The Institute's Human Resource Policy
1. A specific feature of Institut Cochin: Career Monitoring and Support Units for all staff categories
In 2022, the Institut Cochin established three Career Monitoring and Support Units (CSCA in French) to provide staff of all categories (Researchers, technical and administrative staff, PhD students) with support, advice, and information at all stages of their professional lives. The Units are staffed by volunteers regardless of their status.
They offer group training, information meetings for the three supervisory bodies (Inserm, CNRS, Université Paris Cité) tailored to each staff category, assistance with preparing for written and oral competitive exams, mentoring for doctoral students, and personalized support in the event of professional difficulties or conflicts.
In conjunction with the Quality of Work Life (QWL) working group created at the Institute over 10 years ago, the CSCAs have initiated a psychosocial risk prevention campaign, focusing on the concepts of conflict, burnout, and moral and sexual harassment.
2. Integration of New Recruits and Community Life
The Institut Cochin's management organizes two information meetings per year for new recruits in English to introduce them to the organization of the Institut Cochin and its practical aspects. In addition, a meeting dedicated to first-year doctoral students is held every October.
Informational documents (contacts, practical information) specific to each status are also distributed by the Prevention Assistants when new recruits begin their positions, during their mandatory training in good laboratory practices. The QWL group and the CSCAs publish a monthly newsletter.
To facilitate integration and ensure the smooth transmission of information to everyone, particularly non-French speakers, all internal written communications at the Institute (Extranet, reports, emails, etc.) are written in French and English. Personalized assistance is provided to new foreign employees with administrative and regulatory matters.
The Institut Cochin organizes numerous friendly events to encourage networking and integration: breakfasts, half-day internal open houses, a social gathering following the Annual General Meeting, the Institut Cochin's 20th anniversary celebration in 2022, inter-scientific axis retreats, etc.
3. Institut Cochin Youth Association (JeCCo)
In addition to these initiatives, the Institut Cochin supports the work of the JeCCo association (Young Researchers of Cochin), created in 2006 and bringing together young doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and ITAs working at Institut Cochin. Its goal is to promote the integration of young people from the Institute into the scientific community, particularly those of foreign origin, and to build networks within the Institut Cochin and between research institutes in the Île-de-France area.
This association conducts initiatives that strengthen social ties. In addition, it organizes after-work events and professional breakfasts to broaden the career horizons of young people by allowing them to interact with professionals from the public and private sectors who share their experiences.
Eco-Responsible Research
Since 2019, the Institute has had an ECo2 working group composed of around thirty volunteers, both scientists and administrative staff, to address issues of ecological transition and sustainable development in the laboratories. Its objectives are to reduce our Institute's carbon footprint and waste production, and to raise awareness of more responsible research. These objectives are in line with the objectives of the Labos 1.5 initiative.
Implementation of concrete actions:
- Annual Carbon Footprint using the tool developed by the Labos 1.5 research collective
- Recycling of WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), masks, and certain plastics
- Energy savings: switching many -80°C freezers to -70°C
- Climate fresks animations several times a year for all volunteers, and systematic for new recruits
- Creation of a shared store to optimize orders and consumption
- Participation in the global "Digital Clean-up Day" initiative (raising awareness of the environmental impact of digital technology), and participation in national initiatives.
Integrity and Fairness
Scientific Integrity - Ethics - Professional Conduct
The Institut Cochin raises staff awareness about scientific integrity, research ethics, and professional conduct, three essential components of responsible research conduct.
Detailed information and regulatory texts are made available to staff on the Institute's extranet site on topics such as: ethics of scientific publications, the fight against fraud, the use of AI, data ownership, protocols in animal experimentation (compliance with the 3Rs), use of human samples, ethical management, use of media and social networks, etc.
Seminars on scientific integrity and conflict management are regularly organized with the participation of the CNRS, Inserm, and Université Paris Cité supervisory authorities.
Parity and inclusion
In terms of gender equality, 60% of the Institut Cochin's staff are women. It should be noted that the percentage of women in positions of responsibility (team leaders, core facility managers, and directors) is 49%. This exceeds the average observed in academic research institutes.
The Institut Cochin also supports targeted initiatives for the inclusion of all minorities, for example, those organized by the Institut Cochin's Queer Club (participation in the Pride march, etc.).
