Notice of recruitment to the project financed by the European Research Executive Agency (REA) (Project 101072579 — LegumeLegacy) and the subsequent recruitment to the Poznań University of Life Sciences Doctoral School.
The recruitment process consists of two stages: Stage I – recruitment to the LegumeLegacy project (see: the job offer within the project financed by REA) – selection of 1 candidate. Stage II – recruitment to the PULS Doctoral School (see: the recruitment procedure to the PULS Doctoral School involving the selected candidate)
Stage I: The job offer within the project LegumeLegacy financed by REA
Post Title: PhD Researcher in Agronomy, Location: Poznan University of Life Sciences (PULS), Poland, Anticipated Start Date: 1st September 2023, Closing Date: 30th March 2023
Apply: Applications are submitted by email; full details below.
Post highlights ● Highly paid PhD Researcher in Agronomy position. ● Gross salary will be between €35,964 and €41,904 per annum for three years. ● Employed as a Research Assistant (for three years) at PULS and enrolled as a PhD student (typically a four- year duration) at PULS Doctoral School. ● Part of the European LegumeLegacy project, that includes 15 partnering institutions and a cohort of 11 PhD Researchers; the project will investigate innovative farm-scale solutions to promote sustainable farming practices.
Job Summary: This post is a PhD Researcher in Agronomy position funded for three years as part of the LegumeLegacy Doctoral Network. The PhD Researcher will evaluate the effects of selected management factors on yield and quality of multi-species grassland leys and follow-on cereal crop, in particular by varying inputs of nitrogen fertiliser and length of ley duration across two contrasting environments. The multi-site experiment, implemented by other project partners, will investigate the role of species diversity within crop rotation systems as a means to reduce nitrogen fertiliser inputs.
The PhD Researcher will test also the effects of manipulating the length of ley duration on legacy effects on the follow-on cereal crop. In a collaborative approach, the PhD Researcher will develop optimal agronomical outputs in the context of improving the sustainability of crop rotation systems. A key component for the PhD researcher will be to assess the relative importance of species diversity manipulations with respect to management factors and environmental stresses for the outputs of crop rotation systems. This project provides the PhD Researcher with the opportunity to use and develop their agronomy knowledge to contribute to finding solutions to increasing food security in the face of the biodiversity and climate crises.
The PhD Researcher will work closely with the other ten Doctoral Researchers hired on the LegumeLegacy project. The PhD Researcher will also undertake two mobility secondments, one at a research institute and one in industry to gain insight into the broader implications of their statistical work and to develop their research and industry networks. There will be opportunities for the PhD Researcher to present their work at national and international conferences.
The PhD Researcher will be based in the Department of Grassland and Natural Landscape Sciences at Poznan University of Life Sciences, Poland and supervised by Professor Piotr Goliński. The PhD project will be titled ‘Impact of varying nitrogen fertiliser input and grassland ley duration of multi-species swards on crop rotations benefits via legacy effects on the follow-on cereal crop in two contrasting environments’.
LegumeLegacy Project Description
LegumeLegacy is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network titled ‘LegumeLegacy – Optimising multiple benefits of grass, legume and herb mixtures in crop rotations: modelling mechanisms and legacy effects’. It is funded under the Horizon-MSCA-DN-2021 programme. This project brings together Principal Investigators and collaborators from 14 academic and industry partners from across Europe and one Canadian partner. LegumeLegacy will hire and train 11 Doctoral Researchers and will implement a research programme aimed at improving the sustainability of farm-scale crop rotations.
The role of multi-species grassland mixtures within crop rotations will be investigated in the search for solutions to develop lower nitrogen farming systems that will promote sustainable farming practices. The Doctoral Researchers will be located across Europe at partner institutions. The coordinating partner is Trinity College Dublin (Ireland).
The hiring partners are Teagasc (Ireland), Devenish Research and Innovation Development Ltd. (Ireland), University of Reading (United Kingdom), the Louis Bolk Institute (the Netherlands), University of Aarhus (Denmark), University of Hohenheim (Germany), ETH Zurich (Switzerland), Agroscope (Switzerland) and Poznan University of Life Sciences (Poland). Other partners Goldcrop Ltd. (Ireland), Cotswold Seeds (United Kingdom), Wageningen University (the Netherlands), Danko (Poland) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (Canada) will contribute to the research and training programme.
LegumeLegacy is a highly interdisciplinary collaboration bringing together experts in ecology, agronomy, plant breeding, animal nutrition and statistics. The LegumeLegacy Doctoral Researchers will carry out their own individual research projects and collaborate on a multi-site experiment conducted across the network.
The Doctoral Researchers will undertake a world-class training programme developed and implemented by the LegumeLegacy collaborating experts and will meet twice per year to participate in joint training events. Each Doctoral Researcher will be expected to undertake two mobility secondments during their PhD facilitating them to develop a deep collaborative network during their PhD.
LegumeLegacy aims to lead the way in transforming productive agricultural crop rotation systems and the 11 Doctoral Researchers will be trained to emerge as the next generation of leading researchers in this field.
Eligibility, qualifications and skills for the position:
Eligibility:
● The PhD Researcher must be an ‘early-stage researcher’, i.e., at the time of recruitment have not already been awarded a doctoral degree. ● The PhD Researcher is required to undertake physical, transnational mobility (i.e. move from one country to another) to take up this appointment. The PhD Researcher must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Poland for more than 12 months in the 3 years prior to their recruitment. Compulsory national service and time spent as part of a procedure for obtaining refugee status under the Geneva Convention are not taken into account.
Qualifications and skills
● At least a 2.1 grade (or equivalent) in an undergraduate or postgraduate degree in agriculture, agronomy or closely related discipline. An undergraduate degree is essential, and a masters degree is highly desirable.
● Knowledge of working with real world data, ideally in an experiment setting.
● Strong communication skills with an ability to collaborate within a multi-disciplinary and international research team.
Conditions of employment:
The salary for the post corresponds to the 2021 MSCA Doctoral Network funding model. The salary includes (all figures are gross pay per year before taxes and other deductions are made):
● Living allowance of €28,764
● Mobility allowance of €7,200
● Family allowance (if eligible to receive) of €5,940
Thus the gross salary will range from €35,964 to €41,904 (depending on eligible for the family allowance) per annum for three years; this is gross pay per year before taxes and other deductions are made. A special needs allowance is also available under certain conditions.
The PhD Researcher will be employed for three years as a Research Assistant and is required to enrolled for a PhD to the PULS Doctoral School.
Stage II: The recruitment procedure to the PULS Doctoral School involving the selected candidate
The PhD programme in the Poznan University of Life Sciences, is typically a four year programme. Education at the School is free of charge and is completed at the submission of a PhD dissertation.
Detailed information about PULS Doctoral-School is provided in the regulations which is an attachment to Resolution no. 44/2021 of the PULS Senate available here.
The enrolment of selected candidate to the PULS Doctoral School will be carried out in accordance with the recruitment procedure, which details are available here.
Additional financial support for PhD student employed as a Research Assistant of PULS within LegumeLegacy project may be available for year 4, however, such support would be at a lower level. Please note that the salary attached to this PhD Research position in years 1-3 is considerably higher than what PhD students are usually paid in Poland.
Benefits of working at Poznan University of Life Sciences include:
● Competitive salary
● Sports facilities
● Flexible working arrangements
● Student culture centre
● Room in a student residence
● Health insurance
Contact information
Informal queries can be emailed to Professor Piotr Goliński (pgolinsk@up.poznan.pl ).
Diversity
The Department of Grassland and Natural Landscape Sciences with Experimental Station in Brody is the autonomic unit of Faculty of Agriculture, Horticulture and Bioengineering of PULS. The Department’s staff consists of 8 researchers, 2 engineering specialists and 3 PhD students. The project partner has internationally recognised expertise in above-ground biodiversity, grazing management, grassland cultivation and fertilization, herbage quality and usefulness of new cultivars in sustainable forage production system.
About Poznan University of Life Sciences (PULS): The Poznan University of Life Sciences is one of the country’s most important agricultural universities. Each year, over 7000 students are enrolled in 23 fields of study. The university employs over 700 academics, including more than 95 professors, and a large group of highly qualified research and teaching staff provided with an extensive state-of-the-art scientific base.
From the academic year 2019/2020 the PULS Doctoral School is open to the candidates from all over the world. The scientific degree of PhD can be obtained in the following disciplines: Forestry Sciences; Agriculture and Horticulture; Food Technology and Nutrition; Animal Sciences and Aquaculture; Environmental Engineering; Mechanical Engineering; Mining Engineering and Power Engineering; Biological Sciences; Economics and Finances. Each PhD student will have opportunity to pursue an individual research plan and interdisciplinary doctoral program.
Application process:
Please adhere to the following guidelines to apply for this position:
Each application should consist of only two documents
● Document 1 should include:
o A maximum 1-page cover letter outlining your suitability for the post, with reference to relevant qualifications or experience;
o Detailed curriculum vitae, including qualifications and experience, publications (if applicable) and the name and email contacts of two academic referees.
o Transcripts of degrees;
o A maximum 1-page statement outlining your research project experience to date (this can be related to undergraduate or postgraduate research projects and/or research work experience etc);
o All four items above should be compiled into a single pdf document.
● Document 2:
o Please complete the LegumeLegacy eligibility form available here and convert to pdf before submission.
The two documents should be sent by email to Professor Piotr Goliński at pgolinsk@up.poznan.pl .
Do not include additional documents other than the two that have been requested. Do not include substantive information in the body of the email. For the subject of your email, please use: LegumeLegacy PULS application – [your surname]
The deadline for applications is 30th March 2023.
Please note that applicants that do not follow these guidelines may not be considered for shortlisting.