Job siteWelcome

Senior lecturers (tenured associate professors) and professors belong to the category of tenured lecturers and researchers (enseignants-chercheurs titulaires, EC).

In UGA academic jargon, "senior lecturers" refers to maîtres de conférences (MCF) and "professors" to professeurs des universités (PR).

Their job description comprises of three different types of activities:
> Teaching,
> Researching, and
> Taking on administrative responsibilities.

All ECs are expected to teach, carry out the assessment and evaluation of students, and supervise student work such as research projects and PhD dissertations. The main differences between MCFs and PRs lie in their research-related activities. PRs are more experienced and more likely to lead research projects with a high international profile.

MCFs and PRs are recruited through competitive examinations that take place every year in hiring French universities.

The French Ministry of Higher Education and Research (Ministère de l'enseignement supérieur et de la recherche, MESR) leads the recruitment of all ECs nationwide through two procedures: the qualification CNU and the competitive examinations. Universities either follow MESR's recruitment timeline (session synchronisée) or their own (fil de l'eau), according to their needs.

Eligibility criteria, as well as salary and career development rules are the same for all ECs employed by public organizations.

For more information about EC recruitment campaigns (e.g., session synchronisée timeline, list of required documents...), we advise you to refer to MESR’s website Galaxie, as well as the webpages of universities you are interested in.
   

The French Conseil national des universités (National Council of Universities, CNU) decides on individual measures relating to the recruitment and career development of all ECs in France.
In order to apply for any MCF or PR position, candidates' applications must first be examined by the CNU section corresponding to their discipline. If the CNU section considers a candidate suitable for an MCF or PR position, they are awarded a qualification CNU.
 

About the 2026 Qualification Campaign

Timeline
From 3rd November 2025 to 15th December 2025 (4:00pm): Applications through Odyssée
From 26th January to 20th February 2026: CNU sections' meetings
23rd March 2026: Results
> Please click here for or a detailed timeline (in French)

Required documents
> Please click here for the list of required documents (in French)

Additional information
> Please click here for general information regarding the qualification campaign (in French) 

For MCF positions, applicants must hold a PhD or higher.

For PR positions, applicants must hold an Accreditation to Direct Research diploma (Habilitation à diriger des recherches, HDR), or equivalent.

Additional requirements are:
> A qualification CNU specific to applicants’ scientific discipline.
> Applicants who have not obtained a qualification CNU must provide proof that they have held a position comparable to an MCF/PR (ie., teaching, research, administrative duties, etc.) in a foreign higher education institution in the 18 months prior to their application. They must provide an official proof, such as a contract, or a certificate from their employer indicating position and contract dates.

Provisions common to all EC competitive examinations:
- All applications must be sent through the Odyssée platform, no application received by email will be processed.
- Nationality is not a criterion for eligibility.
- Any document written in a foreign language must be uploaded with its translation in French.

More information about UGA’s EC recruitment campaigns.