PhD position Dry & Hybrid Fractionation for Plant-Based Ingredients

Do you have a masters degree in Food Technology or Food Science and hands-on mentality? Are you looking for a PhD position in which you can contribute to the development of next generation sustainable ingredient processing technologies? Do you have an interest in fractionation techniques to prepare healthy and functional plant-based ingredients? We have a PhD vacancy on dry and hybrid fractionation technology in the new Sustainable Plant Fractionation project. Will you join our team?

The Sustainable Plant Fractionation project is motivated by the urgent need to change traditional ways of extracting plant-based ingredients from crops. These are quite intensive in their use of energy and chemicals, do not have very high yields, and negatively impact the quality that was originally present in the plant tissues. Gentle processing offers solutions to this, and by using dry or gentle hybrid dry-wet separations, it is possible to have higher yields and simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% to 90% over the whole chain. At the same time, the fractions created still contain much more fibres and micronutrients, which may enable us to produce foods that fit better in a healthy diet. The plant-based ingredients obtained by gentle processing may show improved technical as well as nutritional functionality, which will enlarge their field of application.

As a PhD Dry & Hybrid Fractionation for Plant-Based Ingredients you will focus your research on the following:

• Explore and develop a dry fractionation route of dry barley malt and maize to make the overall beer brewing process more efficient and valorize side-streams;
• develop and scale-up a process for hybrid pulse fractionation using the combination of dry and aqueous fractionation. In this approach we aim at making medium to high purity native functional pulse protein ingredients;
• carry out post-processing of prepared ingredients in collaboration with the other PhD projects to further functionalize and/or enhance the health benefits of the gently refined ingredients.

You will work together with leading international companies in this project and will be communicating your findings which might inspire others by publishing in high-impact scientific journals, and by attending (inter)national conferences.

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• Sabbatical leave, study leave, and paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• the option to accrue additional holiday hours by working more, up to 40 hours per week;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed December bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.

The gross salary for the first year is € 2.395,- per month rising to € 3.061,- in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well.

Wageningen University & Research encourages internal advancement opportunities and mobility with an internal recruitment policy. There are plenty of options for personal initiative in a learning environment, and we provide excellent training opportunities. We are offering a unique position in an international environment with a pleasant and open working atmosphere.

You are going to work at the greenest and most innovative campus in Holland, and at a university that has been chosen as the Best University in the Netherlands for the 16th consecutive time.

Coming from abroad
Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. Applicants from abroad moving to the Netherlands may qualify for a special tax relief known as the 30% ruling. Our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family.

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research's International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees and students coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, we can assist you with any additional advice and information about helping your partner to find a job, housing, schooling, and other issues.

Wageningen University & Research
The mission of Wageningen University and Research is "To explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life". Under the banner Wageningen University & Research, Wageningen University and the specialised research institutes of the Wageningen Research Foundation have joined forces in contributing to finding solutions to important questions in the domain of healthy food and living environment.

With its roughly 30 branches, 6.500 employees and 12.500 students, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. An integrated approach to problems and the cooperation between various disciplines are at the heart of Wageningen's unique approach. WUR has been named Best Employer in the Education category for 2019-2020.

These are the points our employees list as good reasons to come work at WUR: read the 5 reasons to come work at WUR.

We will recruit for the vacancy ourselves, so no employment agencies please. However, sharing in your network is appreciated.