Pros
A good place for PhD study. Competitve salary in France. It is one of the biggest interdisciplinary institute center in Europe. In 2015, it became a member of University of Paris-Saclay, which includes multiple famous universities, "Grand école" and companies such as University Paris-Sud, Ecole Polytechniques. So generally speaking, the study environment is good and we have great oppotunities of working with researchers/professors from different places and scientific domains.
For people who take CEA shuttles, the working time is about 8:30 am to 4:50 pm. For those who drive to work, the working time is more flexible. Thirty-five working hours per week and above 30 annual leave days.
There are three canteens in CEA Sacaly. Cheap and good.
Cons
The center of CEA Saclay, located at Paris Region Zone 5, is far away from Paris city. People can take CEA shuttles to different places in Paris region or to Paris city. The commute is long, for example, the commute can be up to 2 hours per day for those who live in Paris and take shuttles. For drivers, think hard to avoid traffic jams.