Sustainable Management of Agriculturally Used Peatlands
The Swiss National Science Foundation-supported project 'RiceClim' aims to reduce the environmental impacts of the agricultural use of carbon-rich soils while maintaining agricultural productivity. This project is conducted in collaboration with Agroscope's 'Molecular Ecology' Research Group and involves the analysis of greenhouse-gas emissions from rice cultivation.
* Conduct Experiments: Plan and conduct experiments on CO2, CH4, N2O emissions from rice cultivation in mesocosms outdoors and in the laboratory.
* Analyze Data: Conduct molecular analyses to evaluate the microbial diversity of various soils using high-throughput DNA sequencing and quantitative PCR, and analyze measured data with available and self-written scripts.
* Publish Results: Present your work at national and international conferences and publish results in (peer-reviewed) scientific journals.
Requirements:
* Master's Degree: A Master's or equivalent university degree in Environmental Sciences, Soil Science, Biology, Ecology, Agricultural Sciences, or a related field.
* Initial Experience: Initial experience in gas-measurement techniques and/or molecular analyses.
* Skills: Strong interest in agroecological processes, experience with statistics and/or bioinformatics, and programming skills in R are advantageous.
* Languages: Knowledge of two official Swiss languages and English.
About the Job:
This PhD position is part of a larger project aimed at mitigating the environmental impacts of the agricultural use of carbon-rich soils. The successful candidate will be involved in conducting experiments, analyzing data, and publishing results in scientific journals.