Agroecological approaches to reduce nitrogen losses in vegetable production

Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Food Science programme. The position is available from 15 January 2027 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title
Agroecological approaches to reduce nitrogen losses in vegetable production

Research area and project description
This PhD project will investigate how to reduce nitrogen losses from vegetable production systems. The aim is to successfully introduce and optimize mitigation measures such as catch crops, biomass removal, precision fertilization and irrigation in open field vegetable crop rotations to reduce residual soil N. The focus will be on losses by nitrate leaching as well as vegetable growth and nitrogen use efficiency. The aim is to optimize resource use and reduce environmental and climate impact of both organic and conventional vegetable systems using agroecological approaches. Relationships will be studied by experimental and modelling methodologies between soil nitrogen availability, crop nitrogen uptake and nitrate leaching losses based on soil water, soil and plant sampling from field trials at research and commercial fields. Investigations of losses of nitrous oxide may be included.

Research questions to be addressed include:

• How do crop traits influence the effectiveness of various mitigation measures in efficiently reducing nitrogen losses in organic and conventional vegetable production?
• How to optimize fertilization and irrigation practices for adequate root zone availability of nitrogen for high yielding and low nitrogen leaching vegetable production?

Statistically designed field experiments will be available for studying mitigation measures on nitrate leaching in vegetable crop rotations at the research station AU-Auning. Fields at vegetable producers are equipped and available. The Department provides access to the state-of-the-art field and laboratory facilities. The PhD student will join the Science Team of Plant, Food and Sustainability, which includes PhD students and other scientific and technical staff. We foster a friendly and respectful working environment in an international atmosphere. We aim to collaborate and enjoy while contributing to the sustainability of food production.

The study will be conducted as part of Danish (Nvirkværk, GUDP) and European (Gound2Live, Agroecology Partnership, HEU) projects, which aim to: Integrate cover crops and other measures in sustainable vegetable cropping; Reduce losses of nitrate and nitrous oxide from intensive vegetable production; A Living Lab methodology is used in an agroecological framework, including European stakeholders from horticultural industries and universities.

Qualifications and specific competences
Applicants are expected to have a relevant master’s degree in Plant, Horticultural, Agricultural, Biological, Environmental or Soil Science (120 ECTS)

• Write and speak English fluently
• Knowledge of handling and analysing experimental data
• Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team
• Experience in field experiments

It is an advantage to have:

• Experience in conducting plant and soil experiments
• A proven record in scientific writing
  

Place of employment and place of work
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is FOOD, Agro Food Park 48, 8200 Aarhus N., Denmark.

Contacts
Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact:

• Hanne Lakkenborg Kristensen, e-mail: hanne.kristensen@food.au.dk (main supervisor)
• Mesfin T. Gebremikael, e-mail: mesfin.gebremikael@food.au.dk (co-supervisor)

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:

• admission.gradschool.tech@au.dk

How to apply
Please follow this link to submit your application.

Application deadline is 01 December 2026 at 23:59 CET.

Preferred starting date is 15 January 2027.

For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.

Please note:

• Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be considered.
• The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
• Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.

Formalities and salary range
Salary and terms as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and the Confederation of Professional Unions. You will be employed as an academic staff member at basic salary grades 4–8. As a PhD fellow you will also receive a monthly non-pensionable allowance.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which everyone has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants.

The application must be submitted via the online recruitment system, which can be accessed under ‘How to apply’.