French space scientists are looking for 24 ‘fit and sporty’ men to spend 60 days lying in bed. And they’re paying €16,000 to the successful snoozers, the Guardian reports.

It’s for a study on the effects of microgravity (a state of virtual weightlessness).

Ideal candidates will be non-smokers aged 20-45 with no allergies and a maximum body mass index of 27. That might count you out, Mr Couch Potato.

“The idea of this study is to reproduce the weightlessness of the International Space Station (ISS),” Dr Arnaud Beck, who is coordinating the experiment, has said.

“During the first two weeks our scientists will do a whole series of tests and measurements on the volunteers. This will be followed by a 60-day period during which they must remain in bed.”

The men will not only sleep in bed, but eat, wash and perform all bodily functions. At least one shoulder must remain in contact with the bed or the frame at all times.

However good you consider yourself to be in bed, Dr Beck insists it’s tougher than it sounds.

The aim of the experiment is to look at the detrimental effects of prolonged weightlessness on the human body, and to find ways of combatting them.

“In certain conditions the cardiovascular system is affected and is not capable of making the same effort [afterwards] as before the experiment.”

As with astronauts who have spent a long period in space, volunteers experience muscle loss in the lower body and a drop in bone density. They often find it difficult to stand afterwards, he said.

The last fortnight of the experiment will be spent ‘recuperating’ and undergoing further tests to discover how two months in bed have affected the participants.

It’s certainly one way to spice up your CV. Once you’ve ticked that off, why not keep up the off-beat career moves by getting paid $150,000 to be an island caretaker in Australia, or apply to be a professional tear wiper?

So make that one small step, and apply here.

BBC.CO.UK