PhD position: Genetic Variance in Populations Under Selection

Are you interested in animal or population genetics and are you curious and eager to further develop your expertise in quantitative concepts and genetic variation? Are you enthusiastic to become part of one of the leading international universities in the fields of healthy food, the living environment and agriculture? Then you are the candidate we are looking for! We are offering an exciting PhD position within the Animal Breeding and Genomics (ABG) group of Wageningen University for a motivated PhD candidate with a background in quantitative genetics, animal or plant breeding, or statistical genetics.

You will be employed for a maximum of four years at a newly funded NWO-AES project “Genetic variance Estimation Now (GEN): Estimating current genetic variance components in populations under selection”. You will work closely together with a Postdoctoral Researcher and industry partners on the same project, and will be located at the Animal Breeding and Genomics group of Wageningen University & Research in Wageningen.

The GEN project
Genetic variance is crucial for natural and artificial selection and is essential for a population to survive. As a result of selection, the amount of genetic variance decreases. This makes it important to closely monitor the genetic variance in populations under selection. However, currently, no unbiased method exists to accurately estimate genetic variance in populations under selection.

The GEN project aims to develop and validate a general method to quantify the genetic variance in populations under selection. After validation in simulations, the method will be applied in a commercial pig and chicken population under strong selection to evaluate the trend in genetic variance. This information is highly needed to ensure that enough genetic variance is maintained to keep breeding populations healthy and to enable selection for population improvement in the future. Moreover, the developed method can be applied in other populations such as plant or wildlife populations, and support population management in those populations.

Project goals

• Improve understanding of the factors that influence the change in genetic variance in populations under selection.
• Develop and validate a method to estimate genetic variance in populations under selection.
• Gain insights in the trend of genetic variance in populations under intense artificial selection.
• Provide support for applying the developed method in empirical populations under selection.

As a PhD candidate on this project, you will

• Set up and run simulations to increase our understanding about the factors that influence the change in genetic variance components in populations under selection.
• Support the postdoc with developing and validating a method to estimate genetic variance components in populations under selection.
• Use the newly developed method to estimate the genetic variance components in a pig and chicken dataset.
• Investigate the trend in genetic variance and genetic correlations in populations under artificial selection and, based on the results, give recommendations about population management.
• Disseminate the research results by presenting the work at international conferences, by making the new method available for industry partners and other researchers, and by providing support for the users.

You will work here
The research is embedded within the chair group Animal Breeding and Genomics (ABG; Research of Animal Breeding and Genomics | WUR) which is led by Prof. Mario Calus. You will be supervised by Dr Yvonne Wientjes and Dr Piter Bijma. The ABG chair group is part of Wageningen University & Research Animal Breeding and Genomics (WUR-ABG), which is the centre of excellence for all national and international animal breeding and genomics activities (research and education) of Wageningen University & Research (Research of Animal Breeding and Genomics | WUR).

You are a highly motivated individual with a genuine interest in fundamental and applied genetics research. You are curiosity driven, and have strong analytical and problem-solving skills. You are eager to learn new skills and to work together with colleagues and industry partners to work on the development of new quantitative genetics methodology.

You also possess:

• A successfully completed MSc degree in a relevant quantitative field (e.g. Animal or Plant breeding, Quantitative genetics, Population or Statistical genetics).
• Demonstrated affinity with quantitative genetics concepts and data analysis.
• Experience with programming in Python, Fortran, Linux or similar software.
• Good organisational and communication skills in English (written and spoken), as well as a proven ability to collaborate with others.
• Willingness to travel internationally, to attend international project meetings and conferences and visit other institutes.

For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here.

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.
The gross salary for the first year is € 3.059,- per month rising to € 3.881,- in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.

Wageningen University & Research offers plenty of opportunities for growth and development, with a strong internal recruitment policy and excellent training programmes.

You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment. For 20 consecutive years, we have been voted the "best university" in the Netherlands! A place to be proud of.

The mission of Wageningen University & 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, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below to get an idea of our green campus!

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

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.

Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family. If you come with a partner, we offer a Dual Career group program organized by our Welcome Center. This program helps your partner to get familiar with the Dutch culture, labour market and assists your partner to find a job.

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Communitypage contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.