PhD: Insect Behaviour for Precision Farming

KU Leuven; Belgique; On-site; EUR 26,000 - 34,000; Full time

Job summary

KU Leuven seeks a highly motivated PhD candidate to study black soldier fly larval behaviour under varied rearing conditions at the Geel campus, collaborating with engineering, insect biology and metabolomics teams. The project is part of EntoBOOST, funded through FWO, and aims to advance precision insect farming with robust biological insights.

You will own the biological questions, perform statistical analyses, and work closely with an interdisciplinary team across KU Leuven and partner

Qualifications

• Master's degree in biology, biosciences, bioscience engineering, or animal sciences or equivalent.
• Interest in biology and data analysis for interdisciplinary research.
• Strong written and oral English communication skills.

Responsibilities

• Design and conduct experiments to study larval behaviour under different rearing conditions.
• Analyse behavioural data with the engineering team and extract relevant features.
• Link behavioural patterns to growth, survival, and production performance using statistics.
• Collaborate with Antwerp researchers to relate behavioural data to metabolic markers.
• Publish findings in international journals and present at conferences.

Skills

Biology background

Data science interest

English communication

Ethology interest

Education

Master's degree in biology/biosciences/bioscience engineering/animal sciences

Job description

KU Leuven seeks a highly motivated PhD candidate to study black soldier fly larval behaviour under varied rearing conditions at the Geel campus, collaborating with engineering, insect biology and metabolomics teams. The project is part of EntoBOOST, funded through FWO, and aims to advance precision insect farming with robust biological insights.

You will own the biological questions, perform statistical analyses, and work closely with an interdisciplinary team across KU Leuven and partner