Despite a range of plant conservation and nature restoration efforts, plant-biodiversity is in decline in many (semi)natural ecosystems. A number of factors have been identified for the reasons of decline of populations such as habitat loss, climate change and pollution. In order to restore and conserve endangered plant species and populations, current conservation and restoration measures need to account for these factors, the changes herein and their interactions. One measure for restoring and conserving endangered plant species is reintroduction, which holds much promise to ensure long-term conservation, but needs careful consideration in the light of genetic diversity and adaptation to environmental change.

Within the Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation group, we have a wide expertise in the fields of nature conservation, ecology and molecular biology. Our research is often applied and we collaborate directly with stakeholders in the field such as Staatsbosbeheer and Bosgroepen. In the context of a long-term project aimed at the conservation and reintroduction of endangered plant species, we are looking for an enthusiastic PhD student who will help advance the restoration and conservation of endangered plant populations in the Netherlands.

The successful applicant has knowledge on plant population or plant evolutionary ecology, experience with experimental field work, a strong background (both theory and applications) in statistics, and good communicative skills.

Requirements:

• A MSc degree in a discipline relevant to the PhD project, such as (plant) ecology, conservation biology, etc
• Strong motivation to pursue a scientific career
• Passionate about population biology, evolutionary ecology and conservation biology
• Strong botanical, field experimental and statistical skills
• In the possession of a driver's licence (category B)
• Excellent communication and writing skills in English and Dutch
• Experience in R and experience with the analysis of molecular data (next-generation sequencing) is a plus.

We offer a PhD position in principle for a period of 48 months. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended with 30 months if you perform well. Salary will increase from € 2266,- gross per month in the first year up to € 2897,- in the last year, based on a full-time appointment (38 hours per week).

Wageningen University & Research

The Plant Ecology and Nature Conservation group is part of the Department of Environmental Sciences. Our research examines the processes and underlying mechanisms that link biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and service delivery and aims to implement these insights in the design of effective biodiversity conservation strategies.

The department of Environmental Sciences of Wageningen University provides fundamental research and academic education on our living environment: nature, landscape, land usage, adaptation to climate change, water and ocean management, and the various competing claims on space. This also includes biodiversity and the sustainability of management and production. Wageningen University is part of the Wageningen University and Research concern.