Wageningen University & Research is hiring five PhD candidates and one postdoctoral researcher (each for 4 years, full-time employment) to become part of PIG-PARADIGM, a large international and multi-disciplinary project funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. In PIG-PARADIGM, researchers at the Laboratory of Microbiology, Host-Microbe Interactomics, Systems and Synthetic Biology and Wageningen Livestock Research join forces with teams at Aarhus University, the University of Copenhagen and Aalborg University in Denmark, and the University of California, Davis in the United States. With PIG-PARADIGM, we aim to decipher the interactions of the developing pig, its diet and its intestinal microbiome, as well as the effect of post-weaning stress on the functioning of the intestinal mucosa and susceptibility to infections. We want to turn that knowledge into new strategies for healthier pigs. In PIG-PARADIGM, we will investigate how members of the intestinal microbiome interact with each other and with the host intestine using advanced organoid-based models of the GI-tract, and whether changes in dietary composition or the environment can affect the intestinal microbiome so that less antibiotics are required. You will be integrated in an active team that is passionate about the role microbiomes play in the health and functioning of humans, animals and our environment.