Postdoc position: Stress responses in bacteria during processing

Are you intrigued by the molecular mechanisms that influence the twilight zone between life and death of microbes? Then we would like to get to know you at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Postdoc position: Stress responses in bacteria during processing

Your function

You will play a crucial role in the TKI project Opticult, “Improving food sustainability and health through optimizing processing and survival of beneficial microbes”, a public-private partnership with VU University, NIZO food research and four industrial partners. Your work will focus on assessing the molecular and physiological responses of microorganisms to stress conditions, and on determining how these responses influence survival, resuscitation, and reactivation. You will also investigate how different growth and pretreatment conditions shape these stress responses.

This research will advance our understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying microbial death and survival. The resulting knowledge will be directly applicable to shape strategies to optimize microbial survival and reactivation after preservation. The overall aim of the project is to improve the survival of microbial cultures during processing and throughout shelf life. This will be achieved by elucidating molecular damage mechanisms and using this understanding to optimize conditions for more energy-efficient drying technologies, in particular (electrostatic) spray drying as an alternative to freeze-drying. Ultimately, the project will deliver knowledge and methods that improve the reliability, effectiveness, and sustainability of microbial cultures for applications in fermented food and feed, microbial biomass production, and crop cultivation.

Your duties

• Develop quick and relatively simple techniques, for example based on fluorescent probes, suitable for high throughput to monitor physiological states of microorganisms.
• Acquire insight in the pivotal mechanisms of microbial death and survival.
• Report the results obtained to industrial partners and in publications.

Your profile

• You hold a PhD in microbiology, biochemistry, biotechnology, or a related field.
• You are able to communicate results clearly to non-experts.
• You are able to work independently and pro-actively interact with collaborators.
• You have strong communication skills in English.

What do we offer?

A challenging position in a socially engaged organisation. At VU Amsterdam, you contribute to education, research and service for a better world. And that is valuable.

About us

A-LIFE, Systems Biology

This Postdoc position will be hosted in the Systems Biology section of the department of the Amsterdam Institute for Life and Environment (A-LIFE) in the Faculty of Science at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

The Systems Biology section focuses on the principles and general understanding of how those networks adapt in response to environmental and genetic changes. We combine mathematical modelling, theory, and experiments. We apply the fundamental insights and methods in a biotechnological and biomedical setting.

Faculty of Science

Working at the Faculty of Science means collaborating with students, lecturers and researchers who are focused on their field, yet have a broad view of the world.