A PhD position is available, funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as part of a 4-year research project on development of sensor-based microbial safety testing systems for the Irish meat industry. The project is a collaboration between the University College Cork, Teagasc Food Research Centre (Ashtown, Dublin), one Irish meat company and one technology company.

The PhD project will be for 4 years and will cover EU fees in addition to a personal stipend of €18,000 per annum plus research expenses. The researcher will be hosted in the Biophysics and Bioanalysis lab, School of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, UCC. However, work envisages visits to the industrial and academic partners to perform experiments at their base.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

The candidate is expected to be creative, self-motivated, and should fit an efficiently and friendly atmosphere within the Biophysics and Bioanalysis lab headed by Prof. Dmitri B. Papkovsky and the Packaging lab of Prof. Joe Kerry (Food Science and Nutrition, UCC) who will co-supervise this project. This position will offer great opportunities to become visible to the Irish food industry.

Essential Criteria

• the successful candidate must have an MSc or BSc degree in biochemistry, microbiology, analytical chemistry, food science or related discipline
• experience in microbial testing (culture-based and molecular methods) of food and environmental samples, or in food microbial safety, sensors, material chemistry, spectroscopy, is an advantage
• the candidate must demonstrate high motivation, have an academic record of excellence, good writing and communication skills, initiative and ability to work within a multi-disciplinary project team to achieve results

To Apply:

Qualified candidates should send their applications with a covering letter with research statement, a CV and names of two academic references – to: Prof. Dmitri B. Papkovsky (d.papkovsky@ucc.ie), on or before 1 September 2018. Early applications are encouraged.