Chair of Junior Professor / Urban planning, Cities and territories / ENTPE, France

RECRUTEMENT / EMPLOYMENT

 

The urban outside metropolitan centres

 Chair of Junior Professor

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION: 13 October

 

Host institution: ENTPE, Lyon Saint-Etienne university, UMR EVS, Urban Planning, Cities and Territories

 

Host research laboratory: UMR Environnement, ville, société (EVS), composante ENTPE Recherches interdisciplinaires ville, espace, société (RIVES).

 

Contacts : Luc DELATTRE, director of research at ENTPE: luc.delattre@entpe.fr; Etienne COSSART, director of UMR EVS: etienne.cossart@univ-lyon3.fr; Fabrice BARDET, director of ENTPE component (EVS-RIVES): fabrice.bardet@entpe.fr; Eric CHARMES, research director, ENTPE, EVS-RIVES: eric.charmes@entpe.fr

Research domains: Urban planning, Cities and territories

Keywords: small and mid-size cities, towns, ruralities, periurban territories, planetary urbanisation, international comparisons

Starting date: from the beginning of 2024

Recruitment notice:

https://www.entpe.fr/sites/default/files/2023-07/220710_AvisRecrutement%20CPJ%20du%20DD_2023_EVS_RIVES-ENG-vf.pdf

Application procedure:

https://www.entpe.fr/sites/default/files/2023-07/230711_Procedure_CPJ_CadreDeDossierDeCandidature-vf.docx

 

Conditions of application:

– PhD or equivalent scientific qualifications and work.

– Fluency in French and/or English.

– No age nor nationality requirements.

– The Chair is accessible to people with disabilities.

Recruitment procedure:

The procedures for this recruitment are set out in the Decree no. 2021-1710 published on December 17 2021 regarding chairs of junior professor. This position is offered on a contract of 3 to 5 years, depending on the candidate’s profile, leading to tenure as Research director (DR2) within the Ministry of Ecological Transition, with assignment to ENTPE. The selection will be made by an international jury, with an initial selection based on the candidate’s application file, followed by an interview with the shortlisted candidates.

This chair is supported by a very favourable research environment and includes a teaching load at ENTPE (28 hours of lectures or 42 hours of practical or supervised work per year) as well as an ANR funding for scientific activities (€200,000).

How to apply?

• Interested parties are to send applications by e-mail to cpj2023@entpe.fr indicating name, surname, e-mail address and the position applied for.
• In return, a message will be sent informing you of the application procedure: this procedure is dematerialized via the website https://recrutement.entpe.fr.
• In case of technical problems, you can reach us at aurion@entpe.fr.
• In case of administrative questions, you can reach us at cpj2023@entpe.fr.
• Please contact the persons listed above to discuss how your proposal may fit into the host institution and research laboratory scientific programmes, or to get information about practical issues.

Presentation of ENTPE:

The École nationale des travaux publics de l’État (ENTPE) is a higher education and research establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion. It provides training and research in the fields of civil engineering, construction, planning, transport and environment.

What sets ENTPE apart from other engineer grandes écoles is the importance it attaches to social sciences, in which it developed research laboratories nearly fifty years ago. The aim was to support the work of the Ministry of Public Works staff responsible for urban planning and development. ENTPE now offers training in the field of planning policies at bachelor’s level, in the engineer cycle (Planning and urban policies), in master’s degrees co-accredited with other institutions of Lyon university (Urban planning; City and urban environment; Public policies), and at doctoral level (in the fields of geography, urban planning, sociology, anthropology and political Science). ENTPE currently trains 800 students, including around 700 engineers, most of whom are recruited from the preparatory classes for the grandes écoles. Around a hundred PhDs are currently being prepared.

In recent years, the ENTPE’s supervising ministry, now in charge of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, has been redirecting its policies outside metropolitan centres, towards all areas of France, and in particular towards periurban areas, rural areas (Agenda rural) and small or medium-sized cities in decline (Petites villes de demain and Action cœur de ville). The challenges in these territories are now crucial, in all sectors.

Presentation of UMR Environnement ville société (EVS):

The ENTPE hosts 5 research laboratories, 4 of which are affiliated to the CNRS and one to the Gustave Eiffel University. The ENTPE hires and welcomes 80 researchers, including 60 permanent staffs.

The Environnement Ville Société (EVS) laboratory, at the heart of the Intelligence des Mondes Urbains (IMU) Labex, is one of the main urban studies research centres within the University of Lyon. The laboratory uses an interdisciplinary approach to analyse the dynamics of change between cities, societies and their environments. The major issues to which EVS pays particular attention, and on which it has built up a recognised expertise, are: the anthropisation of environments, urbanisation and the production of cities, adaptation to environmental changes, and the circulation of data, human groups and materials.

EVS adopts a reflective stance on the place of science and technology in contemporary society, as well as on the exercise of scientific plurality within its ranks, thanks to a broad disciplinary spectrum covering mainly geography, urban planning, sociology, anthropology, engineering sciences and architecture.

EVS, which is present on several campuses of Lyon and Saint-Etienne university, is structured into thematic “workshops”, supported by three cross-disciplinary platforms that help to observe and model changes.

The ENTPE’s component, EVS-RIVES, made up of nine researchers, an equal number of doctoral students, a librarian and a managing secretary, is involved in all of these activities. The component, in conjunction with the other sites of EVS, is developing research programmes in areas located outside major metropolitan centres. The aim of the Chair now open for applications is to strengthen and extend the position the component has acquired on the periurban question and in the debates generated by the notion of ‘peripheral France’, as these territories are at the heart of numerous discussions at both academic and operational levels, on national and international levels.

Finally, the EVS laboratory and its ENTPE component are particularly involved in the POPSU research-action programme. A new work programme in partnership with the Métropole de Lyon will start at the same time as the Chair. This programme has several strands, one of which is dedicated to the role of small and medium-sized cities in the Lyon metropolitan area.

 

Research profile:

Candidates must propose a research project, preferably including the preparation of an habilitation to supervise PhDs and/or an application for ERC funding and/or an application to an ANR call for projects. This research project will be assessed on the basis of its links with the research programs of EVS and its ENTPE component. An indicative timetable should be proposed for the 3 to 5 years following the date of arrival. An international and comparative perspective, ideally including Southern and/or Northern countries with which the component collaborates (Brazil, Mexico, Maghreb countries, Cameroon, Indonesia ; Northern America ; Europe), is expected. Candidates should also specify how they will be involved in doctoral training.

The proposed project should take account of the context presented above. In particular, it should take into account the “turn” that has been taking place in recent years in the narrative whereby metropolises are the leading edge of globalization and ecological transition. Initiated at the end of the 2010s, this turn has manifested itself in France through the growing visibility of publications that are critical of metropolisation, the Gilets jaunes social movement, and the redirection of public policies towards small and medium-sized cities, in the aftermath of the so-called “affirmation des métropoles” law enacted in 2014. Ecological discourse is also increasingly reserved about densification. To what extent are these elements initiating a new phase in the planetarisation of the urban that has accompanied metropolisation? What about the role of territories outside metropolises in contemporary geographical and social dynamics? In contrast to the growth model based on large metropolises, can these territories see the emergence of alternative local development strategies, adapted to the challenges of ecological transitions?

Teaching profile:

As the ENTPE is also an educational institution, candidates will be asked to put forward proposals for their involvement in teaching about urban policies, urban planning and development. Proposals may concern courses, supervision of individual or group works, and pedagogical engineering. Proposals should be linked to the policies of the French Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion, particularly those aimed at rural areas and small and medium-sized cities (see above). Contributions on the outskirts of major metropolises (particularly periurban rings) are also expected. In all of these fields, international perspectives, particularly from Southern countries, will be appreciated.

Financial environment:

The ANR will provide a total of €200,000 in funding for this Chair, which can be allocated to human resources, running costs or equipment. Candidates must propose a plan for the mobilisation of this funding. This should feature a section dedicated to doctoral training. The mobilisation of other research credits is also expected.

Activity monitoring indicators (prior to tenure):

Evaluation will be based on the criteria used by the “Commission d’évaluation des chercheurs du développement durable” (COMEVAL). In particular, activity will be assessed on the basis of scientific output, both in terms of volume and quality (publications and communications), collaborative and contractual research activity (in this case, in particular, management of the ANR package, but also the ability to find other sources of funding), research leadership (organisation of events), collaborations with renowned universities and academic partners, international influence, and finally, the dissemination of work to urban planning and policies professionals as well as non-specialist audiences. Involvement in doctoral supervision will also be considered, as will involvement in teaching (participation in courses, responsibility for curricula, supervision of student projects and internships).

 

 

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