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 January 2026 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title
Phytochemical regulation of pest and microbiomes on faba bean

Research area and project description
Legume protein crops, e.g. faba bean are key in the transition towards more sustainable food production. However, pests and pathogens challenge faba bean production. Intercropping faba beans with cereal crops with complementary defense systems may be a way to better protect faba beans against pests without the use of pesticides. In this project, you will investigate if faba bean uptake of defensive compounds, for example benzoxazinoids produced by cereals protects faba beans against aphids and fungal root pathogens. Further, you will elucidate the mechanisms behind the gained resistance induced by the defensive molecules’ uptake.

You will perform controlled plant experiments, where you will quantify faba bean accumulation of benzoxazinoids, assess aphid and fungal infestation and analyze root microbiomes using metagenomics methodologies. Additionally, you will test the fungal disease and pest suppressive capacity of faba root microbiomes.

You will gain diverse competencies, from the design and execution of controlled plant experiments, including the handling of pests and pathogens, advanced metabolomics, and microbiome analyses using bioinformatics and uni- and multivariate statistics. We expect that you will communicate your research in scientific articles, and you will also get the opportunity to participate in scientific conferences. You will be supervised by a dedicated team during all phases of the project.

• 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:
Applicants must have a relevant Master’s degree in Biology, Agronomy or similar, preferably with a specialization within plant biology or microbiology. Knowledge about bioinformatics, statistics and plant-microbe interactions will be an advantage.

We expect that you

• have a genuine interest in plants and their interactions with other organisms
• have good communication skills in oral and written English
• are motivated to acquire and develop strong computational and analytical skills
• are interested in greenhouse as well as analytical chemistry and molecular laboratory work
• are motivated to write scientific articles
• are ambitious, enthusiastic and eager to learn
• can work both independently and in close collaboration with technical and scientific staff at all levels
  

Place of employment and place of work
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Research Centre Flakkebjerg, Forsøgsvej 1, DK-4200 Slagelse, Denmark.

Contacts:
Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact:

• Professor Mette Vestergård, mvestergard@agro.au.dk (main supervisor)
• Tenure Track Assistant Professor Enoch Narh Kudjordjie, enochnarh@agro.au.dk (co-supervisor)
• Tenure Track Assistant Professor Jawameer Hama, jawameer@agro.au.dk (co-supervisor)
  

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:

• admission.gradschool.tech@au.dk
  

How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application.

Application deadline is 15 September 2025 at 23:59 CEST.

Preferred starting date is 1 January 2026.

Please note:

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be taken into account.
• 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.