1- PhD Scholarship in Core Soil Extracellular Enzymes for Sustainable Biomass Production with Perennial Crops (CoreEEs):
Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Agroecology programme. The position is available from 15 January 2023 or later.
Title:
Core Soil Extracellular Enzymes for Sustainable Biomass Production with Perennial Crops (CoreEEs)
Research area and project description:
Denmark has an ambition of carbon (C) neutrality by 2050. The greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from Danish agriculture exceeds 30% of total national emissions in 2018. To realize C neutrality, there is a high potential to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture through optimized cropping systems and managements. Meanwhile, human demands for agricultural products are growing substantially due to the rapid increases of using biomass yield for biorefinery. Thus, sustainable agroecosystems should reduce GHG emissions without compromising food security and biomass use for biorefinery.
Emerging studies provide some of the most groundbreaking ideas that harnessing soil microorganisms for sustainable biomass yield offers one of few untapped reservoirs to agriculture green transition. In this proposal, we will use multiple advanced methods to explore the core microbial processes for high biomass yield and low GHG emissions with perennial crops. Our results will inform the optimized cropping managements through novel microbial perspectives.
Maximizing microbial functions for sustainable biomass yield is a promising technology for agriculture green transition. Despite the large potential, it is challenging to precisely manage the species-rich soil microbes. Soil extracellular enzymes are produced by the plant and microbial assemblages to catalyze the degradation of organic matter, providing novel insights to understand the complex plant-microbial feedbacks.
This project will investigate the interactive effects of perennial crops and fertilization strategies on C-, nitrogen- and phosphorus-acquiring extracellular enzyme activities and their relationships with biomass yield and GHG emissions. Our objectives are to identify and manage core enzymes for higher biomass yield and lower GHG emissions. Finally, the current perennial systems and fertilization strategies will be optimized through the novel enzymatic indicators to better serve the agriculture green transition.
The overarching purpose is to maximize the microbial functions for agriculture green transition. The relationships between microbial C use efficiency and enzymatic stoichiometry will be explicitly evaluated with perennial crops under different fertilization strategies. To meet plant nutrient requirements, we will develop the novel enzymatic indicators for precise fertilization.
We will likely apply the optimized fertilization strategies in broad areas by considering the specific climatic, environmental and edaphic variables. To serve agriculture green transition, we will identify and harness a range of plant-growth-promoting enzymes, which will likely be managed for eco-enzyme fertilizers. In this project, we will likely provide novel enzymatic proxies to advance the understanding of the intricate plant-microbial feedbacks.
Project description. The candidate is required to upload his/her own project description.
Qualifications and specific competences:
I expect that you possess a relevant Master’s degree. Candidates with background of Soil Microbiology, Ecology, Agronomy, Agricultural Sciences, Environmental Sciences, Plant and Soil Feedbacks are preferred.
You should:
- have a strong interest in microbially mediated soil carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus cycling
processes in agroecosystems - have good communication skills both in oral and written English
- be able to write scientific publications
- be able to work independently but also in collaboration with other students and staff
- be enthusiastic about working in an interdisciplinary international academic environment’
- have some basic skills on data analysis
- have some basic experience on programming language (e.g. R, Python)
I expect that you will be an active part of the research environment and that you will contribute positively to the social working environment.
Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact:
- Professor Jørgen Eivind Olesen, jeo@agro.au.dk
- Tenure Track Researcher Ji Chen, ji.chen@agro.au.dk
How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application. Application deadline is 30 September 2022 23:59 . Preferred starting date is 15 January 2023.
Please note:
- The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
- Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.
2- PhD Scholarship in land management practices as tool to mitigate climate change by soil carbon sequestration:
Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Agroecology programme. The position is available from 01 February 2023 or later.
Title:
PhD in land management practices as tool to mitigate climate change by soil carbon sequestration
Research area and project description:
Increasing carbon storage in soils is a key scientific challenge and may help mitigating global warming and improving soil functioning. Intensive dairy farming is associated with a major impact on greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, grass-clover leys are a key component in cropping systems on dairy farms in NW Europe and is seen as a substantial element in mitigating climate change through soil organic carbon sequestration.
The potential of grasslands as a sink for carbon in Europe is large. Carbon-driven management changes have implications for crop rotations, and it is important to evaluate the wider consequences including side effects such as changes in nitrogen emissions and soil functions. The PhD candidate’s objective is to increase our understanding of the soil C sequestration duration as well as the total C sequestration of land management changes in agricultural soils in Denmark and evaluate consequences. Datasets will be derived from ongoing long-term field experiments.
The PhD is funded by the projects ‘Dairy crop rotations for climate change mitigation – Klimagræs’ (Grant No. 33010-NIFA-19-708) and ‘Dairy crop rotations with grass-clover and maize’ (Grant No. 33010-NIFA-21-764) from the Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries of Denmark.
Project description. For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above, and upload it as a PDF in the application.
Qualifications and specific competences:
Applicants to the PhD position must have a relevant Master’s degree (e.g. Soil Science, Agronomy, Biology).
Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Blichers Allé 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact:
- Professor Jørgen Eriksen, Jorgen.eriksen@agro.au.dk
How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application. Application deadline is 01 September 2022 23:59 . Preferred starting date is 01 February 2023.
Please note:
- The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
- Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.
3- PhD Scholarship in effective pesticides mitigation in edge-of-field treatment systems:
Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Agroecology programme. The position is available from 1 February 2023 or later.
Title:
PhD in effective pesticides mitigation in edge-of-field treatment systems
Research area and project description:
The wide use of pesticides plays an important role in ensuring production yield; however, this has resulted in substantial leakage of pesticides to the water environment. Considering the negative effects of pesticides on the environment and human health, the effective mitigation of pesticide hazards in agriculture drainage and the exploration of novel pesticide removal technologies that can be applied in the edge-of-field should be one of the priorities in the plan to improve the environment, ensuring the transition of agriculture toward more sustainable development.
This PhD project is funded by Danish Independent Research Council to investigate the mechanisms of how a novel edge-of-field treatment process effectively mitigates pesticide hazards by in situ rhizosphere-activated hydroxyl radical (·OH) oxidation and subsequent microbial degradation.
Project description (½-4 pages). This document should describe your ideas and research plans for this specific project. If you wish to, you can indicate an URL where further information can be found.
Qualifications and specific competences:
We expect that you possess a relevant Master’s degree. Candidates with background of environmental chemistry, environmental science, electro-chemistry and plant physiology are preferred.
You should:
- have good communication skills both in oral and written English
- be able to write scientific publications
- be able to work independentæy but also in collaboration with other students and staff
- be enthusiastic about working in an interdisciplinary international academic environment
We expect that you will be an active part of the research environment and that you will contribute positively to the social working environment.
Place of employment and place of work:
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Blichers Allé 20DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact Associate Professor Shubiao Wu, wushubiao@agro.au.dk
How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application. Application deadline is 31 August 23:59 CEST. Preferred starting date is 1 February 2023.
Please note:
- The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
- Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.