Phd Student Within Wwsc: Enzymes For Biomass Valorisation
Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB / Högskolejobb / Göteborg
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hela Sverige Visa alla jobb hos Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB i Göteborg Wood can be an excellent source for new and innovative material. Do you want work with enzymes, discover new ones and explore how they can contribute to sustainable production of material from wood? The project will focus on discover and exploring enzymes for wood tailoring coupled to functionalization of wood polymers and valorization of wood derived molecules. A cornerstone in the research will be to understand the wood and the effect enzymatic action have on it.
Information about the Wallenberg Wood Science Center
Wallenberg Wood Science Center (WWSC) is a research center striving for scientific excellence with a focus on new materials from trees. The center creates knowledge and builds competence for an innovative and sustainable future value creation from forest raw materials. WWSC is a multidisciplinary collaboration between KTH, Chalmers, and Linköping University. The base is a donation from Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, and the forest industry is supporting WWSC via the national platform Treesearch.
In this WWSC project, our goal is to discover enzymes that can be used for wood decoupling and tailoring of wood polymers and wood-derived molecules. Novel enzymes will produced and used in the project. By applying characterization methodology of both the structure and the chemistry of the wood-derived streams, we can both identify how the enzyme act on the wood and understand their application potential. We will build on our previous work on understanding the action and diversity of LPMOs and cutinases, to explore their action on wood-derived streams. Furthermore, we will build deeper knowledge on their action on real process streams. LPMO will be evaluated for their efficiency in oxidative cleavage of cellulose and hemicellulose and for functionalization. Cutinases will be applied for release of valuable fatty acids from bark.
The project involves molecular biology to clone and heterologously express genes of interest, protein production and purification, and detailed biochemical characterization of identified enzymes, including determination of substrate specificities using wood derived streams. Detailed structural and chemical characterization of the wood-derived streams will be an integrated part of the project. The project will also involve various systems biology approaches to identify new interesting enzymes to study. WWSC provides a network for collaboration with other researchers that are experts in different areas.
Information about the division
The project will be carried out at the Division of Industrial Biotechnology with Professor Lisbeth Olsson as main supervisor. IndBio is an interdisciplinary and highly international group of researchers which currently consists of around 40 members. The research in the division revolves around microbiology and fermentation, enzymology, and molecular biology, with a general focus of using renewable raw materials for the sustainable production of fuels, chemicals and materials. We work with a purpose of contributing to a sustainable society and circular economy. A large variety of scientific instruments are available in our shared laboratory facilities, and in addition several core facilities are available at the university and its close vicinity. The Department of Biology and Biological Engineering (BIO) includes three additional research divisions with additional expertise and accessible lab infrastructure.
Major responsibilities
As a PhD student, you will be responsible for the daily management of your research project, including planning, performing experiments and critically analyzing your results. The laboratory work includes microbiology, cloning, protein production and purification, enzymology, analysis of enzyme action on biomass and systems biology analysis. You will be expected to communicate your results in different settings, from meetings with supervisors and collaborators, to presentations at the research division and at international conferences. Additionally, you will be expected to develop your scientific writing skills by authoring articles for publication in scientific journals. As a member of the Wallenberg Wood Science Center you will also have the opportunity to participate in the Wallenberg Wood Science Center Academy courses and activities, which take place at different locations in Sweden and the Nordic Countries.
You will also be expected to teach on Chalmers' undergraduate level courses or performing other departmental duties, up to 20% of working hours, and attend courses both in subjects directly related to your research and in general transferable skills such as project management, teaching, and scientific writing. At the Division level, you will take part in the general maintenance of instruments and will have the opportunity to supervise MSc and BSc students.
Qualifications
To qualify as a PhD student, you must have a master's level degree corresponding to at least 240 higher education credits in a relevant field (Systems biology, Biotechnology, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Biological Egineering or similar). Laboratory experience of work with microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biotechnology and analytical chemistry techniques and fluency in verbal and written English are mandatory.
Demonstrated skills in molecular biology, microbiology and microbiological cultivation techniques, protein production and purification, enzymology, and/or plant cell wall structure and chemistry are meritorious. We are looking for a creative person that can put new ideas into practice, both independently and together with a team.
The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in English. If Swedish is not your native language, Chalmers offers Swedish courses.
Contract terms
Full-time temporary employment. The position is limited to a maximum of 5 years.
Application procedure
Read more and apply here.
Application deadline: August 31, 2023
The selection process is on-going and the call will close when we found the right candidate and we therefore encourage interested candidates to apply as soon as possible.
For questions, please contact:
Professor Lisbeth Olsson, Industrial Biotechnology
Email:
lisbeth.olsson@chalmers.se Ersättning Lön enligt överenskommelse.
Så ansöker du Sista dag att ansöka är 2023-08-31
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Arbetsgivare Chalmers Tekniska Högskola AB (org.nr 556479-5598)
Jobbnummer 7947709
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