postdoctoral fellowship in Plant – Microbe Interaction

A 2-year postdoctoral fellowship in Plant – Microbe Interaction is available in the Molecular Plant Physiology and Plant Phenomics Research Group at the Section of Crop Sciences, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Starting date: 1 January 2026 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The project
The postdoc research fellowship is funded by the Danish Research Council (DFF) within the project “Boosting tomato growth, fruit yield, and stress resilience through bio-priming with interkingdom microbial consortia”. The postdoc will collaborate with a PhD student to address in this project the transition to a sustainable and environment friendly agriculture within climate change while reducing agrochemicals. The increased occurrence and severity of adverse agro-climatic events threaten food production. Alt­hough agrochemical determine crop productivity they negatively impact the environment and biodiversity. The need for ecosystem friendly alternatives results in an increased interest in biostimulants but their applications and acceptance are hampered by a poor lab to field translation, a lack of robustness and limited insight into their mode of action. These drawbacks and knowledge gaps are addressed by an integrative and innovative approach.

The goal of this project is to establish and apply microbial consortia on tomato cultivar MicroTom as case study to improve fruit yield, quality and salt stress resilience under consideration of the mycorrhiza symbiosis and a root/shoot temperature gradient. The research will focus to unraveling the plant physiological and molecular mechanisms governed by microbial consortia, particularly the pathways associated with carbohydrate metabolism, reactive oxygen species, and hormones. Based on our preliminary data on yield enhancement using the fungus Trichoderma and Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria, interkingdom consortia thereof will be designed with distinct functionalities. The results will be verified under production conditions to evaluate the robustness of the consortia and derived predictive biomarkers.

In summary, this project aims to create microbial consortia as innovative biostimulants for environment friendly and climate smart production to ensure food security within climate change scenarios. In parallel, the mechanistic understanding of plant responses to such consortia composed of beneficial bacteria and fungi will allow tailored future design to ensure robustness across pedoclimatic conditions and cultivars.

Who are we looking for?
We are looking for passionate, highly talented candidates with proven international research experience in the field of Plant – Microbe interaction with notably complementary competences within Rhizosphere Ecology and plant microbe interactions, Plant physiology and biochemistry, Microbiology and Metabolomics. The candidate should have also experience to successfully lead and advance research projects and also teaching and supervisor experience to be able to supervise and guide the PhD student also employed in the project.

Key scientific qualifications

• Bachelor, Master and PhD in Biotechnology, Microbiology, Environmental sciences or Life Sciences or related fields with a strong research focus on plant - microbe interaction.
• Experience as postdoc for a minimum of 2 years in the field of plant – microbe interaction, preferentially with experience in leading research projects, teaching and supervision of students.
• Experience to design and execute greenhouse experiments preferentially involving application of beneficial microbes and symbionts, abiotic stress treatments such as drought and salinity and the species tomato
• Experience in the field of Plant physiology and biochemistry to assess plant developmental and stress responses, preferentially with approaches including biochemical and cell- and eco-physiological physiological markers such as enzyme activities or stomata conductance, Molecular markers including gene expression and global metabolite fluxes, Metabolomics and Non-invasive phenomics markers.
• Experience to study Rhizosphere Ecology and plant microbe interactions to preferentially to address rhizosphere crosstalk, Microbiome engineering for abiotic stress resilience, In-planta assessment of microbial bioinoculants and Microbiome structural and functional dynamics

Key personal skills

• Curious mind-set with a strong interest in plant – microbe interaction and mechanistic understandings
• Strong ability to interpret data and think analytically, critically, conceptually, synthetically and interdisciplinarity
• Strong social competence including interpersonal skills, teamwork and networking ability, and presentation skills
• Strong personal competence including autonomy, goal-oriented mind-set, planning/organizing/prioritizing, perseverance, problem-solving skills
• General leadership skills including ability to translate long-term goals to daily work situations (strategic time management); be flexible to adjust one’s own behavior and thinking according to the (relevant/local) context so as to attain the desired goals (learning ability)
• Language skills: fluent English, ability to understand swiftly and express clearly

Our group and research- and what do we offer?
The successful applicant will be part of the research group “Molecular Plant Physiology and Phenomics” at the Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences. The research group is currently composed of the PI, two postdocs, three PhD students, a research assistant and a variable number of BSc and MSc students. The project is within the main research translational research focus on the interaction of plants with biostimulants, with a key focus on beneficial microbes to elucidate the underlying mechanisms to develop robust solutions for practical applications. We are a part of the Crop Science section and work closely together with researchers across the section and departments. The Crop Science section studies and teaches basic and applied sciences related to crop production, with a focus on the interaction between Genotype, Management and Environment. The aim of the crop science section is to improve land management for sustainable food production in a changing climate, by conducting research in laboratories, greenhouses, semi-field equipment and fields.

The Plant Physiology/Phenomics group is a part of Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen. We are located at Taastrup campus, Copenhagen.

We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories and plant growth facilities including an automated phenotyping facility and state of the art laboratory equipment and instrumentation.

Terms of employment
The position is covered by the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff.

Terms of appointment and payment accord to the agreement between the Ministry of Finance and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State.

Negotiation for salary supplement is possible.

The application, in English, must be submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.

Please include: 

1. Motivated letter of application (max. one page) – please relate how your previous experiences can contribute to the successful advancement of the research project
2. Structured bullet-style compilation how you meet the listed key scientific and personal qualifications
3. Curriculum vitae including information about your education, employment history, research projects, management and teaching experience, key scientific and language skills, and other skills relevant for the position
4. Original diplomas for Bachelor of Science, Master of Science and PhD including an authorized English translation if issued in another language than English or Danish.
5. Research plan – description of current and future research plans
6. List of Publications
7. Reference letters (if possible)
8. Separate reprints of 3 particularly relevant papers

Application deadline:

The deadline for applications is 18 November 2025 23:59 GMT +1

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

After the expiry of the deadline for applications, the authorized recruitment manager selects applicants for assessment on the advice of the Interview Committee.

You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.

Interviews with selected candidates are expected to be held in week 49.

Questions
For specific information about the position, please contact Professor Thomas Roitsch, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, roitsch@plen.ku.dk, Direct Phone: +4535333431.

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all regardless of personal background to apply for the position. 

Part of the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU), and among Europe’s top-ranking universities, the University of Copenhagen promotes research and teaching of the highest international standard. Rich in tradition and modern in outlook, the University gives students and staff the opportunity to cultivate their talent in an ambitious and informal environment. An effective organisation – with good working conditions and a collaborative work culture – creates the ideal framework for a successful academic career.