PhD position in

Additive fermentation in legume protein extraction: Impact on the macromolecular profiles and functional properties

Candidates profile

• MSc or equivalent in Food Sciences with a solid training in Food Physical chemistry, Food chemistry and Food Microbiology.
• Scientific interest, dedication to research and career goal to work in food technical centre or food industry
• Appreciation for interdisciplinarity and proactive drive to collaborate across fields
• Proficiency in English, good communication skill and social competence

Hiring institution: Université Marie & Louis Pasteur (Place of work: Dijon, France)

Enrolment in a doctoral programme of the Doctoral School “Environments – Health” co-accredited by L’Institut Agro Dijon

Supervision:

• Main supervisor: Rémi Saurel, Professor at L’Institut Agro Dijon
• Co-supervisor(s): Dr Annabelle Vera (Philibert Savours SAS), Dr Arno Wouters (KU Leuven)

Objectives:

Some lactic acid bacteria (LAB) strains produce exopolysaccharides in response to their environment. These exopolysaccharides (EPS) can be homo (Ho) or hetero (He) types, depending on the bacterial metabolic pathway. In food, EPS are recognised to have health benefits for the host and have interesting properties for stabilising food structures (gels, emulsions, foams). The production of EPS has already been exploited in fermented dairy products (yoghurts and cheeses) to improve their texture. There is a growing interest for in situ production of EPS in legume protein systems to produce clean label plant-based products.  Today, pulse protein ingredients are available as either concentrates or isolates. Innovative production technologies are expected to improve the properties of such ingredients.

The general objective of the project is to implement fermentation using HoEPS-producing LAB in a legume protein extraction process and to characterise the mixed ingredients containing both the legume protein and the EPS in terms of techno-functional properties (solubility, gelling, foaming…). In addition, the structural and textural effects of the new isolated protein fractions on a complex food will be evaluated.

Expected results:   

• Optimisation of fermentation parameters of 3 EPS-producing LAB strains adapted to legume flour/concentrate substrates to control the composition in EPS and protein during extraction
• Understanding the effect of macromolecular composition on the solubility, gelling, emulsifying and foaming properties of the isolated protein fractions
• Developing a proof of concept by using the fermented ingredient in a bakery application

Planned secondments (host institution, supervisor, duration, topic)

• KU Leuven (B), Dr Arno Wouters, 3 months, Characterisation of foaming properties (interfacial rheology and thin film drainage dynamics)
• Philibert Savours SAS, Lyon (F), Dr Annabelle Véra, 3 months, Pilot scale extrapolation and validation on a bakery application

Hosting lab and working environment: PAM Lab Food and Wine Sciences and Technology located in Dijon, France (https://umr-pam.fr)

Type of recruitment: Full-time exclusive employment contract including full social security coverage

Foreseen start date: 1st of October 2025

Duration: 36 months

Hours per week:  35 hours

Estimated monthly gross salary: 3240 € (including Living and Mobility Allowances)

Application procedure: via the ESM project website.

Application deadline: 15th June 2025

Contact for more information: Prof. Rémi Saurel, remi.saurel@institut-agro.fr, Tél. +33 (0)3 807 740 51

Application closed

PhD position in

Novel formulation strategies by revealing the supra-molecular structure of plant-based protein-lipid assemblies

Candidates profile

• MSc or equivalent in Physical chemistry, Analytical chemistry, Chemical Engineering, Biotechnology, Food Technology or similar with a solid training in surface and colloid chemistry, analytical separation sciences, physical chemistry.
• Scientific interest, dedication to research and career goal to work in academia or industry.
• Appreciation for interdisciplinarity and proactive drive to collaborate across fields
• Proficiency in English, good communication skill and social competence

Hiring institution: Lund University, Sweden

Enrolment in a doctoral programme of the Department of Process and Life Science Engineering: Food and Formulation Engineering.

Supervision at Lund University:

• Main supervisor: Prof. Lars Nilsson
• Co-supervisor(s): Assoc. Prof. Maria Glantz, Prof. Tommy Nylander

Objectives:

The shift from animal to plant proteins in food formulation presents several challenges. Plant proteins often lack the functional properties—such as gelling, emulsifying, and foaming—found in animal proteins, which affects texture and mouthfeel. To overcome this, a deep understanding of protein functionality across different structural levels is required. A key but often overlooked factor is the interaction between plant proteins and polar lipids, which can self-assemble into complex structures. This project aims to explore how such interactions can create functional assemblies for food applications.

Your role will involve studying protein and lipid properties, forming protein-lipid assemblies, and linking their structural features to functionality. You will be involved in the development of advanced characterization methods in collaboration with MAX IV and ESS in Lund. These methods will be used to analyze the assemblies in detail. Through your research, you will be expected contribute to the work of the research group, plan and perfrom experimental work, analyze, draw conclusion, and report – all with support/collaboration from supervisors and other experts from different fields.

Expected results: 

• Understanding of how the structure of protein-polar lipid assemblies on different hierarchical levels is determined by their composition.
• Understanding of how the structure of protein-polar lipid assemblies influences their functionality in relation to food formulation.
• Establishment of AF4-SAXS methodology for characterization of food structures.
• Proof-of-concept for AF4-SANS methodology for characterization of food structures.

Planned secondments

• Université Le Mans (France), prof. Christophe Chassenieux, gel formation of protein-lipid structures.
• KU Leuven (Belgium), prof. Arno Wouters, foam stability of protein-lipid structures.
• ETH (Switzerland), prof. Peter Fischer, interfacial shear rheology of protein-lipid layers.
• Nanoscale Metrix (France), Cédric Sarazin, comparing Taylor dispersion analysis and AF4.

Hosting lab and working environment: Division of Food & Pharma, Department of Process and Life Science Engineering, Faculty of Engineering LTH, Lund University.

Type of recruitment: Full-time exclusive employment contract including full social security coverage

Foreseen start date: 1st of October 2025

Duration: 36 months within the ESM project. The duration of a doctoral education in Sweden is 48 months. The final year will be covered from other funding sources, on the condition that the candidate is well on track. The last year will include teaching and departmental duties. The extent of these will be added to the 48 months of the doctoral education.

Hours per week:  40

Estimated monthly gross salary: 3000 € (including Living and Mobility Allowances)

Application procedure: via Lund University website (https://www.lu.se/vacancies) AND ESM website.

Application deadline: 31st of May 2025

Contact for more information: Prof. Lars Nilsson (lars.nilsson@ple.lth.se)

Application closed

PhD position in

Food structuring using biphasic systems

Candidates profile

• MSc or equivalent in Chemical Engineering, Materials Engineering, Biotechnology, Food Science or equivalent degrees with a solid training in soft matter, physical chemistry, biphasic systems, and structuring methods.
• Hands on lab work experience is essential while knowledge in techniques such as rheology, scattering, thermal analysis and microscopy are beneficial.
• An independent and self-motivated researcher.
• Appreciation for interdisciplinarity and proactive drive to collaborate across fields
• Proficiency in English, good communication skill and social competence

Hiring institution: Technion – Israel institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

Enrolment in a doctoral programme in The Irwin and Joan Jacobs graduate school, Technion, Israel.

Supervision:

• Main supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Maya Davidovich-Pinhas
• Co-supervisor(s): Prof. Elke Scholten, Wageningen University, The Netherland

Objectives:

• Improve the nutritional values of foods using structuring methods of biphasic system.
• Develop preparation procedure to formulate structured biphasic system based on plant-based ingredients.
• Investigate the effect of preparation conditions, composition, and storage on biphasic systems (bigels) performance and application aiming to produce favourable textures with preferable textural attributes such as hardness, plasticity, flow, melting.
• Examine the formulation functionality with respect to nutritional availability using in-vitro digestion techniques and sensory analysis.

Expected results:

• Development of preparation procedures for structured biphasic system based on high homogenisation at various temperature and shear conditions.
• Formulation of biphasic gel systems using oil and water structuring approach with various structuring agents (waxes, monoglycerides, phytosterols, proteins, and biopolymers), surfactants (e. g. lecithin, sucrose ester), concentration, and water/oil ratios.
• Characterisation of biphasic systems’ textural properties (using texture analysis, rheology, tribology, and melting profile), and structural attributes (using microscopy and X-ray scattering).
• Exploration of the role of each component in the final gel structure and properties.
• Evaluation of the biphasic gel performance with respect to in-vitro digestion and sensory analysis.
• Understanding of the effect of composition and preparation procedure on the biphasic system properties and performance in comparison with model lipid-based food products such as margarine, mayonnaise, and/or lard

Planned secondments:

• Wageningen University (Prof. E. Scholten), 9 months: tribology and sensory analysis of biphasic gels.
• Cargill (P. Smith), 3 months: industrial perspective of biphasic gel production and comparison with model lipid-based food products such as margarine, mayonnaise, and/or lard.

Hosting lab and working environment: The laboratory of Food Materials Engineering (https://davidovichlab.net.technion.ac.il/), Faculty of Biotechnology and Food Engineering, Technion, Haifa, Israel. The lab explores the relationship between materials’ nanoscale molecular structure and its meso-scale characteristics and overall functionality. This goal is achieved using in-house rheology, thermal analysis, mechanical testing, microscopy, and scattering instruments.

Type of recruitment: Full-time exclusive employment contract including full social security coverage

Foreseen start date: 1st of October 2025

Duration: 42 months

Hours per week: ~40 hr

Estimated monthly gross salary: 4245€ (gross salary – living and mobility allowance – including employer’s contributions)

Application procedure: via the ESM Project Website.

Application deadline: 6th of June

Contact for more information: Assoc. Prof. Maya Davidovich-Pinhas dmaya@technion.ac.il

Application closed

PhD position in

Structured and functional emulsions and foams

Candidates profile

• MSc or equivalent in Chemistry
• Scientific interest, dedication to research and career goal to work in the field of foams, emulsions and manufacture of sustainable foods
• Appreciation for interdisciplinarity and proactive drive to collaborate across fields
• Proficiency in English, good communication skill and social competence

Hiring institution: Sofia University, “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria

Enrolment in a doctoral programme of 4.2. Chemical Sciences /Physical Chemistry – Disperse systems/

Supervision:

• Main supervisor: Prof. Slavka Tcholakova
• Co-supervisor(s): Assoc. Prof. Zahari Vinarov

Objectives:

Study systematically the interfacial and bulk self-assembly properties of mixtures of natural emulsifiers which show strong synergistic effects in emulsion and foam formation and stabilisation (saponins, phytosterols, plant proteins and polysaccharides, steviosides)

For the best combinations, which provide long term (months) physical stability at the lowest total ingredient concentration while exhibiting acceptable organoleptic properties, develop procedures for structuring low-fat and low-calorie emulsions and foams with extended shelf-life.

Use scalable homogenisers to prepare prototypes of functional food emulsions and foams stabilized by multi-functional ingredients, such as phytosterols and saponins which have proven hypocholesterolemic effects, plant proteins, steviosides and other natural ingredients from sustainable sources.

Test the functionality of the prototype formulations by determining the bioaccessibility of the bioactives by an in-vitro model of the human GI tract and evaluate their organoleptic properties via panels.

Expected results: 

Development of new efficient approaches for structuring of low-fat and low-calorie food emulsions and foams using natural and functional ingredients, obtained from sustainable plant sources          

Planned secondments

• CNRS, France, C. Chassenieux, M19-M20, 2 months: Characterization of the structure and rheology of emulsions.
• CNRS, France, L. Ramos, M21-M25, 5 months: Rheological characterisation of gels.
• Cargill, R. Jakobi, M37-39, 3 months: Engineering approaches for complex-in-structure food emulsions.

Hosting lab and working environment: Laboratory for Active Formulations and Materials at the Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Faculty of Chemistry and Pharmacy, Sofia University

Type of recruitment: Full-time exclusive employment contract including full social security coverage

Foreseen start date: 1st of November 2025

Duration: 36 months

Hours per week:  40 hours

Estimated monthly gross salary: 2070 € (including Living and Mobility Allowances)

Application procedure: via the ESM website

Application deadline: 31st of May 2025

Contact for more information: Prof. Slavka Tcholakova

Application closed

PhD position in

Edible Water in Water Emulsions

Candidates profile

• MSc or equivalent in food sciences or in physics or physical chemistry of soft matter science or with a solid training in rheological and structural investigations of soft materials or in sensory studies. A degree with distinction is a plus.
• Scientific interest, dedication to research and career goal to work in food or soft matter sciences (academia or research center), or food industry.
• Appreciation for interdisciplinarity and proactive drive to collaborate across fields
• Proficiency in English, good communication skill and social competence

Hiring institution: CNRS Le Mans (France)

Enrolment in a doctoral programme of ED3MG (France) (https://ed-3mg.doctorat-paysdelaloire.fr/)

Supervision:

• Main supervisors: Christophe Chassenieux
• Co-supervisor(s): Taco Nicolai (France)

Objectives:

• Design stable water in water emulsions with whole food grade and plant-based ingredients,
• Investigate their textural (structure and mechanics) properties at rest and under flow,
• Use them as cargos for hydrophilic molecules such as probiotics and various flavours,
• Test their sensorial properties.

Expected results:

• Rules for formulating stable w/w emulsions that display the same textural properties at rest and under shear as oil-in-water emulsions but with no fat.
• Design of functional w/w emulsions as cargo of hydrophilic molecules.

Planned secondments

• Bel, Peggy Thomar, 1month, mechanical study of the hydrogels and emulgels under strong deformation.
• CSIC, Amparo Tarrega and Laura Laguna, 2 months, sensorial studies
• ULUND, Lars Wilson, 3 months, SAXS investigation of w/w interfaces
• USOFIA, Slavka Tcholakova, 1 month, measurements of ultra-low surface tension
• KIRIL, Rositsa Tropcheva, 1month, encapsulation of probiotics

Hosting lab and working environment: IMMM le Mans (France) (https://immm.univ-lemans.fr/fr/index.html).

Type of recruitment: Full-time exclusive employment contract including full social security coverage.

Foreseen start date: 1st of October 2025

Duration: 36 months

Hours per week:  38.5 hours/week

Estimated monthly gross salary: 3 024 € (Including living and mobility allowance)

Application procedure: Candidates must submit their application via:  the ESM website, and the CNRS job portal 

Application deadline: 5th of June 2025

Contact for more information: Christophe Chassenieux IMMM@CNRS (christophe.chassenieux@univ-lemans.fr)

Application closed

PhD position in

Relating the colloidal and air-water interfacial properties of plant protein systems

Candidates profile

• MSc or equivalent in Bioscience Engineering (preferably with focus on food science), Food Sciences, with a solid training in the areas of food chemistry, food technology, food constituent functionality. A degree with distinction is a requirement.
• Scientific interest, dedication to research and career goal to work in food science (academia or research center), or food industry.
• Appreciation for interdisciplinarity and proactive drive to collaborate across fields.
• Proficiency in English, good communication skill and social competence

Hiring institution: KU Leuven (Leuven, Belgium)

Enrolment in a doctoral programme of the Arenberg Doctoral School, associated to the Science, Engineering & Technology group of KU Leuven, Belgium (https://set.kuleuven.be/phd)

Supervision:

• Main supervisor: prof. Arno Wouters (KU Leuven, Belgium)
• Co-supervisor(s): prof. Christophe Chassenieux (Université Le Mans, France)

Objectives:

The impact of various chemical, physical and enzymatic processing steps on the extraction and isolation of plant proteins (with oats as model), including chemical and colloidal characterization of the obtained protein fractions, will be studied. In addition, the impact of varying pre-treatments and environmental conditions (such as pH, ionic strength and temperature) on the bulk self-assembly of native oat proteins will be studied. In both cases, the air-water interfacial and foaming properties of the proteins will be investigated. This will allow establishing relationships between protein physicochemical and colloidal properties on the one hand and their functional properties on the other hand.

Expected results:

• Insight into the impact of various prior processing steps on the composition (proteins and co-extracted constituents), physicochemical and colloidal properties of isolated proteins.
• Mechanistic insights in the foaming properties of plant proteins
• Understanding of the relationship between the state of self-assembly of plant proteins and their interfacial and foaming properties.

Planned secondments

• Université Le Mans (France), prof. Christophe Chassenieux, self-assembly of proteins as function of environmental conditions
• Lund University (Sweden), prof. Lars Nilsson, protein aggregate characterization with UF4-SAXS
• Cargill (Belgium), Dr. Paul Smith and Dr. Katlijn Moelants, characterization of foams

Hosting lab and working environment: Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Biochemistry (LFCB), KU Leuven, Belgium (https://www.biw.kuleuven.be/m2s/clmt/lmcb)

Type of recruitment: Full-time exclusive employment contract including full social security coverage

Foreseen start date: 1st of October 2025

Duration: 36 months on the ESM project. Following the KU Leuven Arenberg Doctoral School requirements, an evaluation moment is foreseen 9 months after the start of the PhD trajectory, after which the trajectory proceeds (in most cases) or can be stopped if the candidate does not meet the quality requirements. The standard duration of a PhD trajectory in Belgium is 48 months. The final PhD year will be covered from other funding sources, on the condition that the candidate is well on track.

Hours per week:  38 hours

Estimated monthly gross salary: Approximately €3055 per month. The exact amount may depend on the social status of the candidate (registered partner with/without income, dependent children, etc.).

Application procedure: via the ESM website.

Application deadline: 6th of June 2025

Contact for more information: prof. Arno Wouters (Laboratory of Food Chemistry and Biochemistry, KU Leuven; arno.wouters@kuleuven.be)

Application closed