Wageningen University & Research

Wageningen University & Research: Chair in Plant Breeding

Partners
Wageningen University & Research
Sector
Higher Education
Location
The Netherlands

We are Wageningen University & Research

 

Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment. With its roughly 30 branches, 7,200 employees (6,400 fte) and 13,200 students and over 150.000 participants to WUR’s Lifelong Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

 

 

Plant Breeding is embedded in the Plant Sciences Group, one of five science groups at Wageningen University & Research, which has state-of-the-art instruments and facilities. The Plant Sciences Group comprises 20 chair groups and 8 applied research units. The Chair Group Plant Breeding is affiliated with the graduate schools Experimental Plant Sciences (EPS) and Production Ecology and Resource Conservation (PE&RC). Reporting to the Managing Director of the Plant Sciences Group, the new chair group leader will contribute constructively to the development and leadership of the science group and the wider collaborative research and impact environment at WUR.

You will be working for a diverse internationally-oriented organization with research collaborations all over the world. We offer a position as full professor and chair of the Plant Breeding group. In addition to a competitive salary, we offer several additional benefits, such as an end-of- year- extra month’s salary, a holiday allowance, and a pension plan with the Dutch pension fund for government and education. International candidates moving to the Netherlands may benefit from a special tax relief, by which 30% of their salary is exempt from tax.

For further details see: https://www.wur.nl/en/Jobs/Moving-to-the-Netherlands.htm.

The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life.”

Plant Breeding

 

Plant breeding is paramount for food security, but also crucial for designing crops that can be used in animal feed, for a circular and biobased economy and for improving our indoor and outdoor quality of life (ornamentals, trees). To support plant breeding as a discipline and as a technological sector, the related activities in a Wageningen Research (WR) business unit and a Wageningen University (WU) chair group were merged in 2005 into Plant Breeding, generating a large critical mass and avoiding competition on similar topics. Plant Breeding is one of the leading research and knowledge centres for plant breeding in the world.

 

 

 

The focus of the Plant Breeding unit is on researching traits and processes, developing tools, and training students and future breeders. We unravel the genetics of traits that determine high yield and quality aspects of many different crops across environments with a minimum input of water, fertilizers and crop protection chemicals. These traits then form the basis of varieties for a sustainable agriculture. We study processes related to the efficient introduction of new traits, including meiosis, recombination and wide species crosses.

We are actively involved in identifying and producing pre-breeding materials as well as designing tools (markers, software and databases) to facilitate the efficient use of these materials by breeding companies to produce varieties with the desired characteristics. Although our strength lies in developing pre-breeding materials, Plant Breeding also has a few breeding programmes for crops which have seen little or no commercial interest in the Netherlands, including oyster mushrooms and biobased crops. We also led or participated in several genome sequence projects for our target crops (potato, tomato, quinoa, rose, etc) and international SNP arrays (potato, rose, apple, etc). We use quantitative genetics methods to improve the possibilities of selection for complex traits, also in outbreeding and polyploid crops.

The use of pesticides to control diseases and pests in agriculture has to be reduced. To be able to do that, crops need to be bred that are resistant to them. Plant Breeding carries out many projects that identify new sources of resistance in genebank accessions of wild relatives, characterize their genetic basis (new R genes), and make the first crosses to introduce it in a modern genetic background. Identification and characterization are done using high-throughput methods such as effectoromics. We identify new resistance mechanisms, such as susceptibility (S) genes. In potato and apple we introduced R genes into other varieties using cisgenesis, and demonstrated the effect on plant resistance and reduction of the use of pesticides in the field.

Application of new plant breeding methods such as targeted mutagenesis (gene editing with CRISPR/Cas) requires efficient methods for transformation and regeneration in a range of genotypes of many crops. In collaborative public-private projects we develop this technology and demonstrate potential use in various crops.

We have projects and programs on breeding and characterization of novel crops for biobased applications (Miscanthus for biomass, fibre hemp, crambe for oil), for vertical farming and mixture crop cultivation, and for more diverse agricultural systems (quinoa). We particulate in strategic WUR-wide programs on defining the needs for varieties that fit in production systems enhancing biodiversity.

Plant Breeding is involved in BSc and MSc on-campus and online courses (in different study programs) covering the whole width of plant breeding, online study modules, and MSc students (mostly from study programs Plant Sciences and Plant Biotechnology) can do their thesis research in Plant Breeding; we also coordinate the internships of these students, often at breeding companies. Plant Breeding also coordinates a whole online MSc study program, Plant Breeding (which students worldwide). The WU as well as the WR contract research projects involve many MSc and PhD students, which are subsequently employed by breeding companies or that continue their career in academia.

 

Capacity building is also done through tailor-made courses for companies and governments on plant breeding-related topics (breeding, databases, biotechnology; often in house) and courses in developing countries, funded amongst others by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Nuffic, DGIS), given by WR and WU researchers.

Scientifically, Plant Breeding publishes close to 100 scientific papers per year, in journals ranging from Nature to Potato Research and Euphytica, depending on the target audience of the research. Plant Breeding files a few technology patents per year, and it has a portfolio of plant breeders’ rights on varieties in a few crops (oyster mushroom, hemp, crambe, miscanthus).

 

Our research has impact on academic groups and research institutes around the world, but includes also breeding companies, mostly in horticultural and ornamental crops, that are active in the Netherlands and worldwide. We collaborate with many of these. In addition, we educate students and train researchers and breeding company employees. For companies, this could be on how best to utilize novel breeding techniques in order to design and efficiently produce new plant varieties, and we are involved in societal discussions about these techniques, also with governmental bodies.

PBR-WR and PBR-WU form one merged group. Although the two legal organizations (Wageningen University and Wageningen Research) have their own financial systematic and the personnel has different (albeit quite similar) collective labour agreements, we act (as much as possible) as if we are one group. We have one controller for the two financial streams, and one HR advisor.

 

Labs, rooms, equipment are shared. The collections and material is owned by one legal party (the potato in vitro collection and various tomato populations, amongst others, by PBR-WU, miscanthus, hemp, crambe, edible mushrooms and onion/leek collections by PBR-WR), with access for projects under the other legal partner. Investments are made jointly.

Over

7,000

Employees

Over

13,500

Students

Over

64,000

Alumni

20

Plant Sciences Chair Group

About WUR Plant Breeding

 

The mission of WUR Plant Breeding is to contribute to the development of high-quality crops with stable and sustainable yields under varying conditions. The group focuses on five major themes:

  • Biodiversity, genetic variation, domestication and re-domestication;
  • Breeding for combined resistance and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses;
  • Breeding for growth, development, biobased and (postharvest) quality;
  • Quantitative genetics and genomics;
  • Breeding for alternative agricultural systems.

The group is internationally recognised for its work in polyploid genetics, disease and pest resistance breeding, and collaboration with industry (Dutch, European and international breeding companies) and spin out activities. The group works with diverse crop species, in particular Solanaceae (potato, tomato, pepper, eggplant), vegetable (e.g. onion, leek, Brassicas) and ornamental crops (e.g. chrysanthemum, rose, tulip), fruit crops (apple, strawberry) and various small and/or biobased crops.

Our teaching portfolio covers the breadth of our research, from the molecular to the ecological level. It includes basic principles and their applications in society, with around 20 online and on-campus BSc and MSc courses, an online MSc programme in Plant Breeding, and tailor-made courses delivered in the Global South, covering a wide range of plant breeding activities.

Useful Resources

Annual Report 2023
Annual Financial Report 2023
Annual Report 2022
Annual Financial Report 2022

Organisation

 

Research

We are organized in ten mixed research groups. Personnel is planned on projects where they fit best in terms of expertise and availability (as far as subsidy rules allow). For this we have one planning and timewriting system which shows hours on both WR and WU projects next to each other. MSc and PhD students can be involved in all (PPS) projects. PhD students are always hired under a WU PhD contract (P scale). PBR-WU has, next to the chair, two personal professors and one tenure track researcher that can act as promotor (three more staff are in tenure track), but in collaborative projects we also often involve other professors in WU and other universities as (co)promotor, as .

Teaching

Most curricular teaching is by WU researchers and teachers (practicals are mostly carried out by WR technicians). WU or WR researchers and teachers participate in tailor-made courses. MSc student theses are supervised by WU and WR researchers, and both act as co-promotor for PhD students. MSc internships are supervised by WU and WR researchers.

Management

The managers (chair and business unit manager) have similar authorities in personnel and financial systems, so if necessary they can replace each other. The secretariat has also dual permissions, so that each of the secretaries can carry out all tasks. The chair, supported by the secretariat, has access to the WU education systems, as the chair remains solely responsible for the teaching duties of the department.

 

 

 

Most Sustainable University in the World

Best University in the Netherlands

#67 Best University in the World

7 Gold Medals EW Best University

Chair in Plant Breeding

Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is seeking a full professor (0.8 – 1.0 fte) to lead the Chair Group Plant Breeding of Wageningen University. This chair group, with approximately 65 FTE personnel, is fully integrated with the Business Unit Plant Breeding of Wageningen Research, which also counts around 65 FTE. Together these groups form WUR Plant Breeding, an integrative team studying various aspects of plant breeding both at the fundamental and the applied level. Teaching is well integrated across both groups, with 50 to 80 MSc students and some 70 PhD candidates every year actively involved in Plant Breeding. It is an international group with up to 50 different nationalities. We seek a new professor and chair group leader who can bring an inspiring vision for the future of plant breeding research and education within the domains of Wageningen University and Research. We are particularly interested in candidates with a strong background in modern breeding methods, including statistical genetics and in linking quantitative genetics to the molecular basis of relevant traits.

How to Apply

You are encouraged to upload your complete application via the apply now button on top of this page. Please include in separate documents, in Pdf format, (1) an application letter, (2) a curriculum vitae, (3) a list of publications and (4) a statement of research and education interests and intended direction of at most 1,000 words. Applications can be sent until and including 21 March 2025. We intend to use this recruitment to find a candidate who will diversify the current Chair Group Plant Sciences. We therefore especially encourage female candidates, and candidates from abroad, to apply for this position.

As a candidate for professor and chair group leader, you should have a clear vision on future trends and developments in plant breeding, including your own research area. You should have ideas on how these developments could translate into concrete plans for development of the chair group. You should also be an experienced and enthusiastic teacher and supervisor of students at different academic levels (i.e., BSc, MSc, PhD candidates) with a strong commitment to training the next generation of scientists in plant breeding.

You should also have:

  • Experience in leading professionals in an academic environment with a supportive and inclusive leadership style that stimulates personal development, collaboration, and team effort.
  • A strong academic track record of scientific publications of recognized international quality;
  • Ample experience and success in attracting funding and competitive research grants and in developing partnerships with industry;
  • Concrete ideas how to contribute to and support the continuing ambitions of the chair group to achieve positive societal impact.

  • Develop an internationally competitive research program in the area of plant breeding in collaboration with colleagues;
  • Coordinate and teach in courses at the BSc and MSc level in the field of plant breeding;
  • Coordinate the integrated research, teaching and outreach agenda of the joint WUR Plant Breeding group in close collaboration with the manager of the Business Unit Plant Breeding of Wageningen Research;
  • Lead the chair group as part of the management team for the integrated group and take responsibility for defined financial, scientific and social performance indicators
  • Publish findings in peer-reviewed journals and present at conferences;
  • Secure external funding through grants and fellowships;
  • Supervise BSc and MSc students, PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers;
  • Participate in departmental and university meetings and committees, providing broader leadership across the organisation

The position of Chairholder of the Chair Group Plant Breeding provides the opportunity to further develop your research track and leadership profile with a diverse team of talented researchers, lectures, and support staff. You will be working for an inspiring international organization actively engaged in a large number of interdisciplinary projects all over the world. The scientific quality of Wageningen University & Research is affirmed by the prominent position we occupy in international rankings and citation indices.

We offer you a position as Full Professor and Chair of the Plant Breeding Group. Besides a competitive salary (maximum gross salary for starting chair holders is € 9,680 per month), we offer a number of additional benefits, such as an end-of-year extra month’s salary, a holiday allowance and a pension plan with the Dutch pension fund for government and education. International candidates moving to the Netherlands may benefit from a special tax relief, by which a part of their salary is exempt from tax for several years.

Working hours can be discussed to optimize the work-life balance (32-38 hours per week).

More information about our research projects, education and publications can be found at the WUR Plant Breeding website. A virtual tour on WUR’s green and sustainable campus can be taken here.

We are a globally leading university in the life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees.

The university’s highly qualified team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family. Furthermore, WUR offers a dual career programme for groups of partners and a specialised organization will further assist your partner in finding a job or starting a business in the Netherlands. Furthermore, we assist you in finding schools for your children and advise you on finding housing in the region or elsewhere in the Netherlands. The Wageningen University & Research (WUR) International Community page contains practical information about what we do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen.

Wageningen University & Research (WUR) employs a large number of people with very
different backgrounds and qualities, who inspire and motivate each other. We want every talent to feel at home in our organisation and be offered the same career opportunities. We therefore especially welcome applications from people who are underrepresented at WUR. A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment.

More Information

Further information about the position can be acquired from Erik Hafner at [email protected]

 

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Who to Speak With

Research Associate, Europe

Erik Hafner

Erik Hafner

Research Associate, Europe