BEMÆRK: Ansøgningsfristen er overskredet
Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Biological and Chemical Engineering programme. The position is available from 1 January 2024 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.
Title
PhD position in biocatalytic production of short-medium chain diols and diacids
Research area and project description
Enzymes are Nature’s powerful biocatalysts that drive biochemical reactions to sustain life. In addition to their physiological roles, enzymes are very well-suited for sustainable and green synthesis. In this project, we aim to select, optimize and engineer heme-dependent oxygenase enzymes for efficient hydroxylation/oxidation of short to medium chain length alkanes (C6-C12) into terminal diols/diacids as monomer building blocks for polyester-based plastic synthesis. The selected enzymes will be further engineered and optimized.
The project will initially involve screening of enzyme orthologs from different organisms to find a suitable biocatalyst for the desired conversion and for further optimization. Enzyme engineering will aim to generate a catalytic toolbox of multiple variants with desired chemo- and regio-selectivities as well as to increase the overall efficiency of the enzyme towards target biotransformations. Machine learning tools will be used for more efficient enzyme engineering. The promising enzyme variants will further be characterized in detail. Moreover, the project will also involve bioprocess optimization with the engineered biocatalysts.
This project is part of a larger EU project aiming to work towards enabling feasible polyethylene plastic recycling through chemical and enzymatic pathways to produce valuable biodegradable plastics.
- Project description. For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.
Applicants to this PhD position must have a recent, relevant Master’s degree (120 ECTS e.g. Biochemical Engineering), with excellent academic record.
Prior experience and knowledge on general molecular biology techniques, protein expression and purification as well as enzymology is desired. Experience with analytical techniques including HPLC, GC-MS and NMR is an advantage.
The ideal candidate has good collaboration skills and is also able to work independently.
Place of employment and place of work
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is Department of Biological and Chemical engineering, Gustav Wieds Vej 10A, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
Contacts
Applicants seeking further information are invited to contact:
- Associate Professor Bekir Engin Eser (main supervisor)
- Professor Zheng Guo (co-supervisor)
How to apply
Please follow this link to submit your application.
Application deadline is 15 November 2023 23:59 CET.
Preferred starting date is 1 January 2024.
For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide.
Please note:
- The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
- Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.
INFORMATIONER OM STILLINGEN:
- Arbejdspladsen ligger i:
Aarhus Kommune
-Virksomheden tilbyder:
-Arbejdsgiver:
Aarhus Universitet, Gustav Wieds Vej, 8000 Aarhus C
-Ansøgning:
Ansøgningsfrist: 15-11-2023; - ansøgningsfristen er overskredet
Se mere her: https://job.jobnet.dk/CV/FindWork/Details/5931763
