Researcher Food product development using cultured cells

In this role, you will apply your strong knowledge on food ingredients and their functionality, as well as, advanced expertise in instrumental and sensory technique for assessing food product quality. For activities related to food product development, we are seeking for a motivated postdoctoral research to explore the use of cultured cells in meat products.

Your research will be part of the CRAFT project, coordinated by RespectFarm and funded by EIT Food. The project focuses on innovations in sustainable food systems.

Your duties and responsibilities include:

• Develop and optimize cell-based meat product prototypes
• Study the shelf-life stability and nutritional value of prototypes
• Assess prototype qualities using advanced instrumental analysis and sensory evaluation panel
• Collaborate closely with experts in cultured cell production and related disciplines
• Supervise BSc and/or MSc student projects
• Analyze experimental data and write high-quality deliverable reports for the project

Your team
You will work at Food Quality and Design group, which is a large multidisciplinary chair group. The vision of the group is that health, sustainability, and quality aspects of food products are fundamental "to explore the potential of nature to improve the quality of life", i.e. the mission of Wageningen University and Research.

The objectives of FQD are to develop new scientific knowledge on food design and quality management and to train future generations for positions at the boundary between food technology and other disciplines. Better understanding of protein digestion kinetics is one of the key research areas of FQD.

For this position we are looking for someone with a PhD degree in Food Science (or similar) and solid knowledge in biology and/or cellular agriculture. You have extensive working experience with textural properties of foods, including rheology and texture analysis

You also possess

• Proven ability to design, plan, and execute sensory studies
• Demonstrated experience of managing independent research project
• Strong motivation, hands-on approach and problem solving mindset
• Ability to collaborate effectively with experts from academia and industry
• Excellent communication skills and proficiency in English (both written and spoken)

Please note: are you motivated for this position, do you have a Master’s degree in food science (or related) but not a PhD in the field? We invite you to apply. The position can be adjusted accordingly, e.g. research assistant or similar. Please describe this in your motivation letter.

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

• sabbatical leave, study leave, and partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• 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 year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will of course receive a good salary. Depending on your experience, we offer a competitive gross salary of between €3382 and €5538 for a full-time working week of 38 hours, in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale 8-10). As for your contract, we initially offer a one-year contract that can be extended for the duration of the project (24 months) - if possible within (company) organizational circumstances - on good performance.

Wageningen University & Research offers plenty of opportunities for growth and development, with a strong internal recruitment policy and excellent training programmes.

You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment. For 20 consecutive years, we have been voted the "best university" in the Netherlands! A place to be proud of.

The mission of Wageningen University & 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, 7,600 employees (6,700 fte) and 13,100 students and over 150,000 participants to WUR’s Life Long Learning, Wageningen University & Research is one of the leading organisations in its domain. The unique Wageningen approach lies in its integrated approach to issues and the collaboration between different disciplines.

Read the 5 reasons why your future colleagues enjoy working at WUR and watch the video below to get an idea of our green campus!

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