The Department of Biology and Biological Engineering was founded January 1 2015, and started off with high ambitions. The aim was to grow and become a leading center of innovation by combining the latest research in life sciences with biochemistry. And the department got off to flying start. In its first years, the numbers for publication, citation and external funding have been excellent.
The department consists of four divisions, each conducting outstanding research in the areas of industrial biotechnology, systems biology, chemical biology and food science. The overall goal is to help build a sustainable society and improve human health.
Nearly 200 people from 20 countries are currently engaged in roles within the department. The working environment is characterized by creativity, job satisfaction, cooperation and responsibility,
The Department of Biology and Biological Engineering has summarized its mission in four points:
- To be an attractive environment for top-level researchers in biological engineering
- To deliver top-level research results and innovative solutions for use in a sustainable society
- To offer excellent education that develops creative engineers and scientists
- To be a major contributor to international visibility of Chalmers
Information about the division
The PhD position is placed at the Division of Systems and Synthetic Biology within the Department of Biology and Biological Engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. The Systems and Synthetic Biology group at Chalmers is one of the world leading research groups within the systems biology of metabolism. The Systems and Synthetic Biology group is composed of several labs and 60+ multinational researchers with varying backgrounds. Each group leader is responsible for directing particular research themes within the realms of quantitative systems and synthetic biology. The research interests within the division, range from trying to understand fundamental metabolism, to highly applied research on the construction of microbial cell factories, up to studying metabolic-related diseases such as cancer. The division also engages in extensive collaborative projects across universities and industry both nationally across Sweden and internationally. The details of the departmental research activities may also be found at http://www.sysbio.se/. In addition, the division operates collaboratively with two other satellite facilities at Chalmers: the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (www.biosustain.dtu.dk) and the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab; www.scilifelab.se).
Major responsibilities
In this PhD project, you will focus on metabolic engineering of yeast for production of bioactive compounds. You will use genetic tools such as CRISPR/Cas9 to manipulate yeast metabolism, and use systems biology methods to analyse the resultant strains. You will investigate how different techniques can be integrated to perform genome-wide optimization and increase the production of bioactive compounds in yeast.
Your major responsibilities are to pursue your own doctoral studies. As a PhD student you are expected to develop your own scientific concepts and communicate the results of your research verbally as well as in written form. In addition, the position generally also includes teaching on Chalmers’ undergraduate level or performing other duties corresponding to 20 per cent of working hours.
Full-time temporary employment.The position is limited to a maximum of four years.
Qualifications
The candidate must hold a MSc degree in Biotechnology/Bioengineering, Molecular Biology, Microbiology, Systems Biology, Bioinformatics or other related disciplines. Experience of laboratory work and good English skills are required. Meriting experiences include work with Saccharomyces cerevisiae, microbial cultivation in benchtop bioreactors, large-scale DNA module assembly and genome editing with CRISPR/Cas9. Most importantly, the candidate is self-motivated, enthusiastic and creative. To be successful in this position, you need to be well-organized and able to drive and conclude projects independently, take own initiatives, develop own ideas and have a problem-solving ability.
The position requires sound verbal and written communication skills in Swedish and English. If Swedish is not your native language, you should be able to teach in Swedish after two years. Chalmers offers Swedish courses.
Chalmers offers a cultivating and inspiring working environment in the dynamic city ofGothenburg.
Read more aboutworking at Chalmersand ourbenefitsfor employees.
Application procedure
The application should be marked with Ref 20190029 and written in English.
CV: (Please name the document: CV, Family name, Ref. number)
CV
Other, for example previous employments or leadership qualifications and positions of trust.
Two references that we can contact.
Personal letter: (Please name the document as: Personal letter, Family name, Ref. number)
1-3 pages where you introduce yourself and present your qualifications.
Previous research fields and main research results.
Future goals and research focus.Are there any specific projects and research issues you are primarily interested in?
Copies of bachelor and/or master's thesis.
Attested copies and transcripts of completed education, grades and other certificates, eg. TOEFL test results.
Application deadline: 1 March 2019
For instructions on how to apply, please refer to: http://bit.ly/2AJJ0XS
