PhD in Understanding bacterial infections in potato and tomato crops through the integration of metabolic modeling and multiomics data

Are you interested in computational approaches to understand bacterial infections in plants? Are you curious about how the complex interplay between pathogens unravels? Then this PhD project could be what you’re looking for!

As a fully funded PhD candidate in the Systems & Synthetic Biology Chair Group within the Horizon EU funded project POMATO (Effective management strategies to tackle C. sepedonicus and R. solanacearum on POtato and toMATO crops) you will work to understand how to safeguard the health of potato and tomato plants.

For this PhD position, you will work towards the identification of keystone microbial species and molecular features from both plant and bacteria that can prevent the progression of infection caused by C. sepedonicus and R. solanacearum by:

• using modelling tools like Genome Scale Models to understand the potential of Metagenomic assembled genomes and to study microbial co-occurrence and metabolic potential in healthy and infected plants;
• using network approaches and other statistical and machine learning tools to integrate multi omics data with metabolic modelling results to map key molecular features from both plants and bacteria to identify and define infection signature and to characterized molecular mechanisms that can contribute resistance or be target for treatment.

During the PhD project you will:

• work within highly interdisciplinary colleagues in a collaborative environment both within SSB at WUR and within the project consortium that comprises research institutes from Europe and South America;
• develop and lead novel research questions, design experiments, analyse and synthesize results, and communicate outcomes at (inter)national conferences as well as publish these outcomes in peer-reviewed journals;
• contribute to the teaching activity of the group as part of your PhD training by taking part in courses and by supervising thesis students.

You will work in the Systems & Synthetic Biology chair group, led by Prof. Maria Suarez-Diez under direct supervision of Maria Suarez-Diez and Edoardo Saccenti.

Requirements:

The ideal candidate should have the following qualities:

• a successfully completed MSc degree in Systems Biology, Biotechnology, Bio-engineering, Chemical Engineering, Bioinformatics, Applied statistics and/or related fields;
• experience in metabolic modelling and statistical methods;
• programming skills;
• given the international nature of the project strong spoken and written communication skills are required.

For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here.

Salary Benefits:

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.

The gross salary for the first year is € 2.901,- per month rising to € 3.707,- in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.

Wageningen University & Research offers plenty of opportunities for growth and development, with a strong internal recruitment policy and excellent training programmes.

You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment. For 20 consecutive years, we have been voted the "best university" in the Netherlands! A place to be proud of.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees.

Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.
Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. We can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example helping your partner to find a job, housing, or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.

38 hours per week

Droevendaalsesteeg