Postdoctoral position in Lactic acid bacteria physiology

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.
Information about the research group
The Industrial biotechnology group is a young, dynamic and international group, which was established in 2008 and counts now 30 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 and chemicals also 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 biofuels and chemicals via fermentation, microbial robustness, enzymatic refining of biomass, bioelectrochemical systems and algal biotechnology.  Research on lactic acid bacteria is in collaboration with an industrial partner and aims at understanding the critical factors that determine the fermentation performance and robusness of lactic acid bacteria during industrial fermentations.

Major responsibilities
The project that will be performed by the Post-doc will be fully financed by the Industrial Biotechnology group at Chalmers and will be in collaboration with an industrial partner with high interest in the research project.The aim of the research is to understand how specific fermentation conditions influence the robustness of lactic acid bacteria that are produced for starter cultures.The work will focus on the establishent of different fermentation processes, including continuous cultivations under specific conditions, and on the careful and deep analysis of the results obtained in terms of growth profiles, metabolomics and proteomics.

Your major responsibility as Post-Doc is to perform your own research in our research group. The position might also include supervision of master's and/or PhD students to a certain extent. Within the frame of the collaboration with an industrial partner, you will actively participate in meetings and your work will be, to a certain extent, subjected to confidentiality agreements.

Position summary
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of two years (1+1).

Qualifications
To qualify for the position as PostDoc, you must have a doctoral degree, generally not older than three years, in biotechnology, microbiology or other related disciplines. Experience in fermentation technology and lactic acid bacteria physiology is required.
University courses or equivalent in microbial metabolomics and  bioinformatics for multivariate data analysis are qualifying merits. 

You are expected to demonstrate good potential within research and education. Important qualities are enthusiasm, to be able to drive and conclude projects independently, take own initiative and discuss/develop own ideas, write well-formulated  reports, be creative and have a problem-solving ability, and to be a mature and loyal person also realising your own limitations. The project is in collaboration with an industrial partner:  good cooperation and respect of confidentiality issues are highly important.

The position requires fluent verbal and written communication skills in English. If Swedish is not your native language, Chalmers offers Swedish courses.

Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20140083 and written in English. The application should be sent electronically via Chalmers webpage.

Application deadline: March 31, 2014

For questions, please contact:
Valeria Mapelli, Project Leader Chemical and Biological Engineering, valeria.mapelli@chalmers.se




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