Research associate in plant-microbe interaction and rhizosphere optimization

About the position: The increased demand for food and its reliance on agricultural inputs (mainly fertilizers) exert great pressure on agri-food supply chains and call for more sustainable and effective food production systems. Although the key contribution of mineral fertilizers (N and P) to sustain crop production, the plants root plasticity, rhizosphere microbial activities and their interactions play a pivotal role in enhanced nutrient acquisition and crop productivity through a range of beneficial plant-growth-promoting traits (N fixation, phytohormones production, P, K and Zn solubilization, etc.). Improving our understanding of root plasticity (type and dose and availability of nutrient), rhizosphere processes (exudation of organic acids and phosphatases) and beneficial root-microbes’ interactions is a must for achieving higher crop productivity in a sustainable way. In that regard, there is an urgent need to double the ongoing efforts for developing innovative and sustainable solutions to increase crop production. Hence, exploring biological resources and (crops and beneficial microbes) and different types of mineral fertilizers (mainly N and P) could be an effective and integrated nutrient management approach allowing higher yield and nutrient acquisition efficiency.As a successful candidate you will develop various research activities including design and conduction of controlled and field-based experiments to evaluate the performance and contribution beneficial microbes to enhance nutrient acquisition efficiency and relevant crop yield.Key responsibilities:The selected candidate will be expected to:  Conduct greenhouse and field experiments. Perform soil-plant-microbe “biochemistry, molecular and genomic” analyses. Publish in leading international journals. Collaborate with other researchers in the team and beyond. Supervise graduate and undergraduate students. Contribute to teaching activities or other transversal training. Develop new research questions related to plant-microbes’ interactions. Disseminate research outcomes through participation in scientific events.