Postdoc - Modelling to explore natural variation to improve photosynthesis and productivity of rice under stress

The post-doctoral candidate will be responsible for implementing a component of the interdisciplinary project "Adaptive Rice Cultivation for a Changing ClimatE (Ad-RiCCE)" funded jointly by NWO (Dutch Research Council) and DBT (Indian Department of Biotechnology).

In this project component, the aim is to combine genetic mapping and physiological modelling to design rice ideotypes for the high performance in terms of photosynthetic traits, water use efficiency and grain yield of rice crops under drought in the context of climate smart agriculture. Therefore, you will be expected to:

• use and develop modelling tools to identify relevant traits;
• to investigate natural variations in these traits of rice association panels;
• to conduct GWAS (genome-wide association study)
• subsequent model-based design of crop genotypes to support breeding activities

You will also work collaboratively with multi-partners (including molecular geneticists and breeders) in India, as well as with researchers in University of Utrecht, the Netherlands, to achieve the overall project objective, i.e. to develop and disseminate water saving practices and water-productive varieties to improve rice production in resource-poor environments.

The post-doctoral position will be under the daily supervision of Dr. Xinyou Yin in the Centre for Crop Systems Analysis (CSA), Wageningen University & Research. The position will be co-supervised by Prof. Paul C. Struik (CSA) and Prof. Sheshshayee Sreeman (Department of Crop Physiology, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, India).

This is a position within the Centre for Crop Systems Analysis (CSA), part of the Department of Plant Sciences, Wageningen University. The Centre is a federation of two chair groups, which are closely interacting in all aspects of their daily activities. The chair groups include Crop Physiology and Crop and Weed Ecology. The candidate will be a member of the Crop Physiology chair. Both chairs are strongly committed to excellent research and teaching providing the scientific basis for the development of high-quality plant production in sustainable agro-ecosystems. CSA focuses on understanding the functioning of crops from underlying physiological and community ecological processes.