In France, the majority of senior lecturers and professors (enseignants-chercheurs) are permanent civil servants.
Their recruitment takes place in two stages: qualification by CNU (Conseil national des universités) and competitive examinations. Find out more about the profession and recruitment of enseignants-chercheurs in France.
What is an enseignant-chercheur in France?
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.
How to become an enseignant-chercheur?
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.
Once appointed as an EC at UGA, you will benefit from an onboarding program that is both supportive and tailored to your needs, including training, teaching release, support to develop research projects, and more!
What is a qualification CNU and why is it necessary?
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.
Important: the qualification campaign starts very early, in Autumn, whereas competitive examinations are launched in Spring. So, if you wish to apply for the 2026 recruitment campaign, make sure to apply for a qualification CNU as soon as November 2025.
For more information about the qualification process, please visit Galaxie (available in French only).
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.
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