Host institute:
The Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) is looking for candidates interested in a post doc position (2 years). VITO will help those candidates in preparing a Marie Curie proposal with a deadline of 11 August 2011. The call for Marie Curie fellowships (IEF and IIF) is now open, more information on
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.PeopleDetailsCallPage&call_id=395
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.PeopleDetailsCallPage&call_id=396
VITO is a leading research centre in Flanders (Belgium) in the field of sustainable environmental and (bio)process technology development. More information on www.vito.be.
Project Description
Plastics have become an indispensable part in our daily life and are used in very diverse application areas. The current global consumption of plastics amounts to 250 million tons with annual growth of approximately 5%. However, the majority of the polymers are based on fossil fuels and contribute to environmental pollution. Therefore, intensive research and industrial efforts have focused on the production of biopolymers as “green” alternatives to synthetic polymers. Within this context, polyhydroxyalkanoates or PHA represent such kind of bioplastic.
PHA are synthesized via bacterial fermentation of renewable resources and are fully biodegradable and biocompatible. Despite that PHA constitute a class of biobased polyester with highly attractive qualities for thermo-processing applications, PHA have not yet entered bulk markets. Currently, the major drawback to full-scale commercialization of PHA is their market price which is much higher than conventional petroleum based plastics or other bioplastics due to their high raw material costs.
This research aims to develop a new and sustainable technology for the production of PHA from industrial organic and inorganic waste streams in order to reduce the cost price of PHA. Moreover, from an environmental point of view, using these renewable resources would be beneficial for waste management and allow regional closed loop management. In addition, the biopolymer will be characterized in order to have a detailed understanding of the properties of the biopolymer, to determine the influence of this new production process on the characteristics of the biopolymer and to optimize the fermentation and downstream process.
Required education/discipline: Phd in engineering, microbiology, fermentation technology
Contact persons for more information:
Linsey Garcia-Gonzalez (linsey.garcia-gonzalez[ at ]vito.be)
Winnie Dejonghe (winnie.dejonghe[ at ]vito.be)
Generic EU Marie Curie Actions Eligibility Criteria:
Applicants should not be either (i) a national of; or (ii) resident for greater than 12 months of the last 36 months in the country of the host institution unless they have spent more than 4 of the last 5 years outside the EU and Associated States.
Link:
Host institute:
The Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO) is looking for candidates interested in a post doc position (2 years). VITO will help those candidates in preparing a Marie Curie proposal with a deadline of 11 August 2011. The call for Marie Curie fellowships (IEF and IIF) is now open, more information on
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.PeopleDetailsCallPage&call_id=395
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.PeopleDetailsCallPage&call_id=396<
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