PhD position: Exploring management options to affect Basal Stem Rot in Oil Palm in Indonesia

These disease outbreaks are seen as an interplay between host, pathogen, human action, and environment. The recruited Ph D candidates will investigate these relations by applying concepts and methods from at least two disciplines.

Diverse cover crops will be tested, and their compatibility with different farming systems will be assessed.

As Ph D researcher you will particularly explore:

• the prevalence of G. boninense and BSR and the drivers of disease occurrence and outbreak;
• the relationship between BSR prevalence and yield;
• review proven management options that exist during cultivation and replanting or can be developed to control BSR and explore the potential of cover cropping in controlling BSR

You will be working ca. half of the time in Southeast Asia.

Your duties and responsibilities include:

• coordinating data collection on the prevalence of Ganoderma Boninense and BSR;
• designing, establishing, and monitoring data collection of field experiments on cover crops;
• supervision of master students supporting your study;
• analysing data and writing papers;
• interpretation of literature, existing and self-collected data towards understanding the mechanisms of disease suppression.

You will work here

The research is embedded within the chair group Plant Production Systems, which is led by Prof. Dr. Ir. KKE (Katrien) De Scheemaeker, and coordinating the OILCLIPS project led by dr.ir. Maja Slingerland . The candidate is supported by two other chair groups, the Centre for Crop Systems Analysis and the Laboratory of Phytopathology and will be co-supervised by Dr. Bob Douma and Dr. Desalegn Etalo from these chair groups respectively. Dr Siti Subandiyah will be your co-supervisor from the Department of Plant Protection of the University Gadjah Mada (UGM). You will work closely with SD Guthrie Research. 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;
• the option to accrue additional compensation/ holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• 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 December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

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

We offer a temporary contract for 18 months, which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.

There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

You are going to (partly) work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University” in the Netherlands for the 19th consecutive time.

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.

With its roughly 30 branches, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below to get an idea of our green campus!

Additionally, the candidate has an interest in sustainable oil palm production and interdisciplinary work.

Specially, the candidate:

• Holds a Master's degree in a relevant field such as Agronomy, Ecology, or a related discipline with preferably a specialization in plant pathology;
• Has demonstrated experience in conducting research related to plant pathology, controlled and/or observational studies, preferably in an agricultural setting;
• Is capable of working independently but are also keen to work in an interdisciplinary team;
• Has strong written and verbal communication skills, including presenting research findings effectively to both scientific and non-scientific audiences in English and Bahasa Indonesia;

For this position, your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes, submitting an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language is necessary. More information can be found here. For more information about this position, please contact Maja Slingerland, associate professor and OILCLIPS project lead, at +31 6 14324020, maja.slingerland@wur.nl

For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas, vacaturemeldingen.psg@wur.nl

You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website, which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval.

Note: Your letter should be no longer than one page, and your CV should be no longer than three pages (Calibri font size 11 or equivalent). Applications that exceed the allowed length may not be considered . Appendixes (lists of grades, letters by referees, etc.) are not needed at this stage.

This vacancy will be listed up to and including 2 December 2024. We hope to schedule the first job interviews on 6 and 10 December 2024.

Additional information form

For this position, you must fill in a mandatory form, which will allow us to have a comprehensive view of your qualifications and better assess your fit for it. You can access the form using the link below: https://forms.office.com/e/MZHWX4V7t T

Your prompt response will ensure that your application continues to move forward in the evaluation process. We assure you that the information provided will be kept confidential and used solely for this application process.

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