Postdoc in Food Science and Technology

Job description

Food losses and waste (FLW) are serious threats to sustainable development, contributing to both global warming and huge economic losses. Waste streams frequently contain edible components that can be reintegrated into the food supply chain through safe processing, presenting an opportunity to increase food availability without additional strain on agricultural resources. The project will use agricultural by-products and transform these into plant-based food ingredients with improved functionalities and health effects.

We are looking for a Postdoctoral Research Scientist with a background in Food Science and Technology, with focus on plant-based ingredients, to join our team. The post-doc will develop new strategies to enhance the nutritional and health benefits of plant protein-based meat analogs via incorporation of valuable nutrients (i.e. dietary fibers, fats/lipids, vitamins and minerals) from various side streams.

The project is part of PLENTY - a Centre for a Symbiotic and Circular Food Provisioning, funded by Formas and will be implemented in collaboration with our industrial stakeholders. The candidate is expected to participate in all project activities, including research, meetings, dissemination of results, and guidance of master's students.

Main responsibilities:

• Evaluate, purify, and characterize novel food proteins from food side-streams.
• Processing of food protein side-streams into food products.
• Design and execute experiments to investigate the physico-chemical and functional properties of various food proteins. Data visualization and statistical analysis of experimental results
• Interpreting and communicating the findings to the other partners in the project.
• Write and publish scientific papers. 

What we offer

• A position at a leading technical university that generates knowledge and skills for a sustainable future
• Engaged and ambitious colleagues along with a creative, international and dynamic working environment
• Work in Stockholm, in close proximity to nature
• Guidance on relocating and settling in at KTH and in Sweden.
• The postdoc will be part of PLENTY - a Centre for a Symbiotic and Circular Food Provisioning, coordinated by KTH, with 5 academic partners and 20 external stakeholders, providing a vibrant network and a specific mentoring program for postdocs.
• The post-doc will be employed at the Department of Fibre and Polymer Technology at KTH

Read more about what it's like to work at KTH and our benefits.

Qualifications

Requirements

• A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree. This eligibility requirement must be met no later than the time the employment decision is made.
• A PhD in food science and technology, food processing, food chemistry, biochemistry, chemical engineering, chemistry, biology, or related fields.
• Written and verbal English language proficiency, as it is required in the daily work.

Preferred qualifications

• A doctoral degree or an equivalent foreign degree, obtained within the last three years prior to the application deadline
• Research experience in methods and equipment for processing of food and feed.
• Good understanding of food chemistry, structure and functionality.
• Experience in methods and equipment used to assess food protein physicochemical and functional properties.
• Demonstrated ability to conceive original ideas, articulate them clearly and design experiments to test them.
• Collaborative ability and desire to work with fellow scientists in the project. 
• Awareness of diversity and equal opportunity issues, with specific focus on gender.

Great emphasis will be placed on personal skills.

Trade union representatives

Contact information to trade union representatives.

To apply for the position

Log into KTH's recruitment system to apply for this position. You are responsible for ensuring that your application is complete according to the instructions in the ad.

The application must include:

• CV including relevant professional experience and knowledge.
• Copy of diplomas and grades from your previous university studies. Translations into English or Swedish if the original documents have not been issued in any of these languages.
• Brief account of why you want to apply for present project; describe on one page what you see are the main challenges of processing plant proteins for food.
• Brief account of your academic interests and how they relate to your previous studies and future goals. Maximally two pages long.
• Provide the contact information to three references.

Your complete application must be received at KTH no later than the last day of application, midnight CET/CEST (Central European Time/Central European Summer Time).

About the employment

The position offered is for, at the most, three years.

A position as a postdoctoral fellow is a time-limited qualified appointment focusing mainly on research, intended as a first career step after a dissertation.

Others

Striving towards gender equality, diversity and equal conditions is both a question of quality for KTH and a given part of our values.

For information about processing of personal data in the recruitment process.

It may be the case that a position at KTH is classified as a security-sensitive role in accordance with the Protective Security Act (2018:585). If this applies to the specific position, a security clearance will be conducted for the applicant in accordance with the same law with the applicant's consent. In such cases, a prerequisite for employment is that the applicant is approved following the security clearance.

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Disclaimer: In case of discrepancy between the Swedish original and the English translation of the job announcement, the Swedish version takes precedence.