Are you keen to contribute to improving the quality of fresh vegetables, fruits and flowers? Is enhancing the taste and nutritional value of fresh vegetables and fruits an important challenge for you? Do you like to supervise students? Do you want to study the quality at harvest and post-harvest of horticultural products grown in controlled environment agriculture? Then this position could be a perfect fit for you!

At the Horticulture and Product Physiology chair group, we study crops in controlled environment agriculture (greenhouses and vertical farms). It is our aim to understand the influence of environmental factors during cultivation that determine growth, yield, and product quality at harvest and postharvest. Especially this quality is essential for the success of horticultural production. We consider the development of quality as a continuous process from pre-harvest to postharvest. We identify the physiological, molecular and genetic processes that contribute to the quality of horticultural products.

The chair group Horticulture and Product Physiology of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is currently seeking a postdoc (0.8-1.0 fte) interested in identifying, studying and engineering the mechanisms controlling quality at harvest and postharvest in crop plant species grown in controlled environment agriculture.

The ideal candidate will be a plant biologist who has expertise in one or more of the following topics: postharvest, plant physiology, phenotyping, and/or computational biology. Ideal candidates should be intellectually curious, highly productive, driven to uncover new and impactful biology and, and enjoy working in a committed and diverse team.

As postdoc, you will join a vibrant group of plant and crops physiologists, postharvest scientists, and simulation modelers where you will work on quality at harvest and postharvest of plant products grown in controlled environment agriculture.

In this challenging career trajectory:

• You will collaborate with colleagues and establish research projects embedded in the Horticulture and Product Physiology group
• You will perform physiological research on quality at harvest and postharvest of horticultural products (vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, and/or pot plants) produced in controlled environment agriculture.
• You will supervise BSc, MSc, and PhD students. You will participate in teaching courses (lectures, practicals) about the quality of horticultural products.
• You will participate in writing grant proposals
• You will undertake research that leads to high quality research output.
• Your research contributes to improving the quality and sustainability of horticultural products.

We seek to attract scientific talent and to stimulate and support their development.

• You hold a PhD degree in plant physiology, plant science, or a related field
• You have experience in research in one or more of the following topics: plant product quality, postharvest, plant physiology, phenotyping, and/or computational biology
• You have published research in high-quality journals
• You are intellectually curious
• You are good at communication and enjoy connecting and collaborating and enjoy working in a committed and diverse team.

Wageningen University & Research is an international organisation. We expect our staff to have excellent command of the English language. This is an important factor in our selection process. Some job interviews will be in English. You will be informed beforehand should this be the case. This position requires an excellent English language proficiency (a mininum of CEFR B2 level). For more information about this proficiency level, please visit our special language page.

We are offering an exciting and challenging position for 3 years. After three years, this position may grow into a tenure track position, depending on your capacities.The postdoc positions is a challenging position with, depending on your experience, a competitive salary from a minimum of € 2.846,- to a maximum of
€ 4.490,- for a full working week of 38 hours in accordance with the Collective Labor Agreement Wageningen University (scale 10). We offer you a temporary contract for 12 months which will be extended if you perform well.
In addition, we offer:

• 8% holiday allowance;
• an end-of-the-year bonus of 8.3% of your annual salary
• excellent training opportunities and secondary employment conditions;
• flexible working hours and holidays can possibly be determined in consultation so that an optimal balance between work and private life is possible;
• excellent pension plan through ABP;
• a choice model to put together part of your employment conditions yourself, such as a bicycle plan;
• a lively workplace where you can easily make contacts and where many activities take place on the Wageningen Campus. A place where education, research and business are represented;
• make use of the sports facilities on campus for a small fee.

Wageningen University & Research stimulates internal career opportunities and mobility with our internal recruitment policy. There are ample opportunities for personal initiative in a learning environment. With us you get a versatile job in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere, with students and staff from over 100 countries around the world.

You are going to 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 17th 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. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for a special tax relief, known as the 30% ruling. Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling, and other issues.

Wageningen University & Research

Wageningen University & Research
The mission of Wageningen University and Research is "To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life". Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment.

With its roughly 30 branches, 6.800 employees and 12.900 students, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. An integrated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of Wageningen's unique approach. WUR has been named Best Employer in the Education category for 2019-2020.

These are the points our employees list as good reasons to come work at WUR: read the 5 reasons to come work at WUR

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.