PhD student – Sustainable Biocontrol of Rice Grain Rot in Vietnam KU Leuven in United Kingdom

KU Leuven is offering a fully funded PhD position in Sustainable Biocontrol of Rice Grain Rot in Vietnam, hosted by the Laboratory for Process Microbial Ecology and Bioinspirational Management (PME&BIM) within the Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems at Campus Group T in Belgium. The project sits within the KU Leuven Plant Institute and focuses on developing innovative microbiome-assisted biological control strategies for a major rice disease in Southeast Asia.

The research addresses rice grain rot, a devastating disease mainly caused by Burkholderia glumae, which threatens rice production in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta. The project combines fundamental and applied science across three linked themes: characterization of pathogen isolates collected in the region; identification of beneficial microorganisms and microbiome signatures associated with healthy rice fields using high-throughput sequencing and advanced bioinformatics; and discovery, characterization, and evaluation of indigenous bacterial biocontrol organisms capable of suppressing the disease.

The successful PhD candidate will work with a broad toolkit that includes 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. The topic spans microbiology, microbial ecology, plant pathology, genomics, bioinformatics, and sustainable agriculture, with a clear aim of improving environmentally friendly crop protection and contributing to global food security.

The PhD will be carried out at KU Leuven in close collaboration with Can Tho University in Vietnam. The project is expected to lead to a KU Leuven PhD degree, multiple scientific publications, conference presentations, and interaction with academic and industrial stakeholders. The research environment is described as dynamic, interdisciplinary, internationally connected, and supportive, with access to state-of-the-art molecular biology and sequencing facilities and opportunities for international research visits.

Eligibility highlights include a Master’s degree in Engineering Technology, Bioscience Engineering, or a related field; a strong interest in plant-microbe interactions, microbiome analysis, comparative genomics, and sustainable agriculture; and the ability to combine wet-lab work with computational analysis. Applicants should also be motivated to contribute to teaching and student supervision, work well in a multidisciplinary team, and communicate effectively in English.

The position is fully funded for four years, starting with an initial one-year appointment renewable up to four years after positive evaluation. Applications should be submitted through the KU Leuven application system. Informal questions can be directed to Prof. Hans Rediers at hans.rediers@kuleuven.be.