2025-05-15
Plant roots house one of the most diverse microbial communities on Earth. The aim of the Gravitation program, MiCRop, is to harness the genomic potential of root microbes for improved stress resilience in crops and sustainable food production. Working with groups at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), Free University (VU), Utrecht University (UU), Wageningen University (WU) and The Netherlands Institute for Ecological Research (NIOO), you will: (1) Unlock how wild and cultivated plant species, across the plant kingdom, recruit their microbial partners to cope with environmental stress, maximize nutrient uptake, and protect them against pathogens and insects, (2) Unravel which functions in these microbial partners are important for the protection of their host, and (3) Harness this knowledge to optimise crop resilience and make agriculture more sustainable. MiCRop works in collaboration with industrial and institutional partners around the world, generating the knowledge that will form the basis for a new era of microbiome-assisted agriculture.
The research programme of MICROP will be carried out in the labs of Harro Bouwmeester (UVA), Karen Kloth (WUR), Toby Kiers (VU), Corné Pieterse (UU), Jos Raaijmakers (NIOO) and Christa Testerink (WUR).
We are looking for candidates for 8 PhD and Postdoc positions in MiCRop:
Postdoc (UvA) Chemical Communication Between Plants and the Microbiome: link to vacancy
PhD (WUR) Sweet or sour - how the nectar microbiome shapes the pollinator community in brassicaceous plants: link to vacancy
2 PhD positions (WUR) on Herbivorous insect-plant-microbiome interactions: link to vacancy
PhD (UU) Decoding Plant Microbiota–Host Specificity Using AI: link to vacancy
PhD (NIOO) Ecology and Genomics of Phyllosphere Yeasts: link to vacancy
PhD (WUR) Aphids, drought and the plant microbiome: link to vacancy
Postdoc (WUR) Mechanisms of plant-microbe interactions under drought stress: link to the vacancy
If you want to apply for one of these positions, visit the vacancy website of the corresponding institution for details on the application procedure using the ‘link to vacancy’. Our institutions are equal opportunity employers, and are committed to providing a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace. The deadline for applications is between mid-May and the beginning of June (see the individual vacancies for exact deadline).
