진학프로석·박사 채용 접수 플랫폼

University of Thessaly is offering a position in soil microbial ecology with expected commencement March 2026. The position is offered in the frame of the project RATION, an HORIZON Europe project (Risk Assessment Innovation of Low Risk Pesticides). It is a 4-year project which has stared at 1.11.2022 and will be completed at 31.10.2026.

Brief Project Description

Low risk pesticides (LRP) including (i) plant extracts (ii) semiochemicals like pheromones and allelochemicals, (iii) microbial pesticides, are gaining ground in the global market, as substitutes of synthetic pesticides. In addition, new microbial solutions (phages, protists, microbial consortia) and ds-RNA pesticides are emerging, low-risk solutions expect to reach the market in coming years. Despite ongoing regulatory efforts by the European Commission, we are still lacking a concrete risk assessment (RA) scheme relevant to LRPs, a point which blocks LRPs reaching the EU market. RATION timely comes to address these regulatory constraints and aims to develop a novel RA scheme, supported by the necessary guidance on methods and tools, tailored to the specific characteristics of established and emerging LRP solutions. This main goal will be achieved through a series of interrelated WPs aiming (i) to map the current status of LRPs in Europe and identify main regulatory constraints (WP1). In this quest it will be supported by a stakeholders forum composed of all relevant actors (industry, regulators, academics, famers, general public); (ii) to develop and validate, through a proof-of-concept exercise, innovative RA (and associated tools) for microbials (WP2), plant extracts, semiochemicals, pheromones (WP3) and, ds-RNA (WP4); and from there (iii) build a harmonized RA for all LRP and determine its socioeconomic impact (WP5), (iv) to effectively communicate and disseminate the new RA knowledge and its associated tools developed by RATION to relevant actors ensuring sustainability beyond project duration (WP6). RATION will benchmark EU regulatory science, uplift blockers holding back LRP uptake by the EU market and motivate research innovation in plant protection.

Job description

• The position is available for 5 months with a possible extension until the end of the project (October 2026). The main working tasks of the successful candidate will be:

• • To be able to process soil samples for soil DNA extraction and downstream molecular tests like q-PCR, PCR and amplicon sequencing etc
• • To be able to use appropriate bioinformatic tools for assembly and functional annotation of soil metagenomes
• • To analyse the data using appropriate bioinformatic and ecological statistical tools
• • To be able to collaborate with other researchers, understand biological scientific questions and provide analytical solutions to complex datasets
• • To work closely with the PI, Postdocs and other researchers working on RATION
• • To be able to right reports and scientific documents