Intercropping of cover crops and vegetables to mitigate nitrate leaching and improve soil health in organic farming

Applicants are invited for a PhD Fellowship/Scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Food Science programme. The position is available from 01 November 2025 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.

Title:

Intercropping of cover crops and vegetables to mitigate nitrate leaching and improve soil health in organic farming

Research area and project description:

This PhD study will focus on the successful integration of cover crops by intercropping in organic vegetable field production. The PhD will investigate the effect of species and management choices (e.g. sowing time) for complementary resource use and environmental and climate impact. The focus will be on cover crop and vegetable growth above- and belowground, nitrogen use efficiency, nitrate leaching from the agroecosystem, and effects on soil health (microbial activity and functional groups, nitrogen and carbon turnover).

A full factorial field experiment will be available for studying the interaction of species and management factors. State-of-the-art field and laboratory facilities and methodologies are available in our science team, where we have a friendly and respectful working environment in an international atmosphere. We aim to collaborate and enjoy, while contributing to the sustainability of food production.

The study will be conducted as part of Danish (CloseFerVeg, RDD10) and European (Gound2Live, Agroecology Partnership) projects, which aim to: Integrate cover crops in vegetable cropping; Reduce losses of nitrate and nitrous oxide from intensive vegetable production; Sustain soil fertility, carbon sequestration and biodiversity in vegetable production with high yields. A Living Lab methodology is used in an agroecological framework, including European stakeholders from horticultural industries and universities.

Project description. For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.

Qualifications and specific competences:

Applicants are expected to have:

A relevant Master’s degree in Plant, Horticultural, Agricultural, Biological, Environmental or Soil Science
Write and speak English fluently
Knowledge of handling and analysing experimental data
Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team
Experience in field experiments

It is an advantage to have:

Experience in conducting plant and soil experiments
A proven record in scientific writing

Place of employment and place of work:

The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Aarhus University, Department of Food Science, Agro Food Park 48, 8200 Aarhus N, Denmark.

Contacts:

Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact:

Professor Hanne Lakkenborg Kristensen, hanne.kristensen@food.au.dk (main supervisor)
Tenure track, Assistant Professor Mesfin T. Gebremikael, mesfin.gebremikael@food.au.dk (co-supervisor)

For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:

admission.gradschool.tech@au.dk

How to apply:

Please follow this link to submit your application.

Application deadline is 1 August 2025 at 23:59 CEST.

Preferred starting date is 1 November 2025.

Please note:

Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after the deadline will not be taken into account.
The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee will only evaluate the most relevant applications.

Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background.

University of Aarhus

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PhD Fellowship/Scholarship in Food Science