5 Feb 2025
Job Information
- Organisation/Company
CentraleSupélec- Department
Chemical Engineering- Research Field
Biological sciences » Biological engineering- Researcher Profile
Recognised Researcher (R2)- Positions
Postdoc Positions- Country
France- Application Deadline
30 Jun 2025 - 00:00 (Africa/Abidjan)- Type of Contract
Temporary- Job Status
Full-time- Offer Starting Date
1 Apr 2025- Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?
Other EU programme- Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?
No
Offer Description
CONTEXT:
The aim of CentraleSupélec's Biotechnology Chair is to develop biotechnological approaches in response to major societal challenges, such as improving food quality, using biosourced materials, developing energy-efficient processes, etc., in order to limit society's carbon footprint and improve citizens' quality of life. To achieve these ambitious goals, the Chair deploys experimental and digital approaches in partnership with industrial players and/or academic consortia.
THE PROJECT:
The position is open within the European project ALADIN (Belgium, Poland, Spain, and France) framework, which is part of the NutriBrain call (improving brain health through diet modulation – ERA4HEALTH partnership).
The ALADIN project focuses on elucidating the effect of microalgal lutein on human brain health. Lutein is a pigment found in photosynthetic organisms (higher plants, microalgae, ...). For a long time, its benefits for human brain health have been hypothesized owing to its antioxidant power and ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. It was only a few years ago that observational studies confirmed these hypotheses. However, only a few interventional studies tackled the question of the effect of lutein incorporation in the human diet. The ALADIN project is to address this knowledge gap.
Indeed, humans are not able to synthesize lutein and need to acquire it through their diet. Sadly, in a Western diet, the lutein daily intake is evaluated at around 1.7 mg, while 6 to 14 mg would be necessary to acquire the full extent of lutein benefits in terms of brain and eye aging repelling. Therefore, adoption of lutein-rich food is the only option. But how? Lutein could come from different sources. The first one is green-leaf vegetables, which consumption is unlikely to increase. The second is supplementation by capsules containing lutein extracted from Marigold flowers. Yet, their production is deemed unsustainable, and they are accessible to a fraction of the population only. The last one is from microalgae (used as seasoning). Indeed, some species are already validated as food (by EFSA and US FDA) and sold in general stores. Furthermore, their lutein content can reach 10 mg/g (½ teaspoon would carry 20 mg). To date, no study has investigated microalgal food as a lutein vector. The ALADIN project will investigate it by:
In this project, the Chair of Biotechnology of CentraleSupélec is in charge of engineering a lab-scale lutein production process (based on microalgae fermentation), analyzing and improving lutein bioavailability and microalgae taste, and leading the dissemination actions.
TASKS:
Your tasks will evolve throughout the three years of the project. For the first year, you will be in charge of the development of the lutein-rich food-grade microalgae production process development. For this, you will benefit from the support of the technical team and the guidance of the project leader. In detail, this first step will involve candidate strain screening (mainly Chlorella species). Then, you will build upon a previous PhD student's success who engineered one of the most productive lutein production processes to date (microalgae fermentation). This stage will involve small-scale (flasks) culture and upscaling of the most promising one (up to 2 or 5-liter bioreactor). Once mature enough, the process will be transferred to the Belgian partner for very large-scale deployment and production of enough lutein-rich microalgae to lead the clinical trials (Poland and Spain).
The second year will be dedicated to the fine-tuning of the process, the gathering of data for a life cycle analysis, and the investigation of the microalgal lutein bioavailability. This last point will be your core task. It will require the implementation of an in vitro digestibility assay (literature review, tests, implementation, and operation). With this assay, you will be able to test the lutein bioavailability under different conditions (ingested alone, with yogurt, in a cookie, …). Thanks to your results, we will be able to advise clinical trial participants on how to benefit most from the microalgae added to their diet.
The third year will be dedicated to integrating feedback from the partners (large-scale production, clinical trials participants comments, …). This will materialize by modifying the process to improve taste and texture. In addition, dissemination will be a large part of the actions of the last year (conferences, website, …).
In addition to team support, you will be accompanied throughout the project by the senior project manager. You will be required to submit regular written reports. This will enable effective communication between partners and facilitate the scientific publication of your results.
SKILLS:
Holder of a PhD degree in microbiology/processes or equivalent field, the candidate must:
- Have practical experience in microbiology, particularly in bioreactor operation,
- Know how to use analytical tools (sample preparation, HPLC, ...),
- Have good collaborative work skills.
The following experience would be a plus:
- Microalgae fermentation,
- Design of experiments and statistical analysis of results.
HOST TEAM:
The position is open within a dynamic and growing laboratory. It brings together people with genuine diversity and complementarity (microbiology, analytical chemistry, digital methods, ...). The person recruited will be surrounded by a rich team (doctors, engineers, PhD students, working with microalgae, but not only) who will be able to contribute their know-how but also benefit from his or her own. Finally, the Biotechnology Chair is made up of a young, multicultural team that offers numerous scientific and human opportunities.
HOST INSTITUTION:
The Chair of Biotechnology of CentraleSupélec was created in 2011 and is located at the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery (near Rheims). It is structured around three thematic axes: lignocellulosics, bioprocessing and separative techniques, all based on a cross-disciplinary foundation of modeling, instrumentation and visualization. These four groups are hosted by the European Center for Biotechnology and Bioeconomy (CEBB).
PRACTICAL DETAILS:
The position is based at the CEBB. The missions will be carried out on-site. The gross salary will be 2800 (Gross) €/month. Ideally, the position will start in April 2025. Fixed-term 36 months
DOCUMENTS:
Applications, together with a curriculum vitae and, at the candidates' discretion, letters of recommendation, should be sent by e-mail only to the contacts mentioned below.
CONTACT:
Dr. Pozzobon Victor
Head of the modeling team
Chaire de Biotechnologie de CentraleSupélec
Email: victor.pozzobon@centralesupelec.fr
Pr. Balti Rafik
Head of the biotransformation team
Chaire de Biotechnologie de CentraleSupélec
Email: rafik.balti@centralesupelec.fr
Where to apply
victor.pozzobon@centralesupelec.fr
Requirements
- Research Field
- Biological sciences » Biological engineering
- Education Level
- PhD or equivalent
Additional Information
Work Location(s)
- Number of offers available
- 1
- Company/Institute
- CentraleSupélec
- Country
- France
- City
- Pomacle
- Postal Code
- 51110
- Street
- 3 rue des rouges terres
- Geofield
Contact
- City
Gif-sur-Yvette- Website
https://www.centralesupelec.fr- Street
Rue Joliot Curie, 3- Postal Code
91190
victor.pozzobon@centralesupelec.fr
STATUS: EXPIRED
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