Postdoc in protein production

Information about the research and the division
The food sector accounts for around 30% of the world’s total energy consumption and food production is one of the largest sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, where cheese is one of the foods causing highest emissions. In this project, the ultimate goal is to develop a milk-free alternative to cheese and other dairy products, from plant-based raw material, by biotechnologically produced milk proteins. This way the current resource-inefficiency in production can be tackled which will lead to significantly reduced energy need and GHG emissions, a preliminary LCA analysis indicates savings of up to 90%.

The Postdoc position is placed at the Division of Industrial Biotechnology within the Department of Biology and Biological Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. The Industrial Biotechnology group is a young, dynamic and international group of researchers established in 2008 and counts now around 45 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 materials within the main concept of biorefinery. The research performed within the group spans from fundamental research, technology development and lab-scale application: this ensures deep knowledge of the studied systems, leading to rational development and optimization of the respective applications. The research fields include production of different biocommodities and chemicals and enzymatic refining of biomass as well as bioelectrochemical systems.

The research project consists of industrial research for Cirkulär AB, a start-up for sustainable production of milk proteins. The project is funded by the Energy Agency and is a collaboration with the group of Biotechnology and the group of Environmental and Energy Systems Studies at Lund University.  The work is done in close collaboration with researchers at Cirkulär AB and at Lund University.

Major responsibilities
The main task for you as a postdoc will be to construct cell factories for production of milk proteins. Both yeast (Pichia pastoris) and filamentous fungi (Trichoderma and Aspergillus) are used as production hosts and the work involves implementation of state-of-the art genome engineering tools (CRISPRS/Cas9) for strain development and high-throughput methodologies for strain characterization. The developed cell factories will be used for protein production in bioreactors (at Lund University) and the optimization of the production host in line with the design-build-test-learn cycle is envisioned. The environmental impact of the production will be analyzed through LCA and guide the optimization.

Responsibilities and tasks:
• Design and construction of fungal cell factories for protein production
• Use and implementation of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing technologies, development & optimization of experimental workflows
• Development of screening procedures for strain evaluation and performing (high-throughput) strain testing
• Protein expression studies through e.g. fluorescence microscopy, immunoblotting, protein purification & characterization
• Preparation of technical reports, protocols and presentations as well as participating in writing scientific publications
• Collaboration with researchers in the project consortia as well as at the division of Industrial Biotechnology at Chalmers

Position summary
The position is for 1 year, a full-time, temporary employment.

Qualifications
You must hold a PhD degree in Biotechnology/Bioengineering, Synthetic, Systems or Molecular Biology, Microbiology or other related disciplines. You have a vast knowledge and hands-on experience with molecular biology and genome editing (using CRISPR/Cas9) of yeast or filamentous fungi, preferably both. Furthermore, some knowledge in bioinformatics and some experience in high-throughput strain evaluation is required. Previous experience in protein production is a strong merit. Experience with handling high-throughput experimental data, analytics or enzymology is also meritorious.

Most importantly, you are self-motivated, enthusiastic, dedicated and creative. You should be comfortable with working in the dynamic environment of a start-up company, troubleshooting challenges and meeting tight deadlines. Industrial experience is a strong merit.

To be successful in this position, you need to be well-organized and able to drive and conclude projects independently, take own initiatives, discuss/develop own ideas and enjoy solving problems. The project is in collaboration with other researchers, both at Lund University and Cirkulär AB, thus excellent cooperation and social abilities are highly important.

Good communication skills in English are required. The successful candidate will have a good academic track record and have published first authored papers in internationally recognized peer-reviewed journals.

The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in English. Swedish is not a requirement, but Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

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

Our offer to you
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the dynamic city of Gothenburg. 
Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.

About the application procedure, read more here