PhD fellowship Fully Funded in Food Biotechnology at The University of Copenhagen in Denmark

The PhD position is part of a project funded by the Danish research council: ‘Realising the plant protein future: gentle seed deconstruction (Seedstruction)’.

Seedstruction will generate new knowledge required to identify novel bioinspired enzymatic technologies that combined with gentle flow/mixing will enable release of highly functional proteins from whole seeds with minimal requirements for purification, resulting in sustainable processes with reduced water and energy use.

The aim of the PhD position is to explore the potential to release and extract seed storage proteins in a mild, controlled, and sustainable way by using enzymatic methods inspired by the pea plant’s own mechanism to mobilise the storage proteins during germination. 

This involves 1) establishing enzymatic events and identify enzymes during germination using mass-spectrometry, 2) producing and characterising the identified enzymes in E. coli, 3) use combinations of the produced enzymes to release seed storage proteins from dry pea seeds and 4) explore the role of hydration and flow on enzymatic reactions and how these can be combined to facilitate access of the enzymes to the central part of the seeds, in particular in low water systems.

Specfic tasks for the PhD position in food biotechnology:

• Detailed mapping of germination events: identification of enzymes using mass-spectrometry and structural changes of cells and protein bodies using confocal microscopy.
• Cloning and production of selected enzymes in E. coli followed by biochemical characterisation.
• Enzymatic digestion of seed material and characterisation of released storage proteins.
• Exploring high density systems for enzymatic treatments of seed material.

Your application including all attachments must be in English and submitted electronically including a motivated letter of application (max. one page), your motivation for applying for the specific PhD project, curriculum vitae (CV) including information about your education, experience, language skills and other skills relevant for the position, original diplomas for Bachelor of Science or Master of Science and transcript of records in the original language, including an authorized English translation if issued in another language than English or Danish. If not completed, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor is accepted, publication list (if possible), reference letters (if available).

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