Research Associate (Postdoc) – Photorespiratory Potential

Who are we?

The Jan IngenHousz Institute (JII) is a philanthropically funded, open science institution dedicated to improving photosynthesis to enhance crop production and resilience. JII is located on the campus of Wageningen University & Research (WUR), and partners with WUR and other institutions worldwide.

Our goal is to contribute to global food security in the face of climate change, biodiversity challenges, and population growth. Our ambition is to unravel the secrets of photosynthesis in the real world by developing and deploying an open science platform of sensors, data, methods and fundamental knowledge that will reveal the factors that control photosynthesis under real-world conditions and deploy these tools globally to enable multiple crop improvement pipelines.

The background of the project

The project is a collaboration between the JII and other charitable foundations and aims to identify, and ultimately improve, photosynthetic limitations associated with photorespiratory processes and will involve working in a team with expertise in biochemistry, physiology, engineering and data science, to co-develop and apply new methods to identify genetic control of photorespiration.

JII has a strongly dedicated and highly integrated team of engineers, data scientists, modelers, biochemists, biophysicists, geneticists, and plant breeders, working collaboratively at national and international levels.

What will you do?

The selected candidate will

• Co-develop methods and sensors for rapid quantification of limitations to photosynthesis based on photorespiration-related traits

• Use these tools to identify the mechanisms and genetic controls of photorespiratory traits across natural

• Use knowledge to guide the development of new crops with improved photosynthesis

• Interact with an international multi-disciplinary team.

Who are you?

• You have received a PhD in Plant biology, physiology, agronomy, ecology, biophysics, engineering or other relevant scientific fields.

• You are comfortable working in iterative design processes and able to experiment and to self-test.

• You have experience in programming for data analysis and visualization, and/or for sensor development

• Have a good track record of written and oral track scientific communications

• You have good English language skills as you will work in a team of international individuals, where English is the primary language.

What do we offer?

• A position of 38 hours in scale 10 of the NU collective labour agreement (€3378 to €5331,‑). Although we are not covered by a collective agreement, we follow the salary scales of the NU agreement. You will be located at the Jan IngenHousz Institute in Wageningen, NL.

• You will receive 8% holiday pay and an 8.3% year-end bonus.

• We start with a 1-year contract, and if both parties wish to continue collaborating, an extended contract will follow.

• You will work in an intellectually stimulating and challenging environment with opportunities to increase your knowledge and skill levels, leading to job advancement.

• You will contribute to building an institute with significant societal relevance.

Response

If you have questions about this position, you can contact Mauricio Tejera Nieves, JII Research Fellow and Program lead, Mauricio.tejera@jii.org. Send your CV and a short summary of motivations and experience in an email containing the header “Research Associate – Photorespiratory Potential” to hrm@jii.org by September 7th, 2025.