About IRRI

The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is the world’s premier research organization dedicated to reducing poverty and hunger through rice science; improving the health and welfare of rice farmers and consumers; and protecting the rice-growing environment for future generations. IRRI is an independent, nonprofit, research and educational institute, founded in 1960 by the Ford and Rockefeller foundations with support from the Philippine government. The institute, headquartered in Los Baños, Philippines, has offices in 17 rice-growing countries in Asia and Africa, and over 1,000 staff.

Working with in-country partners, IRRI develops advanced rice varieties that yield more grain and better withstand pests and disease as well as flooding, drought, and other harmful effects of climate change.

Job Purpose

The Sustainable Impact Platform will deliver on key priorities if the IRRI Strategic Plan in the areas of Soil, Climate and Water, Adaptive Agronomy and Pest Ecology, Knowledge Tools, Livelihoods, Gender and Nutrition, Geospatial Science and Modeling and Mechanization and Postharvest.

This position will implement experiments under field and controlled conditions to meet standards of high-quality research on the analysis of risk factors for major rice diseases and improve existing models for simulating disease epidemics. Manage and analyze research data and contribute to writing reports/publications and presentations/posters for conferences and training workshops. Supervise and guide research technicians and assist PhD and MS scholars.

This position will be based at the IRRI Headquarters, Los Baños, Philippines and may only be filled by permanent citizens of the Philippines.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Implement research activities to meet standards of high-quality research related to the analysis of risk factors for leaf blast and neck blast
• Collect data from field and greenhouse experiments and perform preliminary statistical analyses to identify and quantify risk factors for leaf blast and neck blast
• Contribute to the improvement of existing models for simulating rice disease epidemics
• Collect data on the surveillance of bacterial blight and pathogens in farmers’ fields
• Manage collected data on risk factors of blast and bacterial blight
• Provide recommendations to improve the implementation of research activities and tasks performed by research technicians
• Coordinate and support NRS staff, PhD scholar, MS scholar and project consultant in the conduct of research activities
• Coordinate with required IRRI services to ensure smooth implementation of research activities
• Assist senior associate scientist and fellow research in the preparation of reports on research outputs in a timely manner
• Improve the protocol for field experiments on the analysis of risk factors for major rice diseases
• Assist in the writing of manuscripts for reports/publications and prepare presentations/posters for national and international conferences and training workshops
• Assist supervisor in organizing trainings and serve as facilitator or resource speaker as necessary

Qualifications: Bachelor of Science in Agriculture major in Plant Pathology or related field and 3 years of relevant work experience in rice pathology, crop protection or rice agronomy

Skills Required:

Mandatory:

• Proven technical proficiency in conducting field experiments specifically in lay outing, designing and maintenance of experimental plots according to treatments
• Must be able to analyze experimental data using descriptive statistics and basic statistics such as ANOVA, correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis

Preferred:

• Can identify major rice diseases and insect pests and their injuries
• Familiar with STAR and R
• Basic skills in writing technical reports or manuscripts

Source:https://www.irri.org/talentlink/details.html?id=Q7LFK026203F3VBQB79QWQWAS&nPostingID=1148&nPostingTargetID=2219&mask=irriext&lg=EN