PhD student – Sustainable Biocontrol of Rice Grain Rot in Vietnam

Biological sciences » Biological engineering

Technology » Biotechnology

Rice is the staple food for more than half of the world's population. However, rice production is increasingly threatened by rice grain rot, a devastating disease mainly caused by Burkholderia glumae. In Vietnam's Mekong Delta—one of the world's most important rice-producing regions—this disease can cause yield losses of up to 75%, and its impact is expected to increase further under climate change.

Current management options are limited, while reliance on chemical pesticides is becoming increasingly unsustainable. This ambitious project aims to develop innovative microbiome‑assisted biocontrol strategies against one of the most destructive bacterial diseases affecting rice production in Southeast Asia. The project combines fundamental and applied research through three closely integrated research lines: (i) Characterization of Burkholderia glumae isolates collected throughout the Mekong Delta;

(ii) Identification of beneficial microorganisms and microbiome signatures associated with healthy rice fields using high‑throughput sequencing and advanced bioinformatics; (iii) Discovery, characterization and evaluation of indigenous bacterial biocontrol organisms capable of suppressing rice grain rot.

The successful candidate will apply a broad spectrum of state‑of‑the‑art techniques, including microbial isolation and culturing, plant infection assays, microbiome sequencing and analysis, whole‑genome sequencing, comparative genomics and genome mining, qPCR method development, and applied bioinformatics.

• holds a Master's degree in Engineering Technology, Bioscience Engineering, or a related discipline.
• has a strong interest in plant‑microbe interactions, microbiome analysis, comparative genomics, and sustainable agriculture.
• enjoys combining laboratory research with computational data analysis.
• is eager to collaborate within an international multidisciplinary research consortium.
• is willing to present research at international conferences and publish in leading scientific journals.
• is enthusiastic about supporting teaching activities and supervising Bachelor and Master students.
• is proactive, creative, solution‑oriented and able to work independently while functioning well within a team.
• is well‑organized, flexible, critical‑thinking and not afraid to take initiative.
• can work independently, but also has good teamwork skills.
• thinks in solutions, not in problems.
• has an excellent command of English (spoken and written).
• is eager to apply for an independent fellowship with the support of the PIs.

We offer a fully funded four‑year PhD position (initial one‑year appointment, renewable up to four years following positive evaluation) at one of Europe's leading research universities. The candidate will join a dynamic and internationally recognized research group with extensive expertise in microbiome analysis, biological control, molecular microbiology, and next‑generation sequencing. Access to state‑of‑the‑art molecular biology and sequencing facilities, opportunities to perform international research visits and collaborate with researchers in Belgium and Vietnam, and support to participate in international conferences and publish scientific research are provided.

For more information please contact Prof. Hans Rediers ().