Are you a Master’s graduate looking for fully funded PhD opportunities? Explore the range of funded PhD programs available at the Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands. Apply online now and kickstart your doctoral journey!
1. Fully Funded PhD Position in Standing strong together? The impact of collective disease management on plant pathogen epidemics
Summary of PhD Program:
We are seeking four highly motivated PhD students to join our team as part of the interdisciplinary Oil-Clips program (OIL-CLiPS – WUR), funded by Wageningen UR and its partners. The Oil-Clips program aims at unraveling the causes of disease outbreaks in oil palm plantations, focusing on Basal Stem Rot in Indonesia and Bud Rot in Colombia and how these are affected by changes in climate and farmer practices. These disease outbreaks are seen as an interplay between host, pathogen, human action, and environment. The recruited PhD candidates will investigate these relations by applying concepts and methods from at least two disciplines.
Application Deadline: 1 December 2024
2. Fully Funded PhD Position in Exploring management options to affect Basal Stem Rot in Oil Palm in Indonesia
Summary of PhD Program:
We are seeking four highly motivated PhD students to join our team as part of the interdisciplinary Oil-Clips program (OIL-CLiPS – WUR), funded by Wageningen UR and its partners. The Oil-Clips program aims at unraveling the causes of disease outbreaks in oil palm plantations, focusing on Basal Stem Rot (BSR) in Indonesia and Bud Rot in Colombia and how these are affected by changes in climate and farmer practices. These disease outbreaks are seen as an interplay between host, pathogen, human action, and environment. The recruited PhD candidates will investigate these relations by applying concepts and methods from at least two disciplines.
Application Deadline: 2 December 2024
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3. Fully Funded PhD Position in Effects of climate extremes and bud rot incidence on oil palm performance: Implications for economic sustainability
Summary of PhD Program:
In this PhD project, the successful candidate will combine the analysis of historical data on climate, oil palm ecophysiology, growth, yield and BR incidence with in-field measurements to support the development of an improved PALMSIM-based model for both E. guineensis and the O×G hybrid, which includes effects of BR incidence and curative management on production potential (both bunch yield loss and reductions in bunch oil content). They will use the model to explore the effects of climate change, disease incidence and management scenarios on future oil palm yield. They will couple this to an economic model to explore the effects on grower income.
Application Deadline: 2 December 2024
4. Fully Funded PhD Position in Behavioural and ecological determinants of social strategies in great tits
Summary of PhD Program:
As a PhD student, you will contribute to novel insight into the social mechanisms underlying discovery and acquisition of food resources, social bonds and behavioural strategies using the great tit (Parus major) as model species. You will combine direct observations with novel technology, including smart feeders, tracking and automatic song recorders in the unique long-term NIOO-KNAW nestbox population in Westerheide, the Netherlands. The project will also include the opportunity to conduct aviary studies at the unique facilities of NIOO-KNAW. As a PhD candidate, you will play a pivotal role in organizing and conducting the field and aviary research.
Application Deadline: 2 December 2024
5. Fully Funded PhD Position in Political ecology of oil palm disease control: Human action, resource distribution, narratives, and institutions
Summary of PhD Program:
Oil palm disease control is overly complex given the large diversity among growers, in terms of access to resources and position in the supply chain. Divergent narratives exist regarding disease control, often influenced by conflicting visions on sustainability and equity. In case of Ganoderma caused Basal Stem Rot disease in Indonesia, smallholder organizations recognize the threat that the disease cannot be controlled and will increase the vulnerability of smallholders. However, we lack knowledge on why smallholders find it so difficult to respond.
Application Deadline: 30 November 2024
6. Fully Funded PhD Position in Cytoplasmic Inheritance in Plants
Summary of PhD Program:
Plastids and mitochondria are two key organelles responsible for energy conversion and metabolism in plants. To perform these tasks, plastids and mitochondria possess their own genetic material (known as cytoplasmic genomes), which encodes proteins necessary for essential cellular processes such as photosynthesis and respiration. Since the de novo biogenesis of plastids and mitochondria is not possible, these organelles must be inherited from one generation to the next. Therefore, the proper inheritance of these organelles, along with their cytoplasmic genomes, is crucial for the survival of the plant lineage. Interestingly, the inheritance patterns of cytoplasmic genomes differ significantly from nuclear DNA.
Application Deadline: 18 November 2024
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7. Fully Funded PhD Position in Plant root development
Summary of PhD Program:
This PhD position is part the national program CropXR’s core research. The subproject “The role of root plasticity in resilience” will run under supervision of Prof dr Christa Testerink in Wageningen. You will be working in a team together with other experimental and computational plant scientists. In this PhD project, you will focus on key genes and molecular pathways predicted to steer developmental plasticity of Arabidopsis roots under drought. Using novel mathematical modelling, network inference approaches and existing knowledge we will identify networks downstream of drought perception and establish how these impinge on and are integrated with basal root development.
Application Deadline: 18 November 2024
8. Fully Funded PhD Position in Metabolic Modelling and Cultivation of Bacteria from Marine Sponges
Summary of PhD Program:
We aim to use metabolic modelling to predict the primary metabolism of bacterial symbionts of marine sponges to get them to grow in vitro. Based on predictions of the secondary metabolism, these bacteria are a uniquely rich resource of bioactive molecules with pharmaceutical properties, but we can only proof and exploit this when they can be grown and for that reason we need you!
Application Deadline: Open Until Filled
9. Fully Funded PhD Position in Understanding and applying soil microbiome-mediated control of parasitic weeds
Summary of PhD Program:
Are you interested in understanding and applying soil microbiome effects on (parasitic) weed seed germination and viability? Then we have the perfect opportunity for you at Centre for Crop Systems and Analysis, Plant Sciences Group at Wageningen University & Research. We are looking for a PhD student who will contribute to an improved understanding of the effects of soil-borne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) on (germination and viability of) seeds of the parasitic weed Striga, and applications for control in the field.
Application Deadline: 18 November 2024
10. Fully Funded PhD Position in Combining physics of food science with data sciences for functionality prediction
Summary of PhD Program:
As a PhD student, you will work on the development of such predictive data science models by programming, and incorporating physics information into the model. You will work closely together with food scientists, physicists and data scientists. We expect you to be curious to explore relevant data science techniques and for you to be decisive to make a choice for the programming language you will use. The PhD project as a whole, will focus on using data science techniques to predict multi-scale food structure relationships. The project will explore the incorporation of physical models and information into neural networks.
Application Deadline: 17 November 2024
11. Fully Funded PhD Position in Acoustic sensing of underwater plastic pollution in rivers and estuaries
Summary of PhD Program:
In this PhD research project you will develop a new method for measuring underwater plastic, by collecting and analyzing Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) data from experiments under (semi-)controlled, and natural conditions. You will use this to (1) detect and distinguish the most common plastic items rivers, (2) estimate total plastic transport with ADCP and validate with reference net sampling measurements, and (3) estimate trends using long-term historical ADCP datasets. You will do this for rivers in the Netherlands and Asia. You will present the project results during meetings with project partners, at (inter)national conferences, and through peer-reviewed publications.
Application Deadline: 15 November 2024
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12. Fully Funded PhD Position in Hydro-bio-geomorphic controls on carbon storage in river systems
Summary of PhD Program:
As a PhD candidate your aim is to gain insights into how the hydro-geomorphic context influences the effects biota has on river-floodplain dynamics and carbon sequestration. You will identify the key locations for long-term carbon storage in river valleys, and you will quantify soil carbon sequestration in river reaches across a hydro-geomorphic gradient, ranging from mountainous/semi-confined to flat/unconfined segments. The project aims at considering carbon flux across various time scales (from millennial to seasonal), and hence gathers information on atmospheric and water carbon flux, as well as on past and present soil and biomass-related carbon content from the selected research sites.
Application Deadline: 11 November 2024
13. Fully Funded PhD Position in Where there is change, there is resistance: Understanding the relationship between resistance to change and social norms in meat reduction over-time
Summary of PhD Program:
We are confronted with various global challenges, including climate change and obesity, threatening human and planetary health. Scientific consensus is growing that the protein transition is part of the solution: The substitution of animal proteins with plant-based proteins. This transition contributes to improving planetary health and public health. A successful protein transition requires behavioral changes among many people, which starts with a committed minority of people initiating change, until a tipping point is reached after which the majority of the population adopts the new behavior. Little is known on what accelerates the further spreading of the new behavior from the minority towards the majority. Therefore, this PhD project will focus on the temporal dynamic of resistance to change.
Application Deadline: 16 December 2024
14. Fully Funded PhD Position in Predicting and monitoring healthy diets in Rwanda with big data
Summary of PhD Program:
Recently, a system for high-frequency monitoring of diet quality data was established in Rwanda, offering a unique opportunity to apply data science methods on a national scale, and develop an approach to enrich this data with data from other sources. The aim of this PhD research will be to use high-frequency self-reported data on diet quality in combination with other food system, climatic, agricultural and market related information, to identify the main determinants of a healthy diet and to achieve reliable predictions of the effects of nutrition interventions among rural and urban populations in Rwanda.
Application Deadline: 4 November 2024
