Research laboratory:Interdisciplinary Research Laboratory on Societal Innovations (LiRIS), Université Rennes 2, France 

Call for expression of interest description:

The Marie S. Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) programme is a highly prestigious renowned EU-funded scheme. It offers talented scientists a unique chance to set up 2-year research and training projects with the support of a supervising team. Besides providing an attractive grant, it represents a major opportunity to boost the career of promising researchers. 

Research laboratories in Brittany are thus looking for excellent postdoctoral researchers with an international profile to write a persuasive proposal to apply for a Marie S. Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2025 (deadline of the EU call is set for 10th September 2025). The topic and research team presented below have been identified in this regard.

Main Research Field:Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC)

Research sub-field(s):Socioeconomics ; economic geography ; economic sociology ; institutional economics

Keywords:Just transition, Labour, Independent workers, Agriculture, Health sector

Research project description:

The literature on just transition is increasingly structured around the provision of decent jobs in the context of the necessary ecological and energy transition (ILO, 2016). This body of literature is based in particular on the identification and transformation of the capital-labor relationship in this context (Berthe, Turquet, 2023) and on the way in which working conditions are negotiated in the union sphere. Focused on highly industrial brown sectors, this literature on the other hand rarely integrates the questions associated with professions where the independent status is in the majority. Three specific questions then arise: how and with whom are the transformations to be carried out in these sectors of activity negotiated? Are new non-firm hierarchies appearing? Is this movement accompanied by a movement of salary increases in these sectors?

The objective of the postdoctoral fellow's work will be to conduct a survey among European, national and international authorities on the subject and to develop empirical analysis in various sectors of activity. The project will be based on a comparative dimension of several professions which are predominantly self-employed in the French context. The project will therefore be able to rely on sectors as diverse as the agricultural sector, that of doctors, or medical transporters.

Qualitative and quantitative approaches at the micro scale can be combined. Sectors that the supervisor has recently studied both in the context of energy transformation of agriculture or transformation of the organization of Social Security. This project will lead to improving knowledge of socio-economics, sociology and economic geography and requires the inclusion of both an organizational question (forms of firms) and a question on professions. Finally, the question of the reconfiguration of unions in these sectors is also at work as we have seen in recent debates in France.

Ultimately, this project joins broader debates on the multiple links forming between social and ecological issues within the current transition (Berthe and Elie, 2015).

References:

Berthe A., Elie L., 2015. « Mechanisms explaining the impact of economic inequality on environmental deterioration ». Ecological Economics, 116, 191-200.

Alexandre Berthe, Pascale Turquet, 2023, Just transition, in: Handbook of the Anthropocene by Christopher Wulf et Nathanaël Wallehnorst, Springer Editions. 

ILO. (2015). Guidelines for a just transition towards environmentally sustainable economies and societies for all. International Labour Organization.

Supervisor: The Postdoctoral Fellow will be supervised by Alexandre Berthe.

Alexandre Berthe is an economist working on social issues associated with the ecological transition. After having worked on the use of the concept of environmental inequality in economics and consequences of inequality on environmental deterioration, he has recently directed several interdisciplinary investigations (sociology, economics, geography) around the ecological transformation of sectors of activity and the implications in terms of social justice: ecological social security in France, agri-energy transition in Brittany, greening of prisons in Europe. Alexandre Berthe is a researcher at Rennes 2 University, but also very involved in the dynamics of transitions at Paris Cité University.

Guédé, Simon and Pellegris, Alban and Berthe, Alexandre and Ollivier, Carine and Grouiez, Pascal and Marchand, Lucile, Farmers’ Role in the Energy Transition: Evidence from a French Breeding Region. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5179460.

Berthe A., Elie L., 2015. « Mechanisms explaining the impact of economic inequality on environmental deterioration ». Ecological Economics, 116, 191-200.

Alexandre Berthe, Pascale Turquet, 2023, Just transition, in: Handbook of the Anthropocene by Christopher Wulf et Nathanaël Wallehnorst, Springer Editions.

Berthe, A., Grouiez, P. & Fautras, M. (2022). Heterogeneity of Agricultural Biogas Plants in France: A Sectoral System of Innovation Perspective. Journal of Innovation Economics & Management.

Profil Google Scholar:

https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=aq1j7PsAAAAJ&hl=fr 

Department/Research:                      

The host research team LiRIS works on social innovations in an interdisciplinary framework (law, economics, sociology) The LiRIS laboratory is structured around two research axes: "Standards, Governance, and Globalization" and "Standards, Vulnerabilities, and Solidarities." Its members aim to play a major role in analyzing social innovations, addressing three challenges: globalization, societal changes, and environmental issues. Globalization presents various mutations that challenge norms, values, and governance principles across different regulatory scales. Societal challenges emerge from evolving normative relationships and institutional transformations, fostering new economic and social organization modalities and highlighting vulnerabilities that require solidarity efforts. Environmental challenges, particularly regarding climate change financing, are becoming increasingly pressing. The EU's decarbonization program by 2050 sets a path towards a carbon- free world, necessitating new behaviors, especially towards renewable energy. The LiRIS acknowledges the interconnectedness of creating a responsible finance market and encouraging consumer engagement, requiring diverse expertise in management, law, economics, and sociology within the laboratory. Numerous collaborations also exist with other laboratories: Arènes (political science) and ESO (social geography). 

Location : Rennes 2 University, Campus Villejean, Rennes, France 

Suggestion for interdisciplinary / intersectoral secondments and placements:

Several academic secondment options could be envisioned depending on the characteristics of the candidate. A secondment at CIRED (leading laboratory in France for IPCC reports) in Paris could probably also be organised to strengthen knowledge on European issues, or at OFCE on social-ecological nexus. Secondments or placements could also be envisioned at the European level, in particular at ETUI, or at the World Bank in the group focusing on finance ministries role in ecological transition. 

Skills Requirements:

- Specific Skill Requirements: The candidate must have a solid knowledge of methods and theories in applied social sciences. The candidate must also show a previous ability to publish on related themes: transition, employment,organization, etc.

- English, French (if qualitative approach)

- Publications: At least one significative publication, with good impact factor in the field

Eligibility criteria for applicants

Academic qualification: By the MSCA-PF call deadline (10 September 2025), applicants must be in possession of a doctoral degree, defined as a successfully defended doctoral thesis, even if the doctoral degree has yet to be awarded.

Research experience: Applicants must have a maximum of 8 years full-time equivalent experience in research, measured from the date applicants were in possession of a doctoral degree. Years of experience outside research and career breaks (e.g. due to parental leave), will not be taken into account.

Nationality & Mobility rules: Applicants can be of any nationality but must not have resided more than 12 months in France in the 36 months immediately prior to the MSCA-PF call deadline (10 September 2025).

Application process

We encourage all motivated and eligible postdoctoral researchers to send their expressions of interest through the EU Survey application form (link here)[1], before 31st May 2025. Your application shall include:

• a CV detailing: (i) for each position you had, the exact dates and location (country) and (ii) a list of accepted publications;
• a cover letter including a research outline (up to 2 pages) identifying the research synergies with the project supervisor(s) and proposed research topics described above.

Estimated timetable

Deadline for sending an expression of interest : 31st May 2025

Selection of the applicant : June 2025 at the latest

Writing the MSCA-PF proposal with the support of the above-mentioned supervisor(s)

June – September 2025

MSCA-PF 2025 call deadline : 10 September 2025

Publication of the MSCA-PF evaluation results : February 2026

Start of the MSCA-PF project (if funded) : May 2026 (at the earliest)