Junior research scientist on mother-offspring relationships

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Working place: French National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food, and the Environment (INRAE)

Missions:

The Physiology, Environment and Genetics for Animals and Farming Systems (PEGASE) joint research unit, based in St-Gilles near Rennes, conducts research aimed at gaining a better understanding of the interactions between animals, farming practices and the environment in order to improve the sustainability of food systems. Within this unit, you will be joining the ‘Bienetre’ team (Well-being, health and adaptation of farm animals), made up of seventeen permanent staff from INRAE and the Institut Agro Rennes-Angers, including 9 scientists.

The Welfare team studies the physiological and behavioural mechanisms that govern the welfare, health and adaptation of pigs and dairy ruminants. You will receive technical support in the unit's methodological workshops, particularly in behavioural analysis and physiological measurements.

The aim of the project is to study the development of the bond between the mother and her offspring in pigs. The originality of the project lies in the fact that it focuses on the evolution of the mother's behavior over the reproductive cycles and the consequences of the mother-offspring bond on maternal well-being, in a context of longer sow careers and changes in their rearing conditions.
Initially, focusing on the sow, you will seek to characterise the behavioural elements that make up the relationship between the mother and her young (physical, vocal and olfactory interactions). You will study the temporal dynamics of the establishment and evolution of these interactions, assessed by various behavioural and physiological criteria (in collaboration with scientists from UMR PEGASE), during a lactation and over the course of lactations.

In a second phase, you will study the impact of individual characteristics and rearing practices on the cognitive processes used by the sow (effects of experience and importance of memory) and the sow's level of investment in her relationship with her litter.

In the longer term, you will look at the consequences of the mother-offspring relationship on the welfare of the sow and the welfare, health and zootechnical performance of her offspring, seeking to characterise the synergies or antagonisms between these different dimensions. The knowledge generated will be used to propose practical recommendations aimed at respecting the behavioural needs of the animals and promoting their welfare on the farm.

Qualifications:

PhD or equivalent in neuroscience.

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