Ulva seaweed (farming, bio/chemistry) and The use of seaweed polysaccharides as plant elicitors

We are looking for two enthusiastic and committed PhD candidates to join our team at The University of Waikato (UoW), to commence between September 2025 and February 2026.  

The research will contribute to our cross-disciplinary multi-institutional research program, Seaweed polysaccharides: Structure/activity driven elicitor design for plant immunity, funded by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) under the Endeavour Research Programme scheme.

This exciting research program broadly aims to develop plant elicitors, low-impact crop protection products that activate the plants innate immune response, from ulvan polysaccharides extracted from Ulva seaweed produced at our land-based seaweed research farm in Tauranga.

Read more about the overarching Research Programme. 

Each PhD project will be co-developed with the successful candidate based on individual interests and skill, aligned with the broader context of the Research Programme.

• Position One will be based at the UoW Coastal Marine Field Station in Tauranga and will focus on the chemistry and/or biology of the green seaweed Ulva, depending on the successful candidates interests and skills. Key topics could include, for example, Ulva domestication and effects of cultivation conditions on biochemistry, ulvan biochemistry and chemometric modelling, or product development from residual biomass following ulvan extraction. The ideal candidate will have a background in chemistry, biology, metabolomics, or modelling. This candidate will be supervised by Dr Christopher Glasson and Dr Marie Magnusson, both at UoW, plus an additional supervisor to match the needs of the student and the final project.
• Position Two will be mainly based at Plant and Food Research (PFR), Ruakura Campus, Hamilton, and will focus on the effects of elicitor application to plants with specific topics depending on the successful candidates interests and skills. Key topics could include, for example, effects of elicitor application on the microbiome of soil and/or treated plants, changes in plant tolerance to environmental extremes including transcriptomics, or other metabolomics/transcriptomics. The ideal candidate will have a background in plant physiology/pathology or omics (metabolomics, transcriptomics).  This candidate will be supervised by Dr Joel Vanneste (PFR), Dr Christopher Glasson (UoW), and Dr Marie Magnusson (UoW), with potential for additional expertise to be recruited.

Location

1. University of Waikato, Coastal Marine Field Station, Tauranga, NZ (Position One)
2. Plant and Food Research, Ruakura, Hamilton, NZ (Position Two)

Scholarship Value

$35,000 per annum plus full fees covered