Post-doctoral fellow in Physical Chemistry

Subject description

Proteins from pea seeds are a promising source for alternative food proteins, with the potential to make our nutrition more sustainable and healthy. In this context, it is of high relevance to understand how these proteins are digested. In particular, the structural pathway of protein digestion governs not only the digestibility and resulting nutritional profile, but also determines allergenicity of proteins. This project aims to obtain a more detailed understanding of the digestion process by using advanced scattering methods.

The postdoctoral researcher will be part of a collaborative network of students and researchers at the division of Physical Chemistry (http://www.physchem.lu.se) at Lund University.

Work duties

The central aim will be to comprehensively characterize structural breakdown of pea proteins during in-vitro digestion. The specific tasks span from laboratory practices (preparation of an in-vitro digestion scheme for extracted pea proteins, characterization using size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) and gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE); biochemical assays) to advanced structural analysis using small X-ray scattering (laboratory SAXS, time-resolved SAXS, SEC-SAXS).

In particular, an important part will be preparation and conductance of experimental campaigns at synchrotron facilities such as MAX IV (Lund), DESY/EMBL (Hamburg, Germany), and ESRF (Grenoble, France), the establishment of a suitable data analysis framework (python-based) targeted at the measured big data sets, and subsequent scientific analysis and interpretation.

The research group has a deep expertise and a strong track record with large-scale facility research at synchrotron and neutron facilities, such as MAX IV and ESS in Lund. The postdoctoral researcher will have the opportunity to experience these unique and world-leading scientific environments during experimental campaigns, and strengthen general soft skills by co-managing these team-based experimental campaigns and writing competitive proposals for measurement time. The research project will develop expertise in data analysis and scientific computing as a key skill in the era of big data sets.

The work will be performed in a team of PhD and project students, postdoctoral researchers and the supervisor, focused on the optimization of protein extraction for subsequent tunable formation of protein gels. We aim for an interactive and team-based research program, in which each member is encouraged to actively contribute with ideas and competence to a common scientific progress. The postdoctoral researcher will have the opportunity to participate in national and international workshops and conferences - not only to present and disseminate the research, but also to strengthen the personal network with other researchers and collaborators.

We aim for the postdoctoral researcher to grow as an active and independent researcher at the interdisciplinary boundary between biological and soft matter and synchrotron science.

The main duties involved in a post-doctoral posistion is to conduct research. Teaching may also be included, but up to no more than 20% of working hours. The position shall include the opportunity for three weeks of training in higher education teaching and learning.

Qualification requirements

Appointment to a post-doctoral position requires that the applicant has a PhD, or an international degree deemed equivalent to a PhD, within the subject of the position, completed no more than three years before the date of employment decision. Under special circumstances, the doctoral degree can have been completed earlier.

Additional requirements:

• Very good oral and written proficiency in English.
• Good knowledge and skills relevant to the work duties.
• Ability to work independently and to formulate and tackle research problems.

Assessment criteria and other qualifications

This is a career development position primarily focused on research. The position is intended as an initial step in a career, and the assessment of the applicants will primarily be based on their research qualifications and potential as researchers.

Particular emphasis will be placed on research skills within the subject.

For appointments to a post-doctoral position, the following shall form the assessment criteria:

• A good ability to develop and conduct high quality research.
• Teaching skills.

Additional assessment criteria:

• practical experience with laboratory and synchrotron SAXS experiments
• experience with time-resolved SAXS and SEC-SAXS
• experience with data analysis of larger data sets on structural data
• experience with scientific scripting (e.g. python, matlab)
• experience with optical and fluorescence microscopy
• solid knowledge on laboratory techniques such as SEC, SDS-PAGE, and rheology
• good general experience in chemistry laboratory practices
• motivation and documented ability to actively contribute to an interdisciplinary and international research environment in the core research group as well as outgoing collaborations are a merit.

Consideration will also be given to good collaborative skills, drive and independence, and how the applicant’s experience and skills complement and strengthen ongoing research within the department, and how they stand to contribute to its future development.

Terms of employment

This is a full-time, fixed-term employment of 3 years. The period of employment is determined in accordance with the agreement “Avtal om tidsbegränsad anställning som postdoktor” (“Agreement on fixed-term employment as a post-doctoral fellow”) between Lund University, SACO-S and OFR/S, dated 1st February 2022.

Instructions on how to apply

Applications shall be written in English and be compiled into a PDF-file containing:

• résumé/CV, including a list of publications,
• a general description of past research and future research interests (no more than three pages),
• contact information of at least two references,
• copy of the doctoral degree certificate, and other certificates/grades that you wish to be considered.