Postdoctoral Researcher in Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer Development

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Researcher in Plant Nutrition and Fertilizer Development to join the Soil Science & Soil Fertility group at the Division of Soil and Water Management. Research at the Division of Soil and Water Management aims to unravel physical, chemical, and biological processes in a wide range of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, using an array of tools, e.g., state-of-the-art analysis on lab and field scale, modeling, remote sensing, and microbiological techniques. An established pillar in the Division is research on soil fertility and soil chemistry. Here, from an understanding of the fate of nutrients in soils, we aim to develop novel approaches that can improve nutrient use efficiency in crop production systems. The efficiency of conventional fertilizers applied to soil is often poor, which can result in disappointing agronomic effects and losses of nutrients to the environment. Hence, in this research, we try to address these issues with optimized nutrient application strategies and the development of novel fertilizer compounds that (i) have improved efficiency as a result of their controlled-release properties, (ii) limit nutrient losses to the environment, and (iii) can be produced from recycled nutrients and thus contribute to circular nutrient use.
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Responsibilities

The candidate will contribute to research on improving the efficiency of phosphorus (P) fertilizer applications in acid-weathered soils. The candidate will focus on the development of novel phosphorus (P) fertilizer compounds. These new compounds will be assessed in chemical extraction tests, soil incubation studies and, finally, pot trials and rhizobox setups. Using state-of-the-art techniques, we will trace the applied P in the soil and link these local observations to root responses and crop growth. The candidate will develop and implement these laboratory experiments, analyze the obtained data, and publish results in scientific journals. As part of this research track, the candidate is also involved in the supervision of MSc and PhD students.

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Offer

Interested?

For more information please contact Prof. Dr. Ir. Maarten Everaert, tel.: +32 16 37 67 43, mail: maarten.everaert@kuleuven.be.

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