PhD in Agronomy

The research groups of Prof. Dries Vandeweyer (Insect Production and Processing (IP&P), Dept. of Microbial and Molecular Systems) and Prof. Johan Ceusters (Sustainable Crop Production and Protection (SusCroPP), Dept. of Biosystems) are looking for a PhD student to conduct research on black soldier fly (BSF) frass quality, safety and application in plant production at KU Leuven Geel Campus./nThe project will investigate how rearing substrates and processing (heat treatment, acid/base extraction, pyrolysis) shape microbiological characteristics, agronomic performance, and commercial potential of processed frass. Research integrates: application of processed frass in controlled cultivation of food and ornamental crops; characterisation of plant specific commercial benefits; microbiological safety assessments in relation to EU Regulation 2021/1925; and microbial dynamics across substrate, frass, processed frass and plant trials using culture dependent analyses and culture independent sequencing (16S/ITS)./nThe PhD research will be conducted within IP&P and SusCroPP, leading to scientific publications and a doctoral dissertation to be defended at the Faculty of Engineering Technology at KU Leuven.