PhD Molecular Soil Ecology

 

You might share our view that drastic changes are required in current agricultural practices to make food production systems compatible again with a biodiverse environment, and this is in essence what this PhD position is about. On this transition path there are quite a few challenges including the question how we can manage plant pests and pathogens in a sustainable way. Phasing out the use of pesticides requires the development of alternative measures. Developing sophisticated alternatives for pathogen control are central in this position.  

You might be familiar with the phenomenon ‘disease suppressiveness’, the endogenous ability of the soil microbiome to suppress the multiplication and proliferation of pathogens. This phenomenon is well-documented, but relatively rare and poorly understood from a biological point of view. The latter is understandable as soils are mind-boggling biodiverse and complex. Aided by high throughput sequencing technologies and bioinformatics we begin to understand its functioning.

If you are in for using state-of-the-art technology to understand and use the disease suppressive potential of soils, and if you have at least an interest in bioinformatics, you might be (very) interested to join our team.                  

Background:  Characterization and steering of biological suppression of plant-parasitic nematodes
Plant-parasitic nematodes are notorious pathogens for at least two reasons: they can lead to enormous crop losses and their control with nematicides – massively used in the recent past to manage these pathogens – has an enormous negative environmental impact. It should be noted that crop losses are caused by a very small minority of the plant-parasitic nematodes (most of them ‘just nibble on root hairs’). Currently, the use of nematicides is either completely banned or severely restricted. Crop rotation and resistant plant varieties are durable management tools, but they are suitable for some nematode-crop combinations only. Hence, there is an urgent need to generate new, environmentally-sound control measures, and making use of native disease suppressiveness is a very promising one.         

This (and potentially your) project aims at ‘learning from nature’ thereby providing the basis for a - for nematodes - underexploited management tool, biological control. You will work together in a stimulating environment composed of scientists (soil and plant rhizosphere ecologists, nematologists from Wageningen University) and private entities (HLB (NL), BO Akkerbouw (NL), Chr. Hansen (DK)). In fact, our project should be seen as a coin with a fundamental side, as well as a side that has eye for potential applications. In terms of methodology and approaches you will characterize suppressive and non-suppressive field sites with a variety of high-throughput DNA and RNA sequencing approaches. Bioinformatic sequence analyses and subsequent statistics are an essential element of this project to uncover potential biocontrol agents. As overall outputs we envisage to generate handles to boost the native suppressive potential of soils and to identify (mixture of) antagonists that could be used for direct biocontrol.
Beyond the scientific and potentially application merits, you will build a wide network for your future career both within and outside Wageningen University.

We ask

• a successfully completed MSc degree in Biology, Biotechnology, Molecular Ecology or equivalent;  
• A broad range of molecular ecological skills, and (at least) a vivid interest in bioinformatics;
• Well-developed organizational skills as the experimental work included in this project is logistically complex;
• Well-developed communication skills as you will interact with colleague researchers, representatives of private companies that are partners in the project, and farmers that are very interested in the biological condition of their fields;
• You have a very good level of oral and written English. You are required to show us a certification of English skills. For more information about the required level please take a look at: https://www.wur.nl/en/Education-Programmes/PhD-Programme/English-language-requirements.htm;

We offer

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality, and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive salary of between € 2.395,- per month rising to € 3.061,- in the fourth year for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU).

Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.
You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University” in the Netherlands for the 16th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research center for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for a special tax relief, known as the 30% ruling. Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen.

More information

For more information about this function, please contact Hans Helder or Stefan Geisen (staff members of the WU Laboratory of Nematology), telephone (00 31) (0)317-483136 or by e-mail; hans.helder@wur.nl and stefan.geisen@wur.nl.

For more information about the procedure, please contact vacaturemeldingen.psg@wur.nl.

General information about Laboratory of Nematology can be found on https://www.wur.nl/en/Research-Results/Chair-groups/Plant-Sciences/Laboratory-of-Nematology.htm

Do you want to apply?
You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval.

This vacancy will be listed up to and including July 12, 2021.
We hope to schedule the first job interviews on August 11 and 12.   

In this first round please only send your resume and motivation letter. Any other documents will not be taken into consideration at this stage.

We are

The mission of Wageningen University and Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment.

With its roughly 30 branches, 6.500 employees and 12.500 students, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. An integrated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of Wageningen’s unique approach. WUR has been named Best Employer in the Education category for 2019-2020.

These are the points our employees list as good reasons to come work at WUR: read the 6 reasons to come work at WUR
We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.

Equal opportunities
WUR is an equal opportunity employer. We are keen to receive applications from all sufficiently qualified people, regardless of their ethnicity, gender, functional impairment, religion/life philosophy, sexual orientation, or age.

Apply now