Internship in the Sustainable Agroecosystem Group

Updated: over 2 years ago
Job Type: Permanent
Deadline: The position may have been removed or expired!

In der aktuellen Covid-19 Situation laufen die Rekrutierungen weiter. Es kann dabei allerdings zu Verzögerungen kommen. Vielen Dank für Ihr Verständnis.


100%, Zurich, fixed-term

Looking for a intern to join our efforts in the assessment of the crop microbiome and C cycle in the field and greenhouse.


Project background

The Sustainable Agroecosystem Group is an international multidisciplinary group at ETH Zürich, with a research focus on how carbon and nitrogen cycling is affected by management and driven by the interactions between plants, soil structure, and soil biota.

The internship would give insight into three different projects associated with drought, low-nutrient stress and carbon cycling.

  • The MICROSERVICES project aims to assess the impact of climate change on the crop-soil-microbiome nexus under various agricultural management regimes, with the goal to increase our capacity to predict and mitigate future climate change impacts on soil biodiversity and its cascading effects on agroecosystem functioning.
  • The project MICROBENGINE aims to identify potentially beneficial combinations of maize genotypes with their specific root traits and root microbiomes and to harness their synergism to improve plant tolerance to nitrogen limitation and drought in the context of sustainable agriculture.
  • In the numerical subsoil project, we try to increase our understanding of interactions between soil organic carbon stability, the soil microbiome and storage of microbial necromass along the soil profile as affected by agricultural nutrient management and land use changes. The ultimate aim of the project is to improve the representation of soil microbes in soil biogeochemical models.

Job description

You will be part of the Sustainable Agroecosystem team and you would be responsible for the following tasks:

  • 13C-CO2-labelling
  • Measuring soil respiration in the field
  • Basic field, greenhouse and lab work
  • Mesocosm experiments in the greenhouse (starting March/April)
  • Soil organic carbon fractionation
  • Analyses of amino sugars in soil samples
  • Preparing soil samples for microbial analyses

The Internship will last 6 months (february/march until June/July 2022). 


Your profile

You have a background in:

  • biology
  • agricultural or soil science
  • basic knowledge about safety in the lab
  • English

Driver’s license B valid for Switzerland is required.


ETH Zurich

ETH Zurich is one of the world’s leading universities specialising in science and technology. We are renowned for our excellent education, cutting-edge fundamental research and direct transfer of new knowledge into society. Over 30,000 people from more than 120 countries find our university to be a place that promotes independent thinking and an environment that inspires excellence. Located in the heart of Europe, yet forging connections all over the world, we work together to develop solutions for the global challenges of today and tomorrow.

Working, teaching and research at ETH Zurich

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