"Senior Research Associate: Plant-fungal-soil interactions"

Lancaster University - Lancaster Environment Centre

Location:	Bailrigg
Salary:	£39,906 to £46,049 per annum
Hours:	Full Time
Contract Type:	Fixed-Term/Contract

Placed On: 17th February 2026

Closes: 31st March 2026

Job Ref: 0085-26

Interview Date: Friday 24 April 2026

Recent discoveries have revealed that grassland plants form symbioses with a much broader range of fungi than previously thought, notably Mucoromycotina ‘fine root endophytes’ (MFRE), which co-occur alongside more commonly described arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi.

This exciting project seeks to disentangle the roles of both MFRE and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in providing key ecosystem functions and resilience to grasslands. The project will use a suite a cutting-edge technologies (e.g. stable isotope tracers) applied to field, greenhouse and laboratory experiments to advance our understanding of the diversity and function of these ‘hidden’ root-associated fungal networks. The Senior Research Associate, together with an associated technician and a PhD student, will be based at Lancaster University within the research group led by Prof David Johnson, in the newly formed Centre for Sustainable soils. The project is as part of a prestigious Royal Society Faraday Discovery Fellowship led by Prof Katie Field at the University of Sheffield and in collaboration with Silvia Pressel at the Natural History Museum in London, offering superb opportunities for training and development, and interaction with a large team of scientists across institutions.

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Please note: unless specified otherwise in the advert, all advertised roles are UK based.