Research Fellow in Alternative Proteins and Future Food

Imperial College London - Department of Bioengineering

Location: White City & South Kensington

About the role

Funded by the Bezos Earth Fund, the $30m Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein will apply cutting-edge Engineering Biology to accelerate the alternative protein revolution and transform global food systems, to make them more sustainable, healthy, productive, and resilient, by driving a step-change in consumption from conventional meat to alternative proteins. Uniting top academics, industry, policy makers and key stakeholders, the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein will be a reference institution in cultivated meat, plant-based and fermentation-based food, and the synergies between them.

We are seeking up to three experienced and motivated independent Research Fellows to join the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein. The successful candidate will play a pivotal role in leading world-class research, supervising projects, students, and postdocs, applying for grants, writing papers, and establishing an independent research group.

What you would be doing

You will be expected to establish and grow your independent research group at the interface of engineering biology and alternative proteins (either fermentation, cultivated meat, plant/algae-based or hybrid products). You will be part, and will engage closely with, the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Proteins and the UKRI Microbial Food Hub.

While the fellowship is open to any area of the production of future food and alternative proteins, priority areas of interest are highlighted below:

• Cultivated meat: examples include a research program on cell line development, cell engineering, process optimisation, media optimisation, product development and downstream processing, and any other aspect related to cultured meat
• Food science engineering, product development and gastronomy: examples include work on food analysis, product formulation, microbial food, and culinary sciences.
• Bioreactor design, bioprocess engineering, downstream processing applied to future food
• Artificial Intelligence and alternative proteins or future food

What we are looking for

• PhD (or equivalent) in Alternative Proteins or a closely related area/discipline or equivalent research
• Substantial experience in supervising students, writing high-quality scientific publications in reputed journals, securing grant funding and managing aspects of an academic lab
• Proven track record of research in their area of expertise on alternative proteins or closely related area
• Experience in analysing biological experimental data
• Experience in delivering research project results

Further Information

This is a full-time post for 36 months.

As part of your application, you are required to submit a 1000 words research plan outlining your proposed programme of work for the next three years. This should clearly articulate your research vision within the field of alternative proteins and future food systems, including the key research questions you aim to address, the methodologies and approaches you will employ, and the anticipated scientific and/or translational impact of your work. You should also outline how your proposed research aligns with the activities of the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein, as well as your plans for securing external funding and building collaborations. The panel will be particularly interested in your ability to demonstrate independence, innovation, and the potential to develop a coherent and fundable research programme.

For further information on the post, please contact:

Naheed Khan (n.khan2@imperial.ac.uk) and Simon Partridge (s.partridge@imperial.ac.uk)