PhD: Predictive Plant–Microbiome Interactions for Disease Resilience

Sport Society

Utrecht

On-site

EUR 38,000 - 48,000

Full time

7 days ago

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Benefits offered by this job

Pension scheme

Partially paid parental leave

Flexible terms of employment

Job summary

Utrecht University in the Netherlands invites applications for a PhD position in Predictive Plant–Microbiome–Pathogen Interactions. You will join the Plant-Microbe Interactions group within the NWO Vici project ResistoBiome, exploring how potato microbiomes influence disease outcomes.

You will perform high-throughput phenotyping, microbiome profiling, predictive modelling, and validation experiments, collaborating across microbiology, plant pathology and bioinformatics teams to advance resilient

Qualifications

The candidate holds an MSc in plant biology, microbiology, molecular biology or related discipline.
Experience with experimental laboratory work or plant experiments.
Interest in plant–microbe interactions and microbiome research.
Proficiency in quantitative biology, phenotyping and data analysis.
Ability to communicate research findings and collaborate across disciplines.

Responsibilities

Perform large-scale potato experiments using diverse soil microbiomes.
Use automated phenotyping to quantify growth, physiology and disease.
Profile root and leaf microbiomes via amplicon sequencing.
Analyze integrated microbiome and phenotyping data.
Contribute to machine-learning models predicting pathogen invasion.
Identify microbes associated with disease outcomes and test them experimentally.
Collaborate with microbiology, plant pathology, bioinformatics and modelling teams.