PhD student within development of biological drugs – probiotic formulation - Hiring in process/Finished, not possible to apply

Are you the PhD student in an innovative project on formulating probiotics to modulate the microbiota?

We are looking for a PhD student who want to take on the challenge of formulating probiotics to modulate the microbiota and has an interest in working in a developing and research-intensive environment. The section focuses on pharmaceuticals, foods, cosmetics and cleaning and conducts industry-funded research and development activities and grant-funded research

The project is a collaboration with the Department of Food Technology engineering and nutrition, Lund University of Technology (https://www.lth.se/english/), where you will be enrolled as a doctoral student. The project is part of the competence centre NextBioForm (www.nextbioform.se), which offers an innovative and exciting research environment. You will be based at RISE in Stockholm, but parts of the project may be located at different partners within NextBioForm. The supervision group will include RISE, LTH and industry. 

About the project
In the doctoral project you will study starch microspheres for encapsulation and delivery of probiotics. The manufacturing method and structure of the microspheres will be central. Furthermore, you will investigate the stability of probiotics in the microspheres and how they can be transported through the stomach to the lower intestine. The goal is to have an efficient encapsulation with high viability, and release into the lower intestine. Your doctoral work will include everything from participation in project planning, designing and planning experimental investigations, perform experiments, interpret the findings, and present them in publications.

The research subject Food and Formulation Engineering covers experimental and theoretical studies based on science and engineering aiming to address issues of relevance to the food and pharmaceutical industries, including aspects of production and consumption of food in society. Focus within this project will be on dairy technology and engineering.

Who are you?
As a person you are committed and like to drive projects forward, comfortable with high demands, and with a focus on solutions and opportunities rather than problems. Further, we prefer if you are detail- and goal-oriented and have excellent problem-solving skills. You should have an interest in and drive to solve technical problems, performing advanced experiments and a curiosity to understand how starch can be used to encapsulate probiotics. We value a strong intertest in probiotics and a patient centric perspective. We prioritize the group and our customers, so you should have a good ability to create relationships with project partners and colleagues. Further, you should act as the project manager for your doctoral project and have a high interest in working in a multi-disciplinary team.

We prefer if you have:

• Good knowledge in surface and colloid science, microbiology, protein science
• Experience laboratory work (in particular microbiology) and data analysis
• Oral and written communication skills in Swedish
• Interest for analytical methods

Requirements from us:

• You should have a university degree (Master) with an emphasis on, biotechnology, microbiology, pharmaceutical sciences or food technology.
• Good written and oral communication skills in English

The general admission requirements:

You meet the general admission requirements if you have been awarded a second-cycle qualification, or satisfied the requirements for courses comprising at least 240 credits of which at least 60 credits were awarded in the second cycle, or acquired substantially equivalent knowledge in some other way in Sweden or abroad.

To meet the specific admission requirements for third cycle studies in Food and Formulation Engineering you must have at least 60 credits in the subject of the third-cycle program, of which at least 30 credits are from second-cycle courses of relevance to the subject and 30 credits from a second-cycle degree project of relevance to the subject. Alternatively, an MSc in Engineering, a one-year master’s degree or other comparable degree of relevance to the field. 

Welcome with your application!
You are welcome to submit your application as soon as possible, as we make an ongoing selection. The closing date for applications is November 30, 2019.

For more information, please contact Per Wessman, Section manager, 010-516 6051, or Anna Fureby, Supervisor, tel: +46 10 516 6046.

PhD student, biological drugs, probiotic formulation, pharmaceutical industries, Stockholm, RISE