PhD position: Energy evaluation of feeds/ingredients for carnivorous fish

Your job

Do you want to investigate and compare energy metabolism of different carnivorous fish species? Are you interested in understanding why some carnivorous fish have a poor ability to utilize digested starch? Are you keen to develop novel fish feed evaluation systems and thereby stimulate circularity of aquaculture? Then we might have a position for you!

The Aquaculture and Fisheries group (AFI) at Wageningen University is looking for a PhD candidate to join them in the PPS-(TKI Agri & Food)-funded project ‘Stimulation of circular aquaculture: a novel method to evaluate energy of feed ingredients’. As a PhD candidate, you will experimentally study the energy metabolism of various carnivorous fish species (e.g., salmon, yellowtail kingfish, European seabass) to quantify their potential to use (digested) protein, fat and different type of carbohydrates for energy gain, which will form the basis to develop novel energy evaluation systems for fish.

The project is carried out by a consortium of Wageningen University, Wageningen Research and various industrial partners, including ingredient suppliers, aqua-feed-producers and fish farmers. Aquaculture has an important role in future food systems to supply fish, which is part of a healthy human diet. Though aquaculture has the potential to upgrade organic by-products, residual flows and novel ingredients, the development of a proper energy evaluation systems is a necessity to use these types of ingredients and make the transition from linear to circular food production. This project will develop a novel, up-to date energy evaluation systems of feed ingredients for relevant fish species, which enables the transition from linear to circular food systems by increasing the (re-)use of organic by-products, residual flows and novel ingredients in aqua-feeds and thereby reducing the feed food competition.

In this project 2 PhD positions are available, which are independent of each other. The current position focusses on carnivorous fish species. Energy metabolism is compared between carnivorous fish species, which should yield species specific net energy equations. Further topics addressed are: what are underlying reasons for the low utilization efficiency of starch in some fish? Can starch utilization be affected by mineral supplementation? What is the energetic value of different carbohydrates, such as chitin and glycogen as compared to starch? Do we need different energy evaluation systems for small versus big fish?

The experimental activities include running digestibility/balance trials with fish, doing lab analysis, calculations and statistical analysis of data.

The candidate is expected to finish the 4-year project by writing a PhD thesis that contains a series of scientific papers.

Your qualities

As the ideal candidate you:

• have a successfully completed MSc degree in aquaculture, biology, veterinary science,  animal science or a related field;
• show strong skills in nutritional studies (e.g., digestibility and balance studies) and elaborated knowledge of quantitative nutrition (preferable on fish);
• are experienced in doing lab analysis, data handling and statistical analysis.
• are willing to perform feeding trials with fish;
• have excellent English language proficiency (a minimum of CEFR C2 level). For more information about this proficiency level, please visit our special language page ;
• meet all the entry requirements of the WUR PhD programme .

We offer you

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment . A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• Partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional compensation / holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.

The gross salary for the first year is € 2.770 – per month rising to € 3.539,-  in the fourth year in according to the

Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU)

(scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.

There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the “Best University ” in the Netherlands for the 19th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees.

Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research’s International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling. For instance under the “30% rule”, certain categories of international staff can receive tax exemption on approximately 30% of their gross salary.

Do you want more information?

For more information about this position, please contact Johan Schrama, Associate Professor at the Aquaculture and Fisheries group by telephone +31(0)317 483371 or email: [email protected] .
For more information about the procedure, please contact Noorien Abbas, recruiter by e-mail: [email protected] or Eliene Veneberg-Boogaard, HR adviser by e-mail: [email protected] .

Do you want to apply?
You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval. Please only upload your latest CV and motivation / cover letter. No other documents are required at this stage.
This vacancy will be listed up to and including 24 January 2024. We scheduled the first job interviews on January 31st or February 1st , 2024. The selected candidate is expected to start as soon as possible.

Equal opportunities
Wageningen University & Research (WUR) employs a large number of people with very different backgrounds and qualities, who inspire and motivate each other. We want every talent to feel at home in our organisation and be offered the same career opportunities. We therefore especially welcome applications from people who are underrepresented at WUR. A good example of how WUR deals with inclusiveness can be read on the page working at WUR with a functional impairment .

We are

Wageningen University & Research
The mission of Wageningen University & Research is “To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life”. Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment.

With its roughly 30 branch­es, 7,200 employees (6,400 fte) and 13,200 students and over 150.000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.. An integrated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of Wageningen’s unique approach. WUR has been named Best Employer in the Education category for 2019-2020.

These are the points our employees list as good reasons to come work at WUR: read the 5 reasons to come work at WUR
We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.