Fully Funded PhD Scholarships in Sustainable Crop Protection – University of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen’s Department of Plant & Environmental Sciences (PLEN) is awarding three fully funded PhD scholarships in Sustainable Crop Protection on September 1, 2025, or later. These are positions within the “One Crop Health” project, supported by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, to create sustainable solutions for protecting crops through integrating agricultural technology, ecology, data science, and robotics.​

Research Areas:

Utilizing Environmental DNA (eDNA) for Agro-Biodiversity Management:

  • This project aims to utilize eDNA from plant, soil, and air samples to track agro-biodiversity, comparing eDNA-based approaches with conventional field-based methods to determine the influence of environmental and management factors on biodiversity dynamics.

Effect of Functional Biodiversity on Weed-Insect Interactions:

  • Exploring the chemical defense in cereal crops against herbivores, this study correlates functional diversity of weed and arthropod assemblages in agroecosystems, evaluating how weed resources are exploited by arthropod predators.

Weed Seed Decay in Arable Soils:

  • Investigating the determinants of seed persistence and degradation in arable soils, this project employs field, glasshouse, and laboratory experiments to elucidate seed defense characteristics and the contribution of soil microbial communities to mediating seed decay.​

Eligibility Criteria:

Possess an MSc degree in the stipulated research areas with excellent performance.​

Shown interest in creating sustainable solutions for agri-food systems.​

English proficiency, with effective communication skills.

Motivation to publish research in international scientific journals.​

Application Process:

Applicants are required to provide the following documents:

A letter of application (not more than two pages) outlining the selected research project and expressing interest, experience, and motivation.​

Curriculum vitae, including educational qualification, experience, language ability, and other applicable qualifications.

Original diplomas for Bachelor of Science or Master of Science and transcript of records in the original language. An authorized English translation if the diploma is issued in a language other than English or Danish. If not yet completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted.​

Publication list (if available).

Reference letters (if available).

Application Deadline: April 29, 2025, 23:59 GMT +2.

Contact Information:

For further information regarding the PhD fellowships and the One Crop Health project. Please reach out to the One Crop Health project manager, Daniela Mutwil-Anderwald, on +45 3533 3257, [email protected], or the project leader, Paul Neve, on +45 2961 1199, [email protected].​

The University of Copenhagen welcomes applications from all qualified candidates, irrespective of personal background.

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