Postdoctoral Researcher in the area of Engineered Living Materials

Aalto University is a community of bold thinkers where science and art meet technology and business. We are committed to identifying and solving grand societal challenges and building an innovative future. Aalto has six schools with nearly 11 000 students and a staff of more than 4000, of which 400 are professors. Our main campus is located in Espoo, Finland. Diversity is part of who we are, and we actively work to ensure our community’s diversity and inclusiveness. This is why we warmly encourage qualified candidates from all backgrounds to join our community.

The Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems at the Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering is looking for a

Postdoctoral Researcher in the area of Engineered Living Materials

Natural biological materials synthesized by cells with preprogramed genetic rules using simple raw materials provide sustainable and biodegradable products widely used in the society. Despite of the impressive traits, limited utility of natural materials restricts their application in next generation advanced materials. Cells are considered as nanomaterial factories, raising a critical point, can microbes be programmed as nanomaterial factories to create novel and beneficial biological materials? This is addressed by the emerging field of biological Engineered Living Materials, interfacing between microbiology, synthetic biology and material science themes.

A Postdoctoral Researcher position, in connection to project on designing bacterial nanocellulose based Engineered Living Materials, is now open in the Biomolecular Materials research group, led by Professor Markus Linder. The project focusses on studying the molecular mechanisms involved in protein secretion in Komagataeibacter spp., native nanocellulose producing bacteria, to develop a functional material for polyethylene terephthalate depolymerization.

Your network and team

The position is based at the Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems of Aalto University School of Chemical Engineering (Otaniemi Campus, Espoo, Finland), in the Biomolecular Materials group (https://www.aalto.fi/en/department-of-bioproducts-and-biosystems/biomolecular-materials ). The research group focuses in elucidating the fundamental aspects of biomaterial function and interactions, and employs synthetic biology strategies to design biomaterial with novel properties. The Biomolecular Materials group is member of Center of Excellence in Life-Inspired Hybrid Materials (LIBER, https://www.aalto.fi/en/liber ), funded by Academy of Finland’s Center of Excellence Programme (2022-2029). The LIBER consortium, comprising of eight multidisciplinary research groups from Aalto University, VTT and Tampere University, aims in creating dynamic and soft hybrid materials with capability to learn, adapt or response to the environment.