Stay type

Any international researcher coming to INRAE must contractually formalise their visit, whether their work is part of a pre-existing research partnership or a non-contractual situation.

Contracts are based on three key elements:

• Your status: You are an international researcher, professor, or engineer who is employed by an outside institution, who has a research grant or other form of research funding
• Your country of origin: You are a citizen of a country within or outside the European Union (EU)
• The length of your stay: You will be spending up to or more than 5 days at INRAE

In this section, we describe the contractual conditions and procedures associated with each set of circumstances.

1 – You are employed by an outside institution and will be spending no more than 5 days at INRAEAE 

Your contract with INRAE

Prior to your visit, you must submit the following to INRAE: 

• Letter from your employer providing the authorisation and rationale for your stay at INRAE
• Signed confidentiality agreement provided by the director of your host research unit at INRAE
• Proof of insurance or a self-declaration affirming that you have the following coverage: health care, accident, civil liability, and repatriation
• Copy of your ID card (if from an EU country) or copy of your passport and an appropriate visa (if from a non-EU country)

2 – You are employed by an outside institution and will be spending more than 5 days at INRAERAE 

Your contract with INRAE

The exact process varies depending on your specific circumstances. 

1) You are coming to INRAE as part of a research agreement between the institute and your employer (a public or private institution), and research stays are mentioned in the agreement (i.e., in specific clauses or the annex). In this case, you will only need to fill out a hosting agreement if you are coming from outside the EU (i.e., the hosting agreement for foreign researchers or academics/convention d’accueil d’un chercheur ou d’un enseignant étanger).

2) You are coming to INRAE as part of a research agreement between the institute and your employer (a public or private institution), but research stays are not mentioned in the original agreement. It will be necessary to establish a third-party hosting agreement (convention d’accueil d’une personne salariée d’un tiers) signed by INRAE, your employer, and yourself. If you are coming from outside the EU, you will also need to fill out a hosting agreement for foreign researchers or academics (convention d’accueil d’un chercheur ou d’un enseignant étanger).

3) If you are coming to INRAE but no research agreement exists between the institute and your employer, it will be necessary to establish a third-party hosting agreement (convention d’accueil d’une personne salariée d’un tiers) signed by INRAE, your employer, and yourself.

The hosting agreement(s) will be sent to you by your host research unit or division at INRAE. You must fill in the relevant information and send it back to the institute prior to your visit. Then, your employer must approve and sign the agreement, which needs to be sent back to INRAE prior to your visit.

Income requirements

For your visit to be successful, your host research unit must ensure that you have sufficient financial resources to support yourself during your time in France. On January 1, 2024, the minimum required income was €1,768 per month. This amount is adjusted by ministerial decree on the first day of the year (through 2026).

Complementary funding

Depending on your specific circumstances, if you do not meet this minimum income threshold, your host research unit at INRAE may give you complementary funding to help cover living expenses.

This allowance is not a form of income. For more information, please contact your host research unit.

3 – You are not employed elsewhere, but you have a grant or research funding

You are not employed by an outside institution, but you have been awarded a competitive grant or research funding that will cover your work at INRAE. This financial support must come from a foreign government, a foreign research institution, or the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Your contract with INRAE

You will need to establish a hosting agreement for international researchers (convention d’accueil d’un chercheur étranger en séjour de recherche) with the institute. The purpose of your stay is to obtain research-based training and/or to take part in a research project. The agreement will specify the following: 

• Context, purpose, location, and duration of your work at INRAE; your host research unit or laboratory
• Your complete contact information and the names of references
• Amount of primary funding for your stay and any complementary funding from INRAE
• Liability and insurance requirements
• Rules related to confidentiality, intellectual property rights, value creation, patents, product creation, and scientific communication
• Rules, regulations, and health & safety requirements that must be respected during your stay at INRAE
• Terms relating to contract termination and dispute resolution

The hosting agreement(s) will be sent to you by your host research unit or division at INRAE. You must fill in the relevant information and send it back to INRAE prior to your visit.

You also need to submit the following documents to your host research unit: 

• Proof of competitive funding for your research at INRAE that has been awarded by a foreign government, a foreign research institution, or the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs
• Proof of common law (or equivalent) insurance, which must cover health care, accidents, individual civil liability, and repatriation

Income requirements

For your visit to be successful, your host research unit must ensure that you have sufficient financial resources to support yourself during your time in France. On January 1, 2024, the minimum required income was €1,768 per month. This amount is adjusted by ministerial decree on the first day of the year (through 2026).

Complementary funding

Depending on your specific circumstances, if you do not meet this minimum income threshold, your host research unit at INRAE may give you complementary funding to help cover living expenses.

This allowance is not a form of income.