Are you eager to contribute to the story of food security, sustainable nutrition, and the protein transition to aquatic proteins? Do you believe seaweed will play a crucial role in future human nutrition? Would you also like to contribute to the further development of extraction methods for high-quality proteins, and help develop new food products based on them (including meat substitutes). Then this job is for you!

A PhD position is open as part of the SuproSea project, a collaboration between ILVO, UGent, UAntwerpen, and Bio Base Europe (BBE). This project aims to explore the potential of proteins derived from local seaweeds for food applications. Local seaweeds will be cultivated to optimize protein composition. Seaweed biomass will undergo processing, and innovative extraction methods will be evaluated to obtain high-quality proteins. These proteins will be characterized for their composition, techno-functional properties and digestibility and used in the development of various food applications.

You will work at different locations (i.e. Melle and Ostend) and in different working environments (lab, food pilot, and occasionally in seaweed cultivation pilot environment).

What does your job looks like?

• Seaweeds will be pretreated with innovative techniques (PEF, microwave, HPH, beadmilling)
• You use different innovative methods for efficient protein extraction
• You characterise the obtained proteins - composition, digestibility, technofunctional properties
• You develop different food formulations (e.g. meat substitutes)
• You initially work on a laboratory scale and use this knowledge for upscaling to pilot scale
• You process your results and publish in scientific journals
• You present your results during consortium meetings.

Your Profile

• You have a master degree in Bioengineering, Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology or equivalent. Students who will graduate in 2024 may also apply
• If you have a foreign diploma, you are asked to obtain equivalence recognition. You can apply for this at NARIC Vlaanderen
• You meet the generic conditions to carry out a PhD Doctoral grants: requirements and regulations - ILVO Vlaanderen
• You speak and write English fluently
• You have experience with lab-scale work
• You have experience with upscaling

How to apply?

You can apply online via “Jobs - ILVO Vlaanderen” and this at the latest until 01/09/2024 . If you cannot apply online, you can request the application form via personeel@ilvo.vlaanderen.be.

The following documents are uploaded as 1 pdf file:

• Motivation letter
• CV
• Copy of diploma
• Overview of your study results