Post-doctoral Researcher on open education and OER

Organisation/Company Nantes Université Research Field Educational sciences » Education Researcher Profile Recognised Researcher (R2) Positions PhD Positions Application Deadline 2 Oct 2026 - 00:00 (Europe/Paris) Country France Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 37H15 Offer Starting Date 3 Sep 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Other EU programme Reference Number EO_SHS_PostDoc_E3I1 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The postdoctoral contract is situated within the field of education and training sciences. The postdoctoral researcher will be hosted by the Centre for Research in Education of Nantes (CREN) and affiliated with Theme 3, whose members work on education and training policies and their effects on the activities, experiences, and trajectories of the actors concerned (staff and users), drawing on sociological, economic, philosophical, and historical approaches. The postdoctoral research will be jointly supervised by Christophe Michaut (Professor / CREN) and Arnaud Guével (Professor / MIP).Scientific context of the project

Open education was defined in 2016 by the European Commission as “an educational practice that often involves the use of digital technologies. Its aim is to facilitate access to education by removing barriers and offering the widest possible audience accessible, rich, and customizable learning opportunities. It is based on many ways of teaching, learning, building, and sharing knowledge.” The objective is to open access to knowledge as widely as possible, notably through the concrete implementation of open educational resources. According to UNESCO (2020), “Open Educational Resources (OER) are teaching, learning, and research materials that, through appropriate tools such as open licenses, can be freely reused, continuously improved, and adapted by third parties for educational purposes.”

Recommended by UNESCO, open education is gradually being integrated into the political, pedagogical, and scientific models of higher education institutions, with the aim of contributing to the “Sustainable Development Goals” (SDGs), and thus to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.” Still insufficiently explored from a scientific perspective, the uses of open education in francophone higher education are currently documented in diverse and fragmented ways (Massou, Papi, & Pulker, 2020).

The project is structured around the following research questions:

• What are the modes of appropriation (Proulx, 2002) at the level of activities and scientific and pedagogical practices? For example, does open education and the use of open educational resources (OER) by teachers transform their instructional design practices?
• What effects does open education have on interactions within training programs, support systems, individualized learning pathway management, and assessment mechanisms contributing to student success in higher education (Michaut, 2023)? For example, does students’ use of OER contribute to their academic success?
• How do institutional actors (supervisory authorities, university governance, academic professions, and socio-economic actors within a territory) engage with open education from a strategic and governance perspective in higher education institutions, either to initiate new synergies among stakeholders or to strengthen existing ones?

Requirements

Research Field Educational sciences » Education Education Level PhD or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

• Education and/or qualifications: PhD in Education and Training Sciences

Specific Requirements

• Relevant prior experience for the position: Research topics in the field of higher education; observation of teaching practices; organization and dissemination of scientific events; writing of scientific articles, reports, and syntheses; scientific presentations at national and international levels

Languages FRENCH Level Excellent

Languages ENGLISH Level Excellent

Research Field Educational sciences » Education Years of Research Experience 1 - 4

Additional Information

• Commitment to professional equality, diversity and inclusion and addressing gender-based and sexual violence
• Membership in the EUniWell European Alliance committed to wellness
• Certified HR Excellence in Research since 2022 as part of the HRS4R strategy
• Transport su