The Research Group Crop Biodiversity and Breeding Informatics invites applications for a PhD Position / Research associate (TV-L E13 65%) in soybean quantitative genetics and breeding under the supervision of Prof. Karl Schmid.

The position is funded by the collaborative project „SENSOJA – Sensor-assisted breeding of high-yielding soybean varieties with increased tolerance to abiotic stresses“. Project partners are the State Breeding Institute at the University of Hohenheim, the federal Julius-Kühn Institute (JKI) and a private breeding company.

The research associate will use genome-wide association studies and genomic prediction to identify useful genetic variation in genetic resources and breeding lines for developing stress-tolerant soybean varieties.

We look for highly motivated applicants with the following qualifications and characteristics:

  • Master degree in biology (genetics), crop science, biostatistics, bioinformatics or related fields
  • A strong interest in quantitative genetics in the context of plant breeding
  • Basic skills in data science: R/Python scripting, data management and quantitative analysis
  • Strong willingness to learn and use new computational and analysis methods
  • First hand experience in wet lab genomics (genotyping or sequencing) is advantageous
  • Independent working style and good self-organization
  • Very good communication and team working skills

We offer:

  • Working in an international research group, which is member of the Competence Unit for Plant Breeding and the Computational Science Hub
  • Opportunities for additional scientific training and presentation of your research
  • Improving your professional skills within our graduate program of the agricultural faculty
  • The opportunity to build a professional network in the public and private plant breeding sector
  • Working on a beautiful university campus in a major city with a rich cultural life and a diverse natural environment

The position is available immediately and funded for 36 months.

To apply: Please submit your application as a single PDF file that includes a CV, letter of motivation, transcript of records and names of references by e-mail with the subject line „SENSOJA“ to Anja Oehlmann (anja.oehlmann@uni-hohenheim.de).  Review of applications will begin on 31 March 2023 and will continue until the position is filled.

For further information and informal inquiries, please visit our website (http://evoplant.uni-hohenheim.de)  or contact Karl Schmid (karl.schmid@uni-hohenheim.de).

This project builds upon earlier work, see https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.13761  and https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.02.18.480989.

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