Postdoctoral Fellow in Membrane Technology for Downstream Purification of Biopharmaceuticals

The postdoctoral fellow position is open within the Group of Membrane Engineering for Sustainable Solutions at KU Leuven under the supervision of Prof. dr. Xing Yang. The Yang Research Group focuses on process intensification strategies for designing low-emission and energy efficient separation systems utilizing smart responsive materials with nano/micro-structured interfaces, reactive kinetics and optimal separation units. The hybridisation of separation technologies (e.g., membrane, extraction, crystallization, absorption and chromatography) is the key tool to design an Energy-Efficient Separation Systems for Sustainability (2E3S), assisted with experimental research and process system engineering via multi-scale numerical modeling
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Responsibilities

The downstream purification of biomolecules (e.g., monoclonal antibodies) is an indispensable part of biopharmaceutical production of therapeutics such as therapeutics, immunodiagnostics and vaccine development. The large market demand pushes significant increase in upstream production, shifting the manufacturing bottleneck to downstream processing. As the main stream purification technology, resin column chromatography faces significant challenges to keep up the demand due to low throughput and process complexity. Membrane-based chromatography emerges as a promising alternative offering high throughput and much milder operation, but is still at early stage development. Thus, this project aims to develop a novel class of stimuli-responsive membranes with high throughput, exclusive selectivity towards antibody & competitive binding capacity, but with significantly simpler process steps and lower consumption of process materials. The success of this project will expect to make a significant leap in downstream purification of therapeutic biomolecules, immensely simplifying the process with increase productivity.

To achieve this ambitious goal we are seeking a high caliber postdoctoral researcher to be part of this exciting research program and design novel membranes for sustainable bioprocessing, with interdisciplinary experiences in (bio)chemistry, biopharmaceutical and membrane technology. Experience in chemical engineering research can be of added value. 

Profile

If you are highly motivated researchers in the areas of Polymer Chemistry and Membrane Technology with passion in sustainable bioprocessing, you are strongly encouraged to enquire and apply.

Profile required:

• Requirement: PhD degree in Polymer Chemistry or in equivalent discipline with competitive publication record, preferably with experience in Chemical Engineering fields.
• Knowledge and experiences in the relevant fields as described.
• Willingness and experiences with postgraduate supervision and teaching.
• Fluent English (written and verbal communication) for scientific interactions.
• Self-motivated, passionate and great interpersonal skills. 
• Willingness to work in interdisciplinary field.

Offer

The successful candidate will be offered a Postdoctoral fellow position to become part of our international team with global research connections.  The initial postdoctoral contract is provided for one year with a perspective to extend. The salary package is based on the KU Leuven standards linked to your post PhD experience.

More information

https://research.kuleuven.be/portal/en/project/3E251180

Interested?

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