PhD position: Industrial Biotechnology/Bioeconomy 1423 views

Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres has open vacancy for a PhD student in Industrial Biotechnology / Bioeconomy. The Doctoral degree will conferred by RWTH Aachen University.

About the position:

• The project aims at developing potential biorefinery processes for selected organic acids based on two engineered model organisms.
• The selected candidate’s work will focus on the characterization of existing producer strains toward their conversion efficiency for different industrially relevant feedstocks (including waste streams such as molasses, crude glycerol and black liquor).
• The PhD student will work closely together with colleagues from metabolic engineering as well as down-stream processing and the performance data obtained from your cultivation experiments will directly support further strain and process optimization.

Tasks and duties:

• Comparative characterization of engineered Ustilago and Corynebacterium strains using our Mini Pilot Plant technology
• Laboratory evolution experiments to improve growth on the most relevant feedstocks
• Support of further rational strain optimization based on the newly generated knowledge
• Optimization and scale-up of selected production processes in lab-scale bioreactors
• Participation in conferences in Germany and abroad (incl. presenting your research results)
• Exchange with internal and external project partners
• Preparing scientific publications and project reports
• Mentoring students

Requirements:

• Applicant must hold Master’s degree in Biotechnology, Bioengineering, Chemistry, Biochemistry or comparable disciplines, with an overall grade of at least “gut” (or equivalent, e.g. cum laude).
• Expertise in microbial cultivation technology and bioprocess development and basic knowledge on metabolism of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms.
• Experience in mathematical modelling is an advantage.
• Applicant must possess fluency in written and spoken English.

How to apply:

Apply online