A 3-year PhD scholarship is available at the Department of Systems Biology, Centre for Microbial Biotechnology from 1 October 2010.

The position being offered is financed by the Nordic Energy Research Funding Institution in the area of Sustainable Biofuels in a project in which 8 Nordic partners (universities and companies) are participating. The primary goal of the overall project is to carry out breakthrough science leading to innovations in the central production technologies for production of second generation bioethanol.

You will be conducting your research at the Center for Microbial Biotechnology at the Institute for Systems Biology at the Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby Campus. The mission of the Center is ‘Through cutting-edge research in industrial biotechnology to provide world-leading education and training of graduates at all levels, and provide new technologies and solutions required for the advancement of industrial biotechnology.

Your research project will be centered around the research and development of magnetic particle immobilized enzymes. You will work on identifying suitable enzymes for immobilization and methods for immobilization of them on magnetic particles. Subsequently the immobilized enzymes will be used in lab-scale processes for pretreatment of materials with relevance to the biofuels industry. There may be some opportunities for conducting fermentations in this project.

You will have the opportunity to travel to project meetings in the Nordic countries and conferences to present your research results.

Qualifications
Candidates should have a master's degree in engineering or a similar degree with an academic level equivalent to the master's degree in engineering.

You should be interested in biotechnology, biofuels or biorefineries and especially in enzymes. Experience with organic chemistry would be an advantage.

Approval and Enrolment
The scholarships for the PhD degree are subject to academic approval, and the candidates will be enrolled in one of the general degree programmes of DTU. For information about the general requirements for enrolment and the general planning of the scholarship studies, please see the DTU PhD Guide.

Salary and appointment terms
The salary and appointment terms are consistent with the current rules for PhD degree students. The period of employment is 3 years for a Ph.D. student.

Further information
Further information may be obtained from Associate Professor Tim Hobley, tel: (+45) 45 25 27 06.

You can read more about the Center for Microbial Biotechnology and the Institute for Systems Biology on www.cmb.bio.dtu.dk/English.aspx and www.bio.dtu.dk/English.aspx.

Application
We must have your online application by 1 August 2010. Please open the link "apply for this job online" and fill in the application form and attach your application and CV.
Applications must include documentation of a completed master's degree or equivalent.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.