Professor – Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience

Contacts

Expected skills:

Applicants must show a strong interest in teaching as well as a high-level scientific record in accordance with UGA’s ambitions. They must identify with UGA’s values, that is, being open to the world, emphasising ethics and scientific integrity, showing an interest in teamwork and being committed to the community. They should also have a sense of responsibility, in particular with regard to environmental and social issues.

Context and educational objectives:

Educational expectations:

• The courses will cover the fields of cognitive neuroscience, neurophysiology, motor control, movement analysis, and motor learning in relation to performance and health.
• This position involves teaching on the Bachelor's and Master's degree programmes in Sports Science (physical activity and health, sports training and performance, human movement science, multidimensional data). The programmes are structured around two key areas: the neuroscience of motor performance in relation to health and high-level sports, and the analysis of healthy and pathological human movement. The successful candidate will be expected to contribute to the UFR STAPS strategic projects, particularly those concerning the excellence of training in high-performance sport and sport and health, and the development of innovative tools for professional practices. They will also be expected to ensure ongoing synergy between scientific research and practical applications.
• The successful candidate is also expected to innovate in training, for example through learning by doing, developing digital resources and course scripting, and creating new training courses that address identified lifelong learning needs.
• The successful candidate must have demonstrated their ability to perform administrative and management responsibilities within a university structure, and more broadly within the public higher education sector. This will allow them to continue performing these responsibilities within UFR STAPS.

Research project and scientific impact:

The successful candidate will integrate either the TIMC (BiomecaMot Team) research mixed unity (UMR 5525) or the Grenoble Institute of Neurosciences (Brain Behavior Neuromodulation Team).

TIMC laboratory

Located within the Grenoble Alpes University Hospital, the TIMC laboratory (Translational research and Innovation in Medicine and Complexity) is an interdisciplinary laboratory bringing together research in medicine, mathematics, computer science, engineering and health. The “Biomécanique des Tissus, des Matériaux et Motricité” (BiomecaMot) team brings together researchers and clinicians who focus on the biomechanics of living tissues, materials and human movement in its modelling and experimental dimensions. The work has applications in clinical assistance and medical device development. The primary objective of this team is to integrate theoretical, computational and experimental aspects in the same projects. This team aims to reinvigorate its research focus on the multifactorial analysis of human movement in both healthy individuals and those with pathological conditions. This initiative is particularly significant as the team joined the Center for Integrative Health Research (CReSI) in 2025. A new human movement analysis platform has been implemented to foster innovation in the development of miniaturized and embedded motion sensors (e.g., MySmartMove system developed at TIMC), to design and optimize medical devices (e.g., the Twinsight startup originating from TIMC), and to meet training needs for students in sports science, physiotherapy, and biomechanics.

The goal is to address challenges related to human motion through translational research in health, well-being, and sports performance via physical activity. This scientific strategy also contributes to public health, a key value of the laboratory. The recruited professor may also help strengthen the connection between teaching in sports science (STAPS) and research, while providing high-level scientific and technical expertise for interdisciplinary studies of human movement.

They will develop original and interdisciplinary research in one or more of the following areas:

1. Behavioural and cognitive neuroscience applied to motor control: identifying motor signatures of health and/or sports performance through the study of behavioural, sensorimotor, and cognitive markers.
2. Multimodal movement analysis: combining kinematic, electromyographic (EMG), and electroencephalographic (EEG) data to understand the neurophysiological and biomechanical mechanisms of movement, especially in ecological or perturbation contexts (e.g., running, postural control, complex motor tasks). This analysis may integrate musculoskeletal biomechanical modeling developed within the BiomecaMot team and the Twinsight startup.
3. Development and application of medical devices and innovative sensors: contributing to the design, validation, and use of wearable technologies for motion quantification and motor performance assessment, in collaboration with laboratory spinoffs (MySmartMove) and with partners in the medical and sports sectors.
4. Translational research: enhancing scientific impact through clinical, industrial, and sports collaborations, particularly in the context of major international sporting events.

Their work should align with an integrative vision that links fundamental research, clinical applications, and societal challenges related to sport-health and/or sport-performance.

GIN laboratory

The Grenoble Institute of Neuroscience (GIN) conducts research ranging from the cellular to the human level to improve our understanding of the brain and develop effective treatments. The laboratory's strategy is to strengthen GIN's focus on integrative and clinical neuroscience research. A dynamic group of five STAPS/Neurosciences lecturers and researchers and researchers at GIN develops topics focused on neuroscience in several areas, including sensory processes, motor control, and cognitive processes related to action control and learning. One of the laboratory's strengths is studying these themes in both normal and pathological contexts, which is made possible by integrating these themes within GIN through collaboration between STAPS/Neuroscience lecturers and researchers, INSERM researchers, and CHUGA doctors.

One of the major goals of neuroscience is to understand the mechanisms underlying the functioning of the human brain and to develop methods for repairing pathological brain damage. One of the keys to this is studying the electrical activity of neuronal populations and the behavioural or clinical effects induced by brain stimulation procedures. The team's scientific objectives lie at the interface between fundamental neuroscience and clinical neuroscience, as it brings together both clinical neuroscientists and cognitive neuroscientists

The successful candidate will be responsible for developing ambitious research projects and coordinating neuroscience/STAPS research at GIN (5 MCUs – senior lecturers –, 4 doctoral students, and 1 postdoctoral researcher) with the aim of characterising the neural bases of perception and motor function in normal and pathological conditions. The areas of research developed include sensory processing, memory, cognition, and sleep. The team also focuses on deficits associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders such as epilepsy, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and Parkinson's disease.

Specifically, the integration of the successful candidate may focus on one or more of the following areas:

• Characterising the neurofunctional mechanisms of perception and motor skills in physiological and pathological conditions.
• Studying the brain mechanisms underlying motivation and decision-making, and how they are altered in certain neurological and psychiatric disorders.
• Proposing new therapeutic strategies for improved diagnosis and treatment of patients in pathologies related to movement and /or neuropsychiatric disorders.

Information for candidates :

• Université Grenoble Alpes recruits on the basis of skills and makes use of all talents. It encourages applicants with disabilities to apply for teaching and research positions.
• Senior lecturers and professors are required to reside at the place where they perform their duties (Art. 5 of Decree No. 84-431 of June 6, 1984).
• HRS4R certified and committed to an OTM-R (Open, Transparent, and Merit-based Recruitment) approach, the University of Grenoble Alpes recruits on the merits of candidates and in accordance with a transparent procedure.

Job details

Title Professor – Cognitive and Behavioural Neuroscience

Employer Université Grenoble Alpes

Location 621 avenue Centrale Grenoble, France

Published 2026-03-13

Application deadline 2026-04-02 16:00 (Europe/Paris)

Job type Professor

Field Physiology, Neuroscience, Neuropsychology, Cognitive Psychology, Sport Science, Behavioural Science