项目介绍

2026年9月18日

About the position

Climate change is increasing the frequency and intensity of droughts, with profound consequences for ecosystem carbon cycling. While drought effects on aboveground vegetation have been studied extensively, our understanding of how vegetation structure and functional traits influence belowground microbial processes and carbon stocks remains limited. Soils store more carbon than the atmosphere and vegetation combined, so even small changes belowground can have major implications for carbon storage and climate feedbacks.

Vegetation strongly modifies the microclimate experienced by soils. By reducing radiation and evaporative demand from the soil surface, plants moderate extremes in soil temperature and moisture while simultaneously altering carbon allocation belowground. These changes can influence microbial activity, community composition and carbon cycling, potentially buffering ecosystems against drought and heat waves. However, the magnitude of these effects, the mechanisms involved, and their consequences across ecosystem components remain poorly understood. The combined observation of soil processes with plant functional traits and structure of vegetation captured by remote sensing (e.g. LiDAR, multi- and hyper-spectral imagery) in experiments and at contrasting field-sites provide us insights on how soil microbial composition and diversity responds to a shift of vegetation types, climate, and land cover.

In this PhD project, you will investigate how vegetation traits and structure regulate below-ground microclimate and microbial carbon cycling across spatial scales. You will combine controlled experiments, field observations, remote sensing data, ecosystem flux measurements and process-based modelling to identify the mechanisms linking vegetation, soil microorganisms and ecosystem carbon cycling. The project spans laboratory, field and ecosystem scales and combines measurements ranging from microbial processes to ecosystem carbon fluxes.

You will be jointly supervised by Dr. Yifang Shi, Dr. Albert C. Brangarí, Dr. Emiel van Loon, and Prof. Franciska de Vries, whose complementary expertise in vegetation structure and functional traits, ecosystem carbon cycling, soil microbial ecology, remote sensing and process-based modelling provides a unique interdisciplinary training environment. The project will also include a postdoctoral researcher. As part of this team, you will collaborate with national and international partners, including the Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS), and become part of a vibrant research environment.

What are you going to do?

As a PhD candidate, you will develop an interdisciplinary research programme together with a postdoc researcher, combining experiments, field observations and modelling to understand how vegetation regulates soil microbial responses to drought and heat, and the implications for carbon.

Tasks and responsibilities:

• performing laboratory experiments and field campaigns at the ICOS ecosystem station Loobos and other sites;
• quantifying soil microclimate, microbial activity, community composition and carbon cycling;
• assessing vegetation structure and functional traits using remote sensing techniques (e.g. multi- and hyper-spectral imagery, LiDAR);
• analyzing chamber and eddy covariance measurements;
• applying process-based models to integrate observations across biological and spatial scales;
• publishing your findings in international peer-reviewed journals;
• presenting your research at national and international conferences;
• contributing to teaching and supervising Bachelor’s and Master’s students.

Your profile

We are looking for an enthusiastic and ambitious candidate with a strong interest in vegetation structure and functioning, soil microbial ecology and ecosystem carbon cycling, and an interest in the challenge of combining experiments, remote sensing and modelling to answer fundamental ecological questions.

Your experience and profile:

• an MSc degree in the Natural Sciences (e.g. Earth Science, Biology, Ecology, Physics) or Engineering;
• experience with modelling, quantitative data analysis and programming;
• strong analytical and problem-solving skills;
• excellent written and spoken English;
• the ability to work independently as well as collaboratively in an interdisciplinary research team.

Additional qualifications that would be an advantage include experience with:

• remote sensing data analysis (e.g. multi- and hyper-spectral imagery, LiDAR);
• process-based carbon modelling;
• plant functional traits;
• eddy-covariance and other carbon flux measurements;
• soil microbial ecology and biogeochemistry.

  We encourage you to apply even if you don’t yet meet all the qualifications. If you meet the essential requirements and are excited about the project, we would be happy to receive your application.

Our offer

A temporary contract for 38 hours per week for the duration of 4 years (the initial contract will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it will be extended for a total duration of 4 years). The preferred starting date is as soon as possible. We will draft an educational plan that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. We also expect you to assist in teaching undergraduates and master students. For this position the University Job Classification profile “Promovendus” (PhD candidate) applies. Your salary will be €3.204 gross per month in the first year and will increase to €4.051 in the final year, based on full-time employment of 38 hours per week. In addition, you will receive a 8% holiday allowance and 8.3% year-end allowance.

A favourable tax agreement, the ‘30% ruling’, may apply to non-Dutch applicants.

The Collective Labour Agreement of Universities of the Netherlands is applicable.

Besides the salary and a vibrant and challenging environment at Science Park we offer you multiple fringe benefits:

• 232 holiday hours per year (based on fulltime) and extra holidays between Christmas and 1 January;
• multiple courses to follow from our Teaching and Learning Centre;
• a complete educational program for PhD students;
• multiple courses on topics such as leadership for academic staff;
• multiple courses on topics such as time management, handling stress and an online learning platform with 100+ different courses;
• 7 weeks birth leave (partner leave) with 100% salary;
• partly paid parental leave;
• the possibility to set up a workplace at home;
• a pension at ABP for which UvA pays two third part of the contribution;
• the possibility to follow courses to learn Dutch;
• help with registration at UvA-Housing for a studio or small apartment when you’re moving from abroad. 

Are you curious to read more about our extensive package of secondary employment benefits, take a look here.