Research Associate (2 Vacancies)
ICRISAT seeks applications from Indian nationals for Research Associates for a project on ?Bihar Centre of Excellence for Millets Value Chain?. The position is a part of the Global Research Program ? Accelerated Crop Improvement. This position is based at ICRISAT Headquarters, Patancheru, Telangana, India.
ICRISAT is a non-profit, non-political organization that conducts agricultural research for development in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa with a wide array of partners throughout the world. Covering 6.5 million square kilometers of land in 55 countries, the semi - arid or dryland tropics has over 2 billion people and 644 million of these are the poorest of the poor. ICRISAT and its partners help empower these disadvantaged populations to overcome poverty, hunger and a degraded environment through better agricultural production systems.
ICRISAT is headquartered at Patancheru near Hyderabad, India, with two regional hubs and eight country offices in sub-Saharan Africa. ICRISAT envisions a prosperous, food-secure and resilient dryland tropics. Its mission is to reduce poverty, hunger, malnutrition and environmental degradation in the dryland tropics. ICRISAT conducts research on its mandate crops of chickpea, pigeonpea, groundnut, sorghum, pearl millet and finger millet in the arid and semi-arid tropics. The Institute focuses its work on the drylands and in protecting the environment. Tropical dryland areas are usually seen as resource-poor and perennially beset by shocks such as drought, thereby trapping dryland communities in poverty and hunger and making them dependent on external aid. Please visit - www.icrisat.org
Responsibilities:
Assist in the development and evaluation of hybrid parental lines/breeding lines/varieties/germplasm of different millet crops (pearl millet and other small-millets) for key traits in the breeding pipeline and identification of promising materials
Support in conducting the multi-location trials in Bihar state to evaluate the breeding materials and germplasm for stability of productivity and nutritional traits
Support in conducting the phenotyping of breeding materials and germplasm for biotic and abiotic stresses in the field and controlled environmental conditions
Assist in planning the use of promising breeding materials and germplasm identified for productivity traits (grain and forage), biotic and abiotic stresses, and nutritional traits for developing improved cultivars
Coordinating the monitoring of breeding nurseries / trials and seed production plots in Bihar state to identify stable and productive cultivars
Support in deploying the modern tools and techniques (speed breeding and genomic tools) in the breeding pipelines
Requirement:
Ph.D. in Plant Breeding / Plant Breeding & Genetics with a good academic record with at least 2 years of experience
Experience of working in millet crops is desirable
Experience in conducting field experiments and evaluating the germplasm and breeding lines for various traits is desirable
Sound knowledge of experimental designs and statistical analysis using different statistical packages
Excellent communication and computer skills, fluency in written and spoken English, and the ability to work independently in a multi-cultural environment
Candidate with a good quality publication record in peer-reviewed journals
Should have the aptitude to work collegially and collaboratively in diverse, multicultural environments
General:
This is a contractual role for a period of 36 months (3 years).
How to apply:
Applicants should apply on or before 21 March 2024, with their latest Resume, and the names and contact information of three references that are knowledgeable about their professional qualifications and work experience. All applications will be acknowledged; however, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.
ICRISAT is committed to the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion. We encourage applications from women and nationals of developing countries.