Doctoral Researchers to our EPSRC funded Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) PhD studentships for Sustainable production of high-value compounds using cyanobacteria

 Sustainable production of high-value compounds using cyanobacteria

We are recruiting new Doctoral Researchers to our EPSRC funded Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP) PhD studentships starting 1 October 2024. Applications are invited for the project title Sustainable production of high-value compounds using cyanobacteria. Successful applicants will receive an annual stipend (bursary) of £21,237, including inner London weighting, plus payment of their full-time home tuition fees for a period of 42 months (3.5 years).

You should be eligible for home (UK) tuition fees there are a very limited number (no more than three) of studentships available to overseas applicants, including EU nationals, who meet the academic entry criteria including English Language proficiency.

You will join the internationally recognised researchers in the Department of Chemical Engineering research and PhD programmes | Brunel University London

The Project

There is increasing need for sustainable production technologies to produce the diverse range of compounds society relies on. Biotechnology is increasingly emerging as a way of sustainably producing key compounds. The use of photosynthetic microorganisms like cyanobacteria is especially interesting in this regard as the major feedstocks are light and carbon dioxide which offers the potential for highly sustainable production technologies.

This project will focus on the development of novel processes for the production of high-value compounds (e.g. carotenoid pigments, vitamins, nutraceuticals and cosmetic ingredients) using cyanobacteria. Areas to be explored can include strain screening and development, process optimisation and scale-up, downstream processing and techno-economic analysis.

Please contact Dr Dale McClure at dale.mcclure@brunel.ac.uk for an informal discussion about the studentships.

Eligibility

Applicants will have or be expected to receive a first or upper-second class honours degree in an Chemical Engineering or Biotechnology or a similar discipline. A Postgraduate Masters degree is not required but may be an advantage.

Skills and Experience

Applicants will be required to demonstrate the following skills;

• Skills and experience in working in a laboratory environment, including the cultivation of microorganisms. Experience cultivating photoautotrophic organisms is a benefit, but not necessary.
• Experience in analytical techniques (e.g. HPLC or GC) would be beneficial.
• The ability to analyse and interpret experimental data.

You should be highly motivated, able to work independently as well as in a team, collaborate with others and have good communication skills.

 How to apply

There are two stages of the application:

1.Applicants must submit the pre-application form via the following link

https://brunel.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/epsrc-dtp-24-25-pre-application-form-brunel-university-lon

by 16.00 on Friday 5th April 2024.

2.If you are shortlisted for the interview, you will be asked to email the following documentation in a single PDF file to cedps-studentships@brunel.ac.uk within 72hrs.

• Your up-to-date CV;
• Your Undergraduate degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) essential;
• Your Postgraduate Masters degree certificate(s) and transcript(s) if applicable;
• Your valid English Language qualification of IELTS 6.5 overall (minimum 6.0 in each section) or equivalent, if applicable;
• Contact details for TWO referees, one of which can be an academic member of staff in the College.

Applicants should therefore ensure that they have all of this information in case they are shortlisted.

Interviews will take place in April/May 2024.

Meet the Supervisor(s)

---

Dale McClure - I joined the Chemical Engineering Department at Brunel University in May 2021, after moving from the University of Sydney where I was employed at the Centre for Advanced Food Engineering, working in the area of industrial biotechnology. Prior to that I completed my PhD at the University of Sydney in 2014 and my undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in 2010. My research is in the area of industrial biotechnology, with a focus on the safe, sustainable and cost-effective production of high-value compounds for the food, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries. A key focus of my work is sustainability and transforming what would be otherwise considered wastes to valuable products. I have extensive experience in the design, scale-up and modelling of bioreactors, and have developed advanced computational models of industrial systems. I have worked extensively with industry and many of the projects I have worked on have been successfully commercialised.   Awards and Honours: 2018 Science and Innovation Award for Young People in Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry 2016 Winner of European Society of Biochemical Engineering Bioprocess Engineering Design Prize 2011 Australian Postgraduate Award 2009 MIPPs Scholarship 2008 Dean’s List of Excellence in Academic Performance 2008 Amcor Prize for Greatest Proficiency in Chemical Engineering Practice 2007 Dean’s List of Excellence in Ac

Dale McClure - I joined the Chemical Engineering Department at Brunel University in May 2021, after moving from the University of Sydney where I was employed at the Centre for Advanced Food Engineering, working in the area of industrial biotechnology. Prior to that I completed my PhD at the University of Sydney in 2014 and my undergraduate degrees in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in 2010. My research is in the area of industrial biotechnology, with a focus on the safe, sustainable and cost-effective production of high-value compounds for the food, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industries.