Postdoctoral Fellowship

Human milk has incredible power that is naturally exploited by newborns thanks to glycoproteins able to mediate adhesion to pathogens. In addition, it provides the infant with an excellent source of nutrients, which are involved in protecting the neonatal gut from infections. Therefore, breastfeeding is a highly effective strategy for protecting infants from infections. This protective effect has been attributed mainly to the immunoglobulins that are present at very high concentrations in the colostrum. However, milk glycoproteins were also found to be antipathogenic. Glycoproteins are highly abundant in colostrum and human milk and it is now clear that in addition to providing nutrition, human milk delivers an array of unique bioactive components, including protection. Therefore, the benefit of human milk glycoproteins with their various functional roles, including pathogen deflection, enrichment in a protective intestinal microbiota and modulation of immunity, are now generally admitted by the scientific community.

Since not all infants have the opportunity to be breastfed, bovine, goat’s and sheep’s milks are all good candidates for designing infant formula as close as possible to human milk. Mammals’ proteins and glycoproteins share similarities in terms of structures and functionalities, but it is important to highlight that their concentrations in glycoproteins are lower compared to human milk. Therefore, infant formulations need to be enriched in glycoproteins and industrials are running after solutions to obtain natural glycoproteins.

The Post-Doc will participate to this ambitious project on the following aspects:

• Milk glycoprotein characterization (structure, glycosylation state)
• Milk glycoprotein formulation under a powder state
• Biofunctional activity assessment (anti-adhesive properties, cell culture)

Candidate requirements

• Scientific background: PhD in Protein Chemistry, Proteomics, Protein Biology, Biophysics…
• Food or medical engineering or related field (pharmacy, cosmetics…)
• Excellent English knowledge (written and spoken), English native speaker welcome
• Strong appetite for research
• Appeal for interdisciplinary researches
• Sociable person

TERMS AND TENURE

This one-year position will be based at the Université de Lorraine – LIBio and IJL - Nancy - FRANCE.

The target start date for the position is 1st November 2025, with some flexibility on the exact start date (should start in 2025).

Salary: 2828 €/month (Lorraine Université Excellence salary grid)

Research Laboratory at LIBio

The scientific project of LIBio is to manage biotic and abiotic interactions of biobased systems in order to increase their functional properties. Our approach tends towards architectures with simplified formulation, with a limited number of atoms. A holistic approach for the engineering of biobased systems will focus on matrices and on vectors. According to our expertise, 3 main systems are studied; (i) nanoliposomes; (ii) protein and polysaccharide matrices and micro/nano-capsules; (iii) bacterial communities.

Research Laboratory at IJL

The Institute Jean Lamour (IJL) is a joint research unit of CNRS and Université de Lorraine. Focused on materials and processes science and engineering, it covers: materials, metallurgy, plasmas, surfaces, nanomaterials and electronics. It regroups 183 researchers/lecturers, 91 engineers/technicians/administrative staff, 150 doctoral students and 25 post-doctoral fellows. Partnerships exist with 150 companies and our research groups collaborate with more than 30 countries throughout the world. Its exceptional instrumental platforms are spread over 4 sites; the main one is located on Artem campus in Nancy.

HOW TO APPLY

Deadline for application is 31/08/2025. Applicants will be interviewed by an Ad Hoc Commission by 30/09/2025.

Applications are only accepted through email. All document must be sent to claire.gaiani@univ-lorraine.fr and halima.alem@univ-lorraine.fr

REQUIREMENTS

• Full CV and list of publications
• Cover Letter applying for the position
• Statement of Research
• 2 references letters