Let’s be honest—farming in 2025 is no easy feat. Between climate change, water shortages, and ever-hungry pests like aphids, growing food sustainably is one of the biggest challenges of our time. But what if the solution lies not in chemicals or costly tech, but in something much smaller… like microbes?
At Wageningen University & Research (WUR)—often called the green heart of innovation— a fully funded PhD position that dives into this exact question. If you’re fascinated by the hidden world of plant-microbe relationships and want to be part of building the future of sustainable agriculture, keep reading.
What’s This PhD Really About?
In short: it’s about helping plants survive tough conditions using the power of beneficial microbes.
You’ll be working with brassicaceous plants (think cabbage, broccoli, mustard) and exploring how root-dwelling bacteria (called rhizobacteria) can help them fight off drought stress and aphid infestations. These tiny bacteria can make a big difference, but this procedure is not fully understood.
That’s where you come in.
You’ll experiment with different bacterial communities, analyze changes in plant health, and investigate what’s happening at the genetic and metabolic levels. You’ll use tools like metagenomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics to piece together the story of how plants and microbes communicate and cooperate.
Your ultimate goal? To help plants get better at “recruiting” the right microbes—and to find new ways to reduce reliance on pesticides and irrigation.
Why This Matters
Climate extremes are becoming the norm. Insects like aphids are adapting fast. And farmers are under pressure to grow more with less. That’s why this research goes beyond the lab: it has real-world impact.
By uncovering the microbiological secrets of stress-tolerant plants, your work could help shape a more resilient, sustainable food system—one where biology, not chemicals, does the heavy lifting.
Who You’ll Work With
You won’t be doing this alone. You’ll be part of a lively, international research team at Wageningen University, working across two expert groups:
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The Laboratory of Plant Physiology, led by Prof. Dr. Christa Testerink
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The Laboratory of Entomology, led by Prof. Dr. Bregje Wertheim
You’ll also be co-supervised by Dr. Rumyana Karlova and Dr. Karen Kloth, and embedded in the MiCRop Consortium, a national collaboration focused on microbial solutions for crop resilience. That means you’ll have access to scientists, labs, and training across six top Dutch institutions.
In short: it’s a deeply collaborative, future-facing project in one of Europe’s best research environments.
Who Should Apply?
If you’re the kind of person who asks “what if?” while walking through a greenhouse—or gets excited by the idea of combining molecular biology, ecology, and data science—you’ll fit right in.
Here’s what they were looking for: