Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands invites online Application for number of Fully Funded PhD Degree at various Departments. We are providing a list of Fully Funded PhD Programs available at Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands.
Eligible candidate may Apply as soon as possible.
(01) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD: Economic Modelling of Pest Risk Management in Phytosanitary Systems
We invite applications for a fully funded PhD position titled “Behavioural and Economic Modelling of Pest Risk Management in Phytosanitary Systems.”
This PhD research project aims to advance the understanding of behavioural, economic, and policy dimensions that shape pest risk management within European phytosanitary systems. The project sits at the intersection of behavioural science, agricultural economics, and systems modelling, with a strong focus on developing innovative, real-world applicable solutions for plant health challenges.
Deadline : June 16, 2026.
(02) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD Electricity assisted micropollutant biodegradation
We are seeking a full time PhD candidate with a strong background in applied microbiology and bioprocess engineering to join our Electricity Assisted Micropollutant Biodegradation project at Environmental Technology at Wageningen University & Research. Even though many microbes have shown capacities for (partial) degradation of micropollutants and even PFAS, their slow kinetics hinder application of these processes in water treatment systems. In our project, you will study the boosting effect of combining micropollutant degrading microbes with electrochemical systems, to improve process kinetics. The project is aimed at micropollutants in municipal and industrial waste water streams.
Deadline : 8 June 2026
View All Fully Funded PhD Positions Click Here
(03) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position: Genetic basis of yield stability in barley under drought
In a collaborative project between Wageningen University & Research (WUR) and the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) we are looking for two enthusiastic PhD candidates to investigate how wild barley, the wild relative of cultivated barley, can maintain stable yield across both optimal and drought conditions. The projects focus on (PhD1) below-ground development (WUR), and (PhD2) above-ground growth and yield responses to water limitation (NIOO-KNAW/WUR).
Using a high-throughput root phenotyping facility and a diverse panel of wild barley accessions, you will study how root architecture and shoot traits influence plant performance under different water conditions. By combining phenotyping with genetic approaches such as GWAS and candidate gene analysis, the project aims to identify what makes the wild progenitor of barley resilient: what traits and alleles support stable yield across environments? Ultimately, this research will contribute to the development of barley varieties that perform reliably under both optimal and water-limited conditions – true “allrounder” crops for future climates.
Deadline : 11 June 2026
(04) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position in AI-driven gene and trait discovery for plant breeding
Most traits behind crop performance and environmental responses are complex, driven by many interacting genes. These have classically been studied using genome wide association studies and other linear approaches. Recent developments in machine learning and AI have opened new avenues for studying the genetic architecture and molecular underpinning of complex traits. Building interpretable and explainable AI models allows for not only improved trait prediction but also understanding how predictions were made, providing new insights into the underlying biological processes.
The key task of this position will be to build AI models linking different levels of biological complexity to gain novel insights into underlaying gene and molecular networks. Initially, the focus will be on integrating transcriptome, proteome and metabolome profiles measured at the single cell level in faba bean to understand the signatures and drivers of differences between cell types and linking them to observed plant traits.
Deadline : 8 June 2026
(05) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position: Tomato resistance to leaf mould disease
Are you interested in exploring the genetic potential of plant resistance? Do you enjoy the challenge of applying molecular and genetic approaches to unravel the plant-fungus interaction? Are you a highly motivated researcher with an interest in developing resistant crops for a sustainable agriculture? Then this vacancy may be of interest to you.
Tomato production worldwide is increasingly threatened by leaf mould disease caused by the fungus Fulvia fulva. Current resistance strategies are frequently overcome by pathogen evolution. The aim of this PhD project is to discover novel tomato genes for durable resistance to leaf mould disease and to develop next-generation predictive breeding strategies.This PhD project is embedded in a large public-private partnership consortium with multiple breeding companies.
Deadline : 8 June 2026
Polite Follow-Up Email to Professor : When and How You should Write
Click here to know “How to write a Postdoc Job Application or Email”
(06) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD: Strengthening Farmers’ Bargaining Power Through Collective Action
Strengthening the position of farmers in the food value chain is one of the key objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) of the EU. An important reason for the establishment of farmer cooperatives and producer organisations is to improve the bargaining power of individual farmers. Increasing demands for sustainable food production may offer new reasons for strengthening collective action. The legal framework (including but not limited to the CAP) can play an enabling or constraining role. Your work will contribute to the development of an effective mix of organisational and policy solutions that support the position of farmers in the food value chain and their transition towards sustainable and resilient food systems.
With this in mind, we are hiring a PhD candidate (4 years, full-time employment) to become part of a large international and multi-disciplinary research group that will explore policy and business solutions to strengthen farmers’ bargaining power through collective action in food value chains, and identify good practices for successful implementation and uptake of these solutions.
Deadline : June 1st 2026
(07) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position in Modelling food supply chains with shelf life control and pricing
Are you committed to reducing food waste? Are you interested in how coordination, dynamic pricing and redistribution may affect food waste? Do you have a passion for applying optimization and simulation techniques to reduce food waste and make food supply chains more sustainable? If your answer is “Yes!” to these questions, then this PhD position might be the perfect opportunity for you!
We are inviting applications for a 4-year full-time PhD position as part of the SCOPE project—Shelf-life Control, Optimized Pricing, and Excess Redistribution—a collaboration between the Operations Research and Logistics group at Wageningen University, the Zero Hunger Lab at Tilburg University, and four industry partners.
In this project, you will develop and advance optimization models and algorithms to support decision-making in food supply chains, with the overarching goal of reducing food waste.
Deadline : May 29 2026
(08) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position: Vision-Language Models for Biodiversity & Environmental Monitoring
We are looking for an aspiring PhD to develop vision-language models for applications in biodiversity and environmental monitoring, using Earth observation, drone, and in situ images. You will develop new machine learning methods for learning efficient and interpretable representations from real-world data. Your models will be used by European partners in the GenAI4Earth project (and will start in September 2026) for identifying plant traits for monitoring the phenology, health and resilience to climate change of forests and crops.
This PhD position builds on existing research in our group, particularly the development of an explainable vision-language model for species distribution modelling. During your PhD, you will further develop vision-language models that can describe species traits from images, which in turn can be used to monitor forest and crop health. You will engage with the international research community to push the state-of-the-art of AI/computer vision for ecology, for example, by leveraging LLMs as reasoning models that interact with biodiversity data via vision-language models.
This position aspires to develop fundamental AI methods that will directly be used for pressing challenges in environmental and ecological monitoring. To do so, you will become part of a European consortium of specialists in AI, supercomputing, remote sensing, ecology and environmental sciences, connected to local stakeholders of forests in Europe and Africa. Therefore, collaborating with other scientists from other domains will be an important aspect of this role.
Deadline : May 29, 2026.
Click here to know “How to Write an Effective Cover Letter”
(09) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position: Chlorophyll Fluorescence Imaging & Canopy Photosynthesis
As a PhD candidate, you will help shape the future of plant‑centred climate control by developing approaches to monitor and interpret canopy‑level photosynthesis using chlorophyll fluorescence imaging and microclimate data. You will work with chlorophyll fluorescence imagers, leaf‑level validation sensors, and multilayer photosynthesis models to quantify how microclimate gradients affect electron transport rate (ETR), photosynthetic efficiency, and yield.
This project is part of the GreenControl programme which is funded by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) and 11 companies. This programme encompasses 7 PhD students appointed at the universities of Wageningen, Delft, Eindhoven and Twente. Within GreenControl, you will work in parallel with another PhD in the same group focusing on water related traits and colleagues across different disciplines, technology companies and growers, ensuring that your research results are directly usable in operational climate‑control strategies.
Deadline : 26 May 2026
(10) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD position: Governing the risk of extreme water scarcity (Day Zero)
Are you passionate about uncovering how cities across the globe deal with the risk of extreme water scarcity? What are the consequences for urban communities? Do cities respond in ways that make them better prepared for the next extreme event? This PhD position offers the opportunity to deeply engage with these urgent global challenges and contribute to meaningful, interdisciplinary research.
Deadline : 31 May 2026
Connect with Us for Latest Job updates
(11) PhD Degree – Fully Funded
PhD position summary/title: PhD in Photonic Pigments from Cellulose Nanocrystals
In this project, you will investigate how modified cellulose nanocrystals self-assemble into structurally colored materials under spherical confinement. The aim is to create robust and water-resistant photonic pigments based on renewable nanomaterials that can replace conventional synthetic dyes and pigments used in paints, coatings, and inks.
The project will focus on controlling the self-assembly behavior of cellulose nanocrystals and stabilizing their chiral nematic structures through photo-crosslinking chemistry. You will explore how chemical functionalization influences colloidal stability, liquid crystal formation, and the development of structural color. In addition, the project will investigate the incorporation of metallic nanoparticles to produce multifunctional hybrid photonic materials with enhanced optical and luminescent properties.
This interdisciplinary PhD project is jointly hosted by the chair groups Physical Chemistry and Soft Matter (PCC) and the BioNanoTechnology (BNT) at Wageningen University & Research. The project combines expertise in soft matter physics, colloidal chemistry, modification of renewable nanomaterials, and photochemical synthetic reactions to develop a new class of sustainable photonic pigments.
Structural color arises from nanoscale organization rather than chemical dyes. In materials based on cellulose nanocrystals, self-assembly into chiral nematic structures selectively reflects visible light, producing vibrant colors without molecular pigments. However, these structures are typically fragile and sensitive to moisture, limiting their practical applications. In this project, you will develop strategies to stabilize these photonic structures through chemical modification and photo-crosslinking. Furthermore, you will study how spherical confinement — achieved through emulsion or microfluidic methods — influences the self-assembly process and enables the formation of photonic pigment particles that can be dispersed like conventional pigments. By combining structural color with luminescent nanoparticles, the project also aims to produce multifunctional pigments that are robust, sustainable, and suitable for applications such as coatings, security inks, sensors, and decorative materials.
Deadline : 31st May 2026
Polite Follow-Up Email to Professor : When and How You should Write
About Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands – Official Website
Wageningen University & Research is a public university in Wageningen, Netherlands, specializing in technical and engineering subjects and an important center for life sciences and agricultural research. It is located in a region of the Netherlands known as the Food Valley.
WUR consists of Wageningen University and the former agricultural research institute of the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture. Wageningen University trains specialists (BSc, MSc and PhD) in life and social sciences and focuses its research on scientific, social and commercial problems in the field of life sciences and natural resources. It is widely known for its agriculture, forestry, and environmental studies programs. The university has about 12,000 students from over 100 countries. It is also a member of the Euroleague for Life Sciences (ELLS) university network.
WUR has been placed among the top 150 universities in the world by four major ranking tables. Wageningen has been voted the number one university in the Netherlands for fifteen consecutive years. The university is listed number 59 in the world by the Times Higher Education Ranking and the world’s best in agriculture and forestry by the QS World University Rankings 2016–2020.Wageningen University is ranked number one in the fields of plant/animal science, environment/ecology, and agricultural sciences by U.S. News & World Report. The university is widely regarded as the world’s top agricultural research institution.
Disclaimer: We try to ensure that the information we post on VacancyEdu.com is accurate. However, despite our best efforts, some of the content may contain errors. You can trust us, but please conduct your own checks too.
Related Posts
