The current position will be in the research group Understanding Evolution, led by Dr. Vincent Merckx.

Position

The vast majority of land plants transfer part of the organic carbon they produce by photosynthesis to rootassociated ‘arbuscular mycorrhizal’ (AM) fungi, which help plants to take up nutrients and water from the soil. This carbon can be subsequently taken up by rare non-green plants that tap into the same fungal network. New data now suggests that this phenomenon is more widespread and indicates that common green plants can also take up carbon from AM fungi. However, the plant and fungal diversity involved in AM ‘mixotrophy’ are unknown.

In this PhD project, we will investigate the ecophysiology of AM understory plants and their mycorrhizal connections in several research plots in forests around the world. The PhD candidate will design and test sampling protocols, perform stable isotope analyses, record plant traits, and develop and use metabarcoding approaches to map mycorrhizal networks.

This PhD position is made possible by the ERC Consolidator Grant MIXOTROPH (2022-2027) and the PhD candidate will interact closely with other members of the MIXOTROPH team, as well as other members of the Understanding Evolution group at Naturalis in which this project is embedded.

The PhD candidate will be supervised by Dr. Vincent Merckx. The candidate will receive his/her PhD degree at the University of Amsterdam and Dr. Vincent Merckx will be the promotor.

The candidate must have a MSc degree in a relevant field (for example biodiversity, ecology, soil biology) with a strong interest in plant and fungal diversity, mycorrhiza, and DNA metabarcoding.

Preferably the candidate has experience with field work, molecular lab work and/or network analyses. Excellent knowledge of the English language (written and verbal) is essential, as well as a scientific and critical attitude, outstanding time management and organisational skills, and the ability to work independently as well as collaboratively within the project consortium and the Naturalis research group.

The candidate should have good communication skills and be enthusiastic to contribute to knowledge dissemination and outreach activities within the MIXOTROPH project. Teaching experience is an advantage.

Fixed-term contract: 1 year, to be extended with 3 more years after a successful first year evaluation.

We offer

A contract (36 hours per week) for a period of one year, to be extended with three more years after a successful first year evaluation, and a monthly starting salary of € 2,940.- gross. You also get an allowance for travel expenses, holiday allowance (8%) and year-end bonus (3.4%).

The starting date is November 1st, 2022.

The successful candidate will be employed by Naturalis in Leiden. Naturalis Biodiversity Center offers an inspiring working atmosphere with effective and efficient supervision of our PhD candidates. Our Research Coordination Office also provides ample support to our scientific staff.

Our institute promotes gender equality and wants to enhance the diversity of staff members.

Naturalis Biodiversity Center

Naturalis Biodiversity Center in Leiden is the Dutch national research institute for biodiversity and systematics. With our collection of 42 million specimens, one of the world's largest natural history collections, and our state-of-the-art research facilities we offer the (inter)national research infrastructure for species, identification and monitoring (for example in the ARISE and DiSSCo projects).

We closely collaborate with many Dutch universities, research institutes, industry, and government.

We host over 120 researchers including 14 academia embedded professors and 40 PhD students.

We present the history of our planet, and the diversity of life on Earth, through permanent and temporary museum exhibitions, educational programmes, and online presence, with more than 400,000 visitors per year.

All in all, a unique combination of science and culture in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the world!

The research department is organised in 8 research groups comprising researchers and their postdocs and PhD-students. The current position will be in the research group Understanding Evolution, led by Dr. Vincent Merckx. Naturalis has a completely new lab building, including state-of-the-art molecular facilities, microCT scanners and electron microscopy (SEM and TEM).