PhD Position – Linking Above-Ground Plant Function to Root Dynamics

id="offer-description" class="ecl-u-type-heading-2 ecl-u-mt-none ecl-u-mb-l">Offer Description Area of research: . PHD Thesis. Job description: PhD Position – Linking Above-Ground Plant Function to Root Dynamics . Plant roots are essential for water and nutrient acquisition and play a key role in how crops respond to environmental stress. Yet, because roots are hidden in the soil, their development and activity remain difficult to observe – particularly under field conditions. Advances in plant phenotyping, on the other hand, allow us to characterize above- and belowground plant structure and function with increasing temporal resolution. Physiological measurements provide information about photosynthetic carbon assimilation, while sensor-based phenotyping captures dynamic changes in plant growth and stress responses. To what extent can available above-ground traits be related to root structure and function?. At the Institute of Bio- and Geosciences – Plant Sciences (IBG-2) at Forschungszentrum Jülich, we are looking for a doctoral researcher to address this question within the PhenoRob – Robotics and Phenotyping for Sustainable Crop Production – research environment. Your Job . The aim of your PhD project is to relate root dynamics to above-ground physiological and phenotypical measures and traits. You will investigate how photosynthesis, carbon allocation, shoot development and root growth are connected over time and how these relationships change in response to environmenta