SupervisoryTeam

Supervisor Photo

Daniel PLAZA-BONILLA

Supervisor Details

Email: daniel.plaza@udl.cat

Organization Type: University

Organization Name: Universitat de Lleida

Short Biography: Dr. Daniel Plaza-Bonilla (www.danielplazabonilla.eu) is a R3 certification-granted Ramón y Cajal fellow (from April 2020) in UdL. Has published 47 scientific JCR papers (37 as Q1), being first or senior author in 24. He was a former Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación, Juan de la Cierva-Formación and FPU fellow. Has an H-index of 24 (WoS). Currently, he is PI of two State Plan projects (GRAIN-SYST, Generación de Conocimiento call 2021; ECO-TRACE, Transición Ecológica y Digital call 2021), and was PI of the Spanish partner (UdL) in the EU project Legume-GAP (www.legumegap.eu) and one MAPA-FEADER national project (LegSapiens). He is PI of a contract with NESTE (FI), a multinational biofuels company. He was also responsible for attracting the ERA-NET Biodiversify (PRIMA call) project to UdL. When including the Ramón y Cajal grant DPB has attracted ca. 1000 k€ of competitive funding to UdL, for the last 4 years (2019-2022), as well as contracts with enterprises. He Associate Editor of Field Crops Research and Agronomy for Sustainable Development (both Q1), and Editorial committee member of Geoderma (Q1). Active project evaluator in international and national calls.

Co-Supervisor Photo

Santiago ALIAGA

Co-Supervisor Details

Email: s.aliaga@zyrcularfoods.com

Organization Type: Non-academic institution

Organization Name: Zyrcular Foods, S.L. (Vall Companys group)

Short Biography: Mr. Santiago ALIAGA is CEO of Zyrcular Foods, S.L. Controller business partner Grup Vall Companys. Associate Lecturer in UdL (Master degree in Accounting Auditing and Management Control). Member of PIMEC and of the Global Chartered Controller Institute. Degree in Business Management and Administration (Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Spain). Courses in IESE, ESADE, Harvard and San Telmo. Mr. Aliaga has long-lasting experience in staff development as well as group leading both in the agri- food industrial sector and the academia.

Added Value: Mr. Santi Aliaga, as CEO of Zyrcular Foods, SL is the leader of the “Del conreu a la taula” (From crop to table) project. This transversal project aims at promoting an agri-food plant protein value chain to contribute to diversifying and complementing the meat protein sector. Elian Barcelona SL (has recently acquired the former Cargill soy crush facility situated in Port de Barcelona), Semillas Batlle SA, Metalquímia SAU, Cooperativa d’Artesa and UdL are partners of the project, covering the entire local plant protein value chain. The leadership of the co-supervisor will provide a comprehensive industrial network to the PhD project. That will complement the expertise on the improvement of local production of plant protein but also the possibilities and bottle necks that this provides to the development of a value chain.

Other Co-Supervisor Photo

Marloes van Loon

Other Co-Supervisor

Email: marloes.vanloon@wur.nl

Organization Type: University or other type of organization

Organization Name: Wageningen University & Research, NL

Short Biography: Dr. Marloes van Loon Researcher, Wageningen University & Research, Plant Production System Group, Wageningen, The Netherlands (2016 – current) PhD thesis, Utrecht, The Netherlands (2016) How light competition between plants affects trait optimization and vegetation-atmosphere feedbacks. Teaching activities: Climate Smart Agriculture (2021 – 2023). Teacher computer practical’s crop growth model and tutor group work Cropping systems and knowledge of crops (2022 – 2023). Teacher on crop growth modelling and tutor group work Expert Academic Consultancy Training (2023). MSc student group work: To Soy or Not to Soy? An Assessment of Organic Soybean Cultivation Suitability in the Netherlands and Belgium Coach first years Biology students (2014 – 2015) Supervise bachelor students in study trajectory and in obtaining academic skills Supervision BSc, MSc thesis students (2011 – current) Trainings completed: supervising thesis candidates, start to teach

Added Value: Dr. van Loon has broad expertise on the use of models at large scales and yield gap analysis of key crops, including grain legumes. She is permanent researcher in Wageningen University & Research, one of the most prestigious institutions on Agricultural sciences in the globe. Both aspects will provide complementary skills to UdL supervisor, leading to strong synergies for PhD training. As well, her involvement will reinforce the networking skills of the student and will provide options for international mobility as, for instance, two PhD stages in WUR during the development of the thesis. Research, articles (e.g.): Van Loon MP, Alimagham S, Pronk A., Fodor N, Ion V, Kryvoshein O, Kryvobok O, et al. (2023) Grain legume production in Europe for food, feed and meat-substitution. Global Food Security Van Loon MP, Vonk WJ, Hijbeek R, van Ittersum MK, ten Berge HFM (2023) Circularity indicators and their relation with nutrient use efficiency in agriculture and food systems. Agricultural Systems 207 van Loon MP, Adjei-Nsiah S, Descheemaeker K, Akotsen-Mensah C, van Dijk M, Morley T, et al. (2019) Can yield variability be explained? Integrated assessment of maize yield gaps across smallholders in Ghana. Field Crops Research, 236, 132-144 13 van Loon MP, Deng N, Grassini P, Rattalino Edreira JI, Wolde-meskel E, Baijukya F, et al. (2018) Prospect for increasing grain legume crop production in East Africa. European Journal of Agronomy, 101, 140-148

ResearchGroup

Description: The Ramón y Cajal grant, awarded in 2020 has facilitated me the establishment of the young research team Sustainable cropping systems (SCS) I lead (www.danielplazabonilla.eu). Although the team performs activities with a high degree of independence we are integrated within the Consolidated research group Agricultural Biotechnology and Bioeconomy Unit (2021SGR01501) (Dr. Paul Christou). Besides me as PI, 4 PhD students, Master and Degree students and a part-time technician compose this team, most of it maintained with competitive funding I attract. SCS establishes collaborations with other UdL colleagues to enhance interdisciplinarity for competitive calls (e.g. Dr. Jorge Lampurlanés, CEFA; Dr. Montse Viladrich, DECOEMP; Dr. Mª Rosa Teira, DQFAS). European network: INRAE in France (Dr. Jay Ram Lamichhane, Dr. Etienne-Pascal Journet, Dr., Philippe Debaecke, Dr. Bruno Mary, Dr. Laure Hossard, Dr. Lionel Alletto, Dr. Marie Gosme, Dr. Joël Léonard) CIRAD (Dr. Éric Justes, Dr. Karim Barkaoui). ZALF in Germany (Dr. Moritz Reckling, Dr. Sonoko Bellingrath- Kimura). North American network: Agri-Food Canada (Dr. Yantai Gan), University of Minnesota (Dr. Rodney –Rod– Venterea). Mediterranean network: Dr. Mourad Latati (ENSA, Algeria), Dr. Christos Dordas (AUTH, Greece), Dr. Adolfo Rosati (CREA, Italy), Dr. Sergio Saia (Uni Pisa, Italy). Non-academic partners: Aigües del Segarra- Garrigues, Explotaciones Ag. San Miguel, Semillas Batlle S.A., Zyrcular Foods, Cerescamp SL, Jolbertal SL, etc.

ResearchLine

Description: Plant protein production in the Mediterranean area to mitigate climate change: a large-scale modelling approach Cereals are the predominant crops in the Mediterranean basin. Their productivity is based on the use of large amounts of nitrogen fertilizers, leading to GHG emissions into the atmosphere and significant C footprint. The objective of this PhD project is to generate novel knowledge in the mitigation and adaptation to climate change in Mediterranean agricultural production through a multi-scale strategy based on the diversification of agricultural systems with legumes. Legumes are capable of fixing atmospheric nitrogen in symbiosis with bacteria, therefore providing protein to the human diet with a low environmental footprint. In this project the feasibility and limiting factors of legumes production will be upscalled to large representative agricultural surfaces of the Mediterranean basin. The different edaphic, climatic and management characteristics will be accounted by modeling with STICS, a deterministic and process- based soil-plant simulation model.

CareerDevelopment

Objectives

  • Increased employability in the non-academic sector
  • International mobility
  • Building collaborative networks
  • Application of postdoctoral grants (MSCA, Juan de la Cierva, etc.)
  • Application for projects and funding (Horizon Europe, national plans, etc.)
  • Involvement in teaching, supervision, or mentoring

Expected Outputs

  • PhD defense
  • Application of grants (MSCA, Juan de la Cierva, etc.)
  • Publication of articles
  • Developing new products, solutions, or services
  • Attendance to international conferences

Training Skills

  • Project Management
  • Time Management
  • Grant Writing
  • Communication to the civil society and public engagement
  • Ethics and Research Integrity
  • Teaching
  • Supervision
  • Research Valorization
  • Leadership
  • Training for job interviews, CV writing
  • Spanish
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