Assistant Professor in Plant cell wall enzymolog

The Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering promotes research and education for sustainable development, for improved health and quality of life. Our research ranges from natural science and bioscience, applied chemistry and biotechnology to chemical engineering. Our educational programs are characterized by technological solutions for improving people’s everyday life, and are continuously developed for meeting and promoting societal and industrial development.

We have approximately 400 employees, divided into five research divisions and one administrative unit. We are situated at campus Johanneberg.

Our department is characterized by stimulation of world leading research, in an environment where people develop and create new knowledge.

The position will be placed at the Industrial Biotechnology group.

Information about the research/the project/the department
The Industrial biotechnology group is a young, dynamic and international group, which was established in 2008 and counts now 32 members. The common denominator of the research activities in the group is to optimize the use of renewable raw materials for the sustainable production of fuels, chemicals and material also within the main concept of biorefinery. The research performed within the group spans from fundamental research to applications.The research fields include production of biofuels and chemicals via fermentation and enzymatic refining of biomass, bioelectrochemical systems, anaerobic digestion and algal biotechnology. We have a wel-equipped lab, strong international networ with academic and industrial collaborators.

The position is part of Wallenberg Wood Science Center. Wallenberg Wood Science Center is a research center on the topic of “New materials from trees”, with KTH and Chalmers as the major partners. About 60 researchers from different disciplines collaborate in a research environment of highest international standing. The program is on green processes and biobased materials and devices, for current and future industries.

Major responsibilities
The Assistant Professor of Plant cell wall enzymology will focus on discovery of enzymes that can act on plant cell wall material, characterise such enzymes and to use them for plants cell wall polymer decomposition and/or upgrading.

The candidate is expected to collaborate with two other newly hired Assistant Professors within a Biorefinery Cluster at Chalmers and to study the plant cell wall structure-enzyme relation of key material streams studied within the WWSC Program. We expect that the new Assistant Professor will use modern tools and have interest in further develop the necessary tool box to understand the action of plant cell wall acting enzymes. The candidate should be abe to contribute to teaching within enzymology and biorefineries.

Your primary duty as non-tenured assistant professor is to perform your own research, generally as a member of a research group. The position also includes teaching for about 20 per cent of your working hours, primarily on undergraduate and master's levels, as well as supervising PhD students to a certain extent. Another important aspect involves collaboration within academia and with society at large. The position is meritorious for future research duties within academia as well as industry/the public sector.

A Post Doc position will be associated to the Assistant Professor position.

Position summary
Your expected to define and develop a research program within the field of plant cell wall enzymology. This position requires very good interdisciplinary collaboration and network building skills since the candidate will be working in Biorefinery Cluster within Wallenberg Wood Science Center.

Full-time temporary employment for a maximum of four years. Progress will be assessed after two years. You are expected to achieve associate Professor expertise within four years.

Qualifications
To qualify for the position of non-tenured assistant professor, you must have a doctoral degree in biology, biological engineering, biochemistry or similar; the degree should generally not be older than five years. You are expected to be somewhat accustomed to teaching, and to demonstrate good potential within research and education.

The research experience needs to be within the field of the plant cell wall enzymology with expertise in at least one of the areas enzyme discovery, enzyme bioinformatics, enzyme biochemistry or enzyme technology. Post doc experience in a different subject than the PhD studies and experinece in attracting research funding is considered a merit.

The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in Swedish and English. If Swedish is not your native language, you should learn Swedish good enough to teach on undergraduate level in order to qualify for higher academic position afterwards. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Chalmers continuously strives to be an attractive employer. Equality and diversity are substantial foundations in all activities at Chalmers.

Application deadline: 2014-09-15

For questions, please contact:
Professor Lisbeth Olsson, lisbeth.olsson@chalmers.se,+46 31-772 3805
Ulf Carlson, Head of the department, ulf.carlsson@chalmers.se, +46 31-772 2870

*** Chalmers declines to consider all offers of further announcement publishing or other types of support for the recruiting process in connection with this position. ***