Post-doctoral position : Research assistant for the collection, synthesis and formatting of...

You will be hosted by UMR Herbivores , at the INRAE research centre Clermont-Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes . You will be supervised by Isabelle Veissier, Research Director, and Raphaëlle Botreau, junior researcher, both specialised in animal welfare.

You will support INRAE contribution to the European Union Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (EURCAW) – Ruminants and Equines.

EURCAW – Ruminants and Equines is the third Centre designated by the European Commission, established in May 2021. The remit of the EURCAW is to support the Competent Authorities in EU member states with the implementation of current regulations on animal welfare. We provide scientific and technical expertise on the development and application of animal welfare indicators and methods of assessment of animal welfare to competent authorities and policy workers in animal welfare such as the National Reference Centres. EURCAW Ruminants & Equines covers a range of farm animal species including dairy production (cows, goats, sheep, buffaloes), the production of meat by cattle, sheep, goats, deer and horses, and ruminants and equines kept for other purposes. The activities of the EURCAW Ruminants & Equines are set out in a work programme in consultation with the European Commission.

INRAE leads activities aiming at 1- identifying the current knowledge and gaps regarding high priority farm animal welfare issues, with the production of scientific literature reviews, and 2- providing documentation on targeted welfare improvements easily usable by end users (e.g. fact sheets, vodcasts). INRAE also contributes to the dissemination of the knowledge to various audiences. For the first 1.5 years of the Centre, the focus will be on

• the richness of the environment for all species covered by the centre, addressing a wide range of conditions, from poor environments leading to decreased welfare (e.g. a bare indoor pen) to environments that promote positive welfare (e.g. provision of brushes, cow-calf contact systems, complex environments such as in agroforestry).
• two specific issues related to calves: feeding and housing requirements.

Other issues may be addressed on request of the EU Commission.

For these activities INRAE works with a network of experts from France and from other European countries (Greece, Italy, Austria, Ireland, and Sweden).

You will be in charge of:

• Searching knowledge available (technical and scientific literature, experts consultations)
• Analysing knowledge quality
• Summarising the current knowledge
• Contributing to the writing of scientific literature reviews
• Preparing user-friendly documents (e.g. e.g. fact-sheets, vodcasts)
• Liaising with experts working in related fields, incl. facilitation of working groups