1) – Two PhD positions on the benefits of multispecies grassland leys in crop rotations:
Applicants are invited for two PhD fellowships/scholarships at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Agroecology programme. The positions are available from 01 September 2023 or later. Title: Two PhD positions on the benefits of multispecies grassland leys in crop rotations
Research area and project description:
Grassland leys have long been an important element of crop rotations, maintaining soil fertility and carbon storage, compared to arable monocropping. Including legumes and herbs decreases external inputs, and increases yield stability. Yet, while many benefits of diversified grassland leys within the grassland stage are identified, the benefits for following arable crops in the crop rotations are currently underexplored.
The two PhD positions are part of the Doctoral Network “LegumeLegacy”. The first position will aim to understand particularly the impact of species diversity on nitrogen fluxes from the grassland stage to the follow-on crop, including a modelling approach, while the second position will aim to determine the dynamics in interspecies competition or facilitation above- and belowground to identify suitable species compositions.
The PhD positions are advertised jointly and will collaborate closely. The PhD projects include research stays abroad, offering the successful candidates to establish a strong research profile and network.
We are looking for open minded, curious persons that either have an interest in modelling soil processes, or in agronomy and agro-ecological processes. Candidates can mention a preference for of the two positions or apply for both simultaneously
LegumeLegacy is a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Network and funded under the Horizon-MSCA-DN-2021 programme. 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.
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.
The gross salary will be fixed according to the Marie Skłodowska-Curie guidelines and will be approximately 450’000 DKK per annum, plus an additional family allowance, if conditions apply.
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:
The applicants must have a M.Sc. degree (120 ECTS) in Soil Science, Agronomy, Environmental Science, Ecology or closely related fields. Demonstrated oral and written communication skills in English are required. Basic knowledge of nitrogen dynamics in soils is an advantage.
The applicant must be able to present results at international conferences and publish in international peer-reviewed journals. The applicant should be enthusiastic about working in an international and interdisciplinary academic environment. Applications from women and people from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged.
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 Denmark 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.
In addition to the standard documents, please complete the LegumeLegacy eligibility form available here, convert it into a PDF file, and upload in under ‘Other information to consider’ when applying for the position.
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 Tenure-Track Assistant Professor Carsten Stefan Malisch, cmalisch@agro.au.dk
How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application. Application deadline is 31 March 2023 at 23:59 CEST. Preferred starting date is 1 September 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.
2) – One PhD position on using tannin-rich species to increase the sustainability of ruminant based production 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 July 2023 or later. Title: PhD position on using tannin-rich species to increase the sustainability of ruminant based production systems
Research area and project description: Grasslands are invaluable to enhance the sustainability of agricultural production by providing ecosystem services, such as carbon sequestration. Additionally, when being feed for ruminants, grass is converted into human edible protein and reduces food-feed competition. However, in the process ruminants produce methane. Thus, an ideal solution is the design of grasslands that reduce enteric methane and yet maintain or increase ecosystem services.
This project will evaluate the potential of including tannin rich forages (Sanguisorba minor and Lotus pedunculatus) in grasslands to reduce methane emissions from ruminants and simultaneously increase soil organic carbon stabilization with tannins that are excreted via rhizodeposition. The project will focus on why previous results have been highly variable and aims at understanding the mode of actions from tannins, using an innovative system approach using biochemistry, ruminant nutrition, soil science and genetics.
The PhD candidate will screen the plants for their genetic variability, using next generation sequencing approaches, as well as for their variability in tannin concentrations and structures using UPLC-MS/MS analyses. Furthermore, the candidate will determine genotype x environment interactions using simulated drought stress. While the project focusses on the screening of the genome and biochemical profile, an understanding of either plant-soil or plant-animal interactions is beneficial.
The PhD project is funded as part of the DFF Sapere Aude grant “FunctionalForage – Using tannins to reduce the climate impact of ruminant livestock production systems”.
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:
- The applicants must have a M.Sc. degree (120 ECTS) in Soil Science, Agronomy, Environmental Science, Animal nutrition, Ecology, or closely related fields. Demonstrated oral and written communication skills in English are required.
- A basic understanding of plant-soil, or plant-animal interactions is an advantage. Previous background in the practical implementation of agricultural or agroecological experiments is also a benefit.
- The applicant must be able to present results at international conferences and publish in international peer-reviewed journals. The applicant should be enthusiastic about working in an international and interdisciplinary academic environment. Applications from women and people from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged.
Place of employment and place of work: The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Blichers Allé 20, Postboks 50, 8830 Tjele.
Contacts: Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact:
Prof. Dr. Jørgen Eriksen, jorgen.eriksen@agro.au.dk Tenure-track Assistant Professor Carsten Stefan Malisch, cmalisch@agro.au.dk
How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application. Application deadline is 15 April 2023 23:59 . Preferred starting date is 1 July 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.
3) – One PhD Position on Nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils with different plant cover and tillage practices:
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 August 2023 or later. Title: Nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils with different plant cover and tillage practices
Research area and project description:
The PhD position is part of the KLIMON project funded by the BUP programme, Ministry of Food, Agricultue and Fisheries, Denmark. The purpose of the project is to document the climate and environmental effects of cropping systems ranging from traditional cereal-based systems with annual mouldboard ploughing to Conservation Agriculture (crop rotations, cover cropping, crop residue retainment, and no tillage).
In different parts of the project, effects will be measured on nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, nitrate leaching, and carbon sequestration under Danish conditions. The measured effects and acquired knowledge will be used for implementation in new and existing models for environmental and climate effects.
The PhD position will in particular aim to understand the interaction between management of cropping systems and microbial emission of nitrous oxide, i.e., with a focus on how soil physical conditions exert a control on microbial processes related to nitrogen cycling and N2O transformations.
Specific topics include to study (1) the effect of different types of post-harvest cover crop managements on N2O emissions (2) the effect of soil tillage and traffic in practical trials on N2O emissions (3) the effect of different establishment times for cover crops on N2O emissions. Measurements of N2O fluxes from field sites are performed using static chamber techniques, and the risk of soil N2O emissions is interpreted in relation to physical parameters and microbiome analyses.
In addition, the project aims at detailed studies under controlled conditions (laboratory) of the interaction between soil tillage intensity and cover crops on N2O emissions. Here, N2O emissions will be determined using intact soil samples taken from ongoing field experiment. The focus is on documenting the effects of, e.g., soil compaction, termination time for cover crops, and changing weather conditions such as freeze/thaw.
The PhD project includes research stays abroad, offering the successful candidates to establish a strong research profile and network. We are looking for an open minded, curious person that has an interest in studying the microbial drivers of N2O emissions in relation to soil physical conditions and agricultural management.
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:
The applicants must have a M.Sc. degree (120 ECTS) in Soil Science, Agronomy, Environmental Science, Ecology or closely related fields. Demonstrated oral and written communication skills in English are required. Basic knowledge of nitrogen dynamics in soils is an advantage.
The applicant must be able to present results at international conferences and publish in international peer-reviewed journals. The applicant should be enthusiastic about working in an international and interdisciplinary academic environment. Applications from women and people from underrepresented groups are strongly encouraged.
Place of employment and place of work: The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Faculty of Technical Sciences, Department of Agroecology, Blichers Alle 20, DK 8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact: Lars Elgaard: lars.elsgaard@agro.au.dk Lars J. Munkholm: lars.munkholm@agro.au.dk
How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application. Application deadline is 30 April 2023 23:59 . Preferred starting date is 01 August 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.