PhD Scholarship Opportunity| “Impacts of pasture species diversity and Nitrogen application strategy on nutrient losses from grazing systems”

PhD PhD Scholarship Opportunity| “Impacts of pasture species diversity and Nitrogen application strategy on nutrient losses from grazing systems”

Deadline:  27 September 2024

I. Background

As part of the management of simplified systems, monocultures of perennial ryegrass (PRG) have predominated in grazing swards. Recent evidence suggests that the overall utility (DM yield, quality and intake capacity) of swards incorporating additional plant species such as legumes and forbs are comparable with PRG only swards, require fewer chemical fertilizer applications and support enhanced animal performances at grazing.

Grass-legume mixtures such as ryegrass-clover swards have been reported to reduce chemical N requirements and increase sward quality and animal performance while plant species such as Chicory (Cichorium intybus L.) and Plantain (Plantago lanceolate L.) also have high forage productivity potential in

addition to additional sward complementarities such as increased Nitrogen (N) use efficiency, elevated soil Carbon sequestration and reduced Green House Gas emissions. Nonetheless, there has been limited data on the performance of intensively managed diverse pastures under longer term grazing systems and relatively low adoption at farm level.

The objective of this joint Teagasc, University College Cork and INRA collaborative research project is to compare the longer term performances of PRG only, PRG white clover and diverse multispecies swards on dairy system performance and nutrient efficiency and conservation within intensive multi- year pasture-based grazing systems. Of particular focus, the effects of sward type on Nitrogen (N) fixation and recovery and losses from each system will be quantified both to air and water.

The position is a 4 year structured full time PhD position with responsibility for data collection, collation and analysis and publishing findings at (inter)national conferences and industry meetings. It is envisaged that the successful graduate will begin in March to June 2025 and will be based at Teagasc Moorepark Research Centre, Fermoy, Co. Cork, Ireland under the supervision of Brendan Horan & Bridget Lynch (Teagasc), William Burchill (UCC) & Luc Delaby (INRA).

II. Requirements

  • The student must graduate with an honours degree in agriculture (or related discipline) and have a good knowledge of pasture-based dairy production systems.
  • The applicant should be ambitious, self-motivated and possess the ability to work effectively as part of a research team.
  • A minimum level of competency in English is required. Please see the following link HERE with regard to English Language requirements.
  • A full drivers licence is also required.

III. Award

  • The PhD scholarship is a joint research project between Teagasc, Animal and Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Moorepark and University College Cork (UCC; School of Biological Earth and Environmental Science).
  • The student will be based at Teagasc Moorepark and will be registered at UCC under the supervision of Dr Brendan Horan (Teagasc), Dr Bridget Lynch (Teagasc) and Dr William Burchill (UCC).
  • The scholarship funding is €25,000 per annum, plus a contribution to fees up to a maximum of €6,000 per annum and is tenable for 4 years.

IV. How to Apply?

Interested candidates should submit a CV and a letter of interest by email to Brendan Horan [email protected] or William Burchill [email protected]  in one single PDF document.

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