Green forages for milk production

Applications are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Science and Technology, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Animal Science programme. The position is available from 1 August 2014 or later.

Title:

Green forages for milk production

Research area and project description:

Green forages as grasses and legumes are major in dairy cow nutrition, both as sole forages and as supplements to whole crops as maize silage. Both within grasses and legumes different types and varieties are used for dairy cows, but the use change over the years, and seldom different types are compared within trial. Most forage used for intensive milk production is conserved as silage. The value of forages for milk production depends mainly on their digestibility and their trait for cows feed intake, and on their protein content and protein quality.

The aim of this PhD project is to investigate feed intake and milk production when cows are fed different forage types sole or in mixes, and to assess the impact of degree of prewilting before ensiling on the protein value of silages.

The research will be done in research barns using both intact cows for assessing feed intake and milk production, and cows fistulated in the rumen and intestine for assessing the protein value. The PhD project will be part of the project ‘Optimal milk production using grass and legumes’.

Qualifications and specific competences:

Applicants to the PhD position must have a relevant Master’s degree in animal science.

Place of Employment and Place of Work:

The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is AU Foulum, Blichers Alle 20, DK-8830 Tjele, Denmark.

Contacts:

Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact:

Martin Riis Weisbjerg

Senior Scientist

Department of Animal Science, AU

Application procedures:

Before you apply:

Information and attachments:

Please be aware that you must have all relevant appendices, attachments, addresses for referees, etc. ready when you apply, as the entire application must be uploaded to the system in one go.

Documentation of language skills:

If English is a secondary language it is required that your English qualifications are documented. The English language requirement at Graduates School of Science and Technology is comparable to an “English B level” in the Danish upper secondary school (“gymnasium”).

English language qualifications comparable to an “English B level” is documented by one of the following tests:

·         TOEFL test, minimum score: 560 (paper-based test) or 83 (internet-based test)

·         IELTS (academic) test, minimum average score: 6.5 points

·         Cambridge ESOL Examinations:

Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency (CPE)

Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English (CAE)

When to take the test and how to upload the documentation:

The test result must not be more than two years old at the time of application.

The English language test should be taken before applying for admission and uploaded under “language skills documentation” in the online application form.

It is possible to apply for admission before you have taken the test. In this case documentation stating that you have signed up for a test (please state expected submission date) must be uploaded. If the test result is not part of the original application the test result is to be sent to sphd@psys.au.dkno later than one month after the application deadline.

The following applicants are exempted from documenting their English qualifications/taking a test:

·         Applicants from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, or one of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway or Sweden).

·         Applicants with a Bachelor’s or Master’s programme completed in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, or United States.

·         Applicants able to document that English was the language of instruction during their Bachelor’s and/or Master’s programme. This must be documented by uploading an official document from the institution stating this under “language skills documentation”.

The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.

How to apply:

1) Find the application form:

Go to http://talent.au.dk/phd/scienceandtechnology/opencalls/

Choose May 2014 Call with deadline 1 May 2014 at 11.59 PM MET.

You will be directed to the call, and must choose the programme 'Animal Science'

2) Fill in the following information:

·         Personal information

·         Academic background

·         Admission

·         Financing (if any)

·         Study: In the dropdown menu you must choose the project: " Green forages for milk production"

·         Source (how you found out about the call)

3) Application attachments:

Please be aware that you cannot submit the application if one or several of these documents have not been uploaded.

As a minimum you must upload the following application material (pdf-files only, max. 20 MB, no zip):

·         Reference letter (as a minimum 1 must be uploaded)

·         Curriculum vitae

·         Motivation (max. 1 page)

·         One merged file with scanned copies of diploma(s) and transcript(s) of records for all university degrees. Please include the original documents as well as a certified English translation, if the original is not in Scandinavian or English. Please enter your unweighted grade average calculated according to the national grading scale for BSc and MSc separately.

·         Project description (½-4 pages). For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. When - as here - you apply for a specific project, please simply copy the project description above, and upload it as a PDF in the application. If you wish to, you can indicate an URL where further information can be found. Please note that we reserve the right to remove scientific papers, large reports, theses and the like.

·         Documentation of language skills if required.

Please note:

The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.