure teaching and research jobs goes ahead

Recruitment is to begin for 135 junior professor positions, following approvals from France’s ministry of higher education and research.

Created under the Research Planning Act (LPPR), which passed into law in December 2020, junior professorships are fixed-term research positions open to early career researchers. Intended as a new way of recruiting researchers and teachers, junior professors are employed on fixed contracts lasting from three to six years and hired outside the existing civil-service recruitment competitions. Junior professors are expected to apply for tenured positions in universities or research organisations following the completion of their contracts.