Postdoc Product Quality and postharvest physiology

Are you keen to contribute to improving the quality of fresh vegetables, fruits and flowers? Is enhancing the taste and nutritional value of fresh vegetables and fruits an important challenge for you? Do you like to supervise students? Do you want to study the quality at harvest and post-harvest of horticultural products grown in controlled environment agriculture? Then this position could be a perfect fit for you!

At the Horticulture and Product Physiology chair group, we study crops in controlled environment agriculture (greenhouses and vertical farms). It is our aim to understand the influence of environmental factors during cultivation that determine growth, yield, and product quality at harvest and postharvest. Especially this quality is essential for the success of horticultural production. We consider the development of quality as a continuous process from pre-harvest to postharvest. We identify the physiological, molecular and genetic processes that contribute to the quality of horticultural products.

The chair group Horticulture and Product Physiology of Wageningen University & Research (WUR) is currently seeking a postdoc (0.8-1.0 fte) interested in identifying, studying and engineering the mechanisms controlling quality at harvest and postharvest in crop plant species grown in controlled environment agriculture.

The ideal candidate will be a plant biologist who has expertise in one or more of the following topics: postharvest, plant physiology, phenotyping, and/or computational biology. Ideal candidates should be intellectually curious, highly productive, driven to uncover new and impactful biology and, and enjoy working in a committed and diverse team.

As postdoc, you will join a vibrant group of plant and crops physiologists, postharvest scientists, and simulation modelers where you will work on quality at harvest and postharvest of plant products grown in controlled environment agriculture.

In this challenging career trajectory:

• You will collaborate with colleagues and establish research projects embedded in the Horticulture and Product Physiology group
• You will perform physiological research on quality at harvest and postharvest of horticultural products (vegetables, fruits, cut flowers, and/or pot plants) produced in controlled environment agriculture.
• You will supervise BSc, MSc, and PhD students. You will participate in teaching courses (lectures, practicals) about the quality of horticultural products.
• You will participate in writing grant proposals
• You will undertake research that leads to high quality research output.
• Your research contributes to improving the quality and sustainability of horticultural products.

We seek to attract scientific talent and to stimulate and support their development.