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PhD Studentship opportunity in bioprocessing
Posted on : 29 March 2010
A Biorefining approach to macroalgae: sources of speciality chemicals and feedstock for bioethanol fermentation?
Supervisor’s Name: Dr David Cook
Division: Food Sciences
Other Supervisor/s involved: Dr Sohail Ali & Dr Dan White (Plymouth Marine Laboratory) and Dr Dass Chahal (Croda)
Description of project: This project offers an exciting opportunity for a PhD candidate to gain wide-ranging experience in the increasingly important fields of biorefining, natural products chemistry and bioethanol fermentation.
Macroalgae (seaweed) are marine and freshwater photosynthetic organisms whose growth rates far exceed those of terrestrial biomass. They have the potential to be harvested in large quantities without the need for intensive farming and can potentially be exploited for high-value chemicals whilst the co-product could be used as a chemical feedstock in the manufacture of bulk chemicals or biofuels such as bioethanol. Recently seaweeds have been recognised as a valuable source of raw materials for foods and cosmetics due to their antioxidant activities. In this project macroalgae collected from the UK shoreline will be screened for valuable fatty acid composition (PUFA; omega-3 and 6) as well as antioxidant activity (e.g. DPPH. and TPC assays). Extraction and purification strategies will be optimised for components of these groupings. The spent materials following extraction of high value chemicals will be evaluated as potential feedstocks for bioethanol fermentation.
The PhD student will ideally have an interest in, or experience of the following areas: natural products chemistry, analytical chemistry, biorefining, biofuels. Full training will be given in the use of relevant processing technologies and analytical methodologies. Applicants must be willing to spend substantial periods of time based at each of the academic partners over the 4 year duration (University of Nottingham and Plymouth Marine Laboratory); there will also be opportunities to access relevant resources within Croda (who specialize in the supply of natural based speciality ingredients to the personal care, crop care, health care, home care and lubricants industries).
Award Start Date: 1st October 2010
Duration of Award: 4 Years
Sponsor and collaborating body: BBSRC/ Croda
Funding status: Due to funding conditions of the BBSRC, this studentship is only available to UK nationals or EU students who have been resident in the UK for a period of at least 3 years by the project start date. It includes a stipend of £13,290 per annum, together with a CASE enhancement of £2,500 per annum and full payment of Home/EU Tuition Fees. The successful student will be registered for the degree of PhD in the first instance.
Closing date for applications: Monday 12th April 2010
Eligibility Requirements: BSc (Hons) 2i or above, or MSc in an appropriate scientific discipline (Food Science, Food Chemistry, Physical Chemistry, Analytical Science, Biological Sciences, Biochemistry….)
Method by which candidates should apply: Applications, with a letter of application and a detailed CV, together with the names and addresses of two referees, should be sent to Babs Perkins, Division of Food Sciences, School of Biosciences, The University of Nottingham, Sutton Bonington Campus, Loughborough, Leicestershire, LE12 5RD. Email: Babs.Perkins@Nottingham.ac.uk. Please quote ref. SCI/816
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