The Molecular Biology and Microbial Safety group of the Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS) is seeking for a PhD candidate who will work on production of alcohols and derivative chemicals from C1-waste gasses.

The PhD candidate will design (mixed culture) anaerobic fermentations combined with chemical conversion to produce specific, relevant, alcohols and various chemical derivatives such as aldehydes, diols and longer Guerbet) alcohols.

• Design and Test mixed cultures of homacetogenic and alcohol-producing Clostridia for specific production of C3-C8 alcohols from C1-gasses;
• combine fermentative alcohol production with chemical conversion to relevant compounds;
• up-scaling of production process to 100 L or more;
• develop downstream-processing for efficient extraction of chemicals from fermentation reactor;
• write 4 or more publications in refereed journals;
• present at least once a year art International meeting;
• collaborate with 2 other PhD students, in Wageningen, working on developing successful C1-utilizing cultures and on modelling C1-fermentation processes.   

• Master's degree in Microbiology;
• ability to write and present in English;
• experience with anaerobic bacteria is preferred;
• experience with controlled fermentations;
• affinity for chemical conversion.

The appointment will be on a temporary basis for a period of 4 years (initial appointment will be for a period of 18 months and after satisfactory evaluation it can be extended to a total duration of 4 years) and should lead to a dissertation (PhD thesis). An educational plan will be drafted that includes attendance of courses and (international) meetings. The PhD student is also expected to assist in teaching of undergraduates.

Based on a full-time appointment (38 hours per week) the gross monthly salary will range from €2,222 in the first year to €2,840 in the last year. The Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch is applicable.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences

The Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences (SILS) is one of the largest institutes of the Faculty of Science. Its approximately 250 scientists and staff members work in 14 research groups that perform excellent research centred on three themes:

1. Cell & Systems Biology;
2. Neurosciences, and
3. Molecular Life Sciences.

Within the Molecular Biology and Microbial Safety group of Prof. Brul, the Industrial Microbiology group of Prof. Hugenholtz investigates the use of microbial fermentation for biobased production of chemicals. In the context of a NWO funded project (in collaboration with the Wageningen University) we are seeking for a PhD candidate who will work on production of alcohols and derivative chemicals from C1-waste gasses.

http://sils.uva.nl/