PhD Candidate in Harnessing the gut microbiome and maternal transmission to enhance pig welfare and performance Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries in Spain

PhD Candidate in Harnessing the gut microbiome and maternal transmission to enhance pig welfare and performance

This PhD opportunity is based at Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries (IRTA) in Spain and is part of the multidisciplinary ProBioPig project, funded by the Spanish State Research Agency and linked to the European Social Fund Plus. The project investigates microbial transmission and the modulation of the immune-gut-brain axis through microbial interventions to improve pig resilience, welfare, and performance.

The successful candidate will join Subproject 1, working with the Animal Breeding and Genetic and Animal Welfare teams across IRTA facilities in Torre Marimon (Caldes de Montbui, Barcelona) and Monells (Girona). The research focus is on how beneficial gut bacteria consortia can improve pig performance and welfare, and on how the maternal microbiome is transmitted to offspring and associated with behaviour, immunity, and multi-omics signatures.

Research activities include maintaining animal husbandry and experimental records, coordinating on-farm studies, handling pigs, collecting faecal, blood, and tissue samples, and supporting behavioural tests such as hierarchy, open field, spatial memory, and cognitive bias assays. The role also includes bioinformatic and statistical analysis of shotgun metagenomics, metaproteomics, and targeted metabolomics data, plus integration of microbiome, metabolome, metaproteome, and phenotypic datasets using multivariate and machine-learning approaches.

Supervision is provided by Dr. Yuliaxis Ramayo-Caldas and Dr. Antoni Dalmau Bueno, the co-principal investigators of the subproject.

Eligibility highlights: applicants should hold an MSc in Animal Welfare, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Microbiology, Biomedicine, or a related field; have experience in animal experimentation and handling, preferably with pigs or livestock; and demonstrate statistical/data analysis and bioinformatics skills in R and/or Python. Strong English, teamwork, adaptability, and willingness to work in farm conditions are important. Applicants must not already hold a PhD. Catalan and Spanish are advantageous.

Funding and benefits: this is a 4-year full-time doctoral contract. Salary is 23,322.09 EUR gross per year for the first three years and 26,325.47 EUR gross per year in the fourth year, paid in 14 instalments. The doctoral grant also provides up to 7,000 EUR to cover research stays and tuition fees for the four-year PhD programme. Additional conditions include a 37.5-hour week, remote work days, flexible scheduling, vacation and personal days, and professional development support.

Application deadline: 4 October 2026, 23:46 (Europe/Madrid). Selected candidates must provide proof of doctoral programme admission or enrolment at contract signing.