Working at NIOO

Why: Lake IJsselmeer is the largest freshwater body in the Netherlands and an important source of drinking water. Like other freshwater ecosystems, it experienced a peak in eutrophication during the 80s, after which nutrient loads began to decline (Frenken et al., 2023). Very little is known about the trophic history of Dutch freshwater ecosystems prior to the invention of synthetic fertilizer. To assess the success of water quality measures, restoration efforts, and set realistic targets, we need to reconstruct historical conditions using sediment cores.

Are you curious about the role that mycorrhizal fungi play in mediating plant invasions? We are seeking a motivated student to test how plant species change their mycorrhizal relationships from their native to non-native ranges.

The seed microbiome has gained increasing interest since it influences key aspects of plant life, including germination, seedling vigour, nutrient uptake, and tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses. However, the microbial functions and molecular mechanisms that link seed-associated microbes to seed and plant performance remain largely unknown.

Would you like to contribute to long-term research on great tits in a changing world, involving plenty of hands-on fieldwork? Then this is your chance! We are looking for motivated students for the upcoming breeding season in spring 2027

The aim of the proposed internship is to provide an as complete as possible literature overview of what is known about this topic for metazoans. You will also engage in trying to explore the possibilities for a meta-analysis.

Are you curious about the power of metabolomics in sustainable agriculture? We are seeking a
motivated student to join a project exploring the chemistry behind fungal potential to combat
Striga, a parasitic plant devastating sorghum and rice crops.

This research is part of the ClipsMicro (Climate proof soils by steering soil and residue microbiomes) project and aims to make Maize cultivation on sandy Dutch soils more sustainable and resilient by designing and testing a climate proof soils management strategy. We integrate cover crops with biological nitrification inhibition (WP 3) and clay-amended compost (WP 2). Here you can contribute to WP 2, focusing on the clay-amended compost research.

In this internship project, we will explore how newly developed software for image analysis based on state-of-the-art deeplearning methods may contribute to the analysis of zooplankton samples.

Are you excited about sustainable agriculture and soil and plant microbes? We are offering an internship focused on how recycled organic residues shape microbiome functions that promote plant growth. This project investigates the impact of microbial communities in nutrient cycling and plant development, aiming to enhance resource efficiency and sustainability in agriculture.

We hypothesize that the difficulties of long-term culturing of B. calyciflorus populations stems from the fact that food sources typically consist of just one single algal food source and we suspect that the biochemical content (e.g. sterols, amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins) of such food is too incomplete to ensure robust rotifer population growth. For this reason, we have selected a number of promising algal species that, when combined with each other, may provide a better food source. The idea is to test which algal combination is best in sustaining rotifer growth.

Are you ready to dive into the world of microbial ecology applied to agricultural research? Join us in the "ClipsMicro" project at the Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO) and play a crucial role in developing nature-based agricultural management strategies.

In this project, our primary focus will be on delving into the physiology of these less-researched yeast strains residing in the phyllosphere using computational tools, reconstruct a genome-scale metabolic model and predict carbon utilization.

Suitable for Master students for at least six months

Suitable for Master students for at least six months

Evidence is accumulating that epigenetic mechanisms can affect heritable phenotypic traits and thus, may play a role in plant adaptation. However, little is known about the magnitude and relevance of functional epi-allelic variation in natural plant populations.

Parasitoid wasps are known to exhibit two strategies for exploiting host resources during development. The first is for the parasitoid larvae to consume the entire host (such as a caterpillar) before pupation. However, some parasitoids consume only a small fraction of the host during development. In this case, the mature parasitoid larvae emerge through the sides of the still-living host and pupate on, or next to it. In some instances, the caterpillar may remain alive for up to two weeks after parasitoid pupation and remain very close to the parasitoid cocoons.

Rapid evolutionary adaptation is increasingly considered as an important mechanism allowing animals to adapt to a rapidly changing world. Our research has shown that rotifers, a type of very common freshwater zooplankton, are able to adapt to poor food quality or enhanced salt concentrations in not more than a few months. At this moment, we investigate how rotifers cope with combinations of stressors. More specifically, we run evolution experiments in the laboratory exposing populations to the metal Cu and high temperatures, with the aim to study how adaptation to one stressor impedes or enhances the response to the other stressor.