Research Assistant, School of Food and Nutritional Sciences

6 MONTHS, FIXED-TERM, WHOLE-TIME POST

Position Summary

A Research Assistant is sought to work on the Dairy Processing Technology Centre within the School of Food and Nutritional Sciences at University College Cork. The Dairy Processing Technology Centre (DPTC) is a national Enterprise Ireland-funded centre focused on dairy processing research and innovation in Ireland, established to help fuel growth in the Irish dairy sector by performing research focused on cost-efficient processing; facilitating a step-change in environmental sustainability; and creating, validating and commercialising a pipeline of science and technology-based manufacturing platforms for dairy ingredients. The DPTC is a strong, long-term industry-academic collaborative partnership that will develop, build and translate the knowledge and capabilities in dairy processing that are needed today and for the long-term growth of the sector. Current industry members of the Centre are Arrabawn Co-op, Carbery Group, Dairygold Co-op, Glanbia Ingredients Ireland, Kerry Group, Lakeland Dairies and Tipperary Co-op.

As part of the DPTC, Prof Seamus O’Mahony, of the Dairy Science team in UCC, is leading a large project focused on the measurement of functional indicators of raw milk. These functional indicators include rennet gelation, acid gelation, heat stability and fouling and are designed to scientifically underpin the processability of raw milk. The UCC-based team consists of principal investigators, research assistants and postgraduate students. Working as part of the DPTC functional indicators team, in conjunction with other collaborating research performing organisations, the successful candidate will be responsible for planning, co-ordinating, collating data, reporting on and budgeting for all team activities associated with functional indicator analysis at UCC.

The School of Food and Nutritional Sciences at University College Cork (UCC) has a long-established international reputation as a centre of excellence in Food and Nutritional Research. It has highly experienced and qualified researchers in these areas and has been very productive in co-ordinating and participating in many national and international research projects. The School collaborates with other universities and research institutes both nationally and internationally in publicly funded research and development projects.

Post Duration: 6 Months

Salary: €30,025 - €39,908 p.a. (IUA Research Assistant Salary Scale)

Project: DPTC (Dairy Processing Technology Centre) 

For an information package including further details of the post see https://ore.ucc.ie/.  

Informal enquiries can be made in confidence to Prof Seamus O’Mahony, School of Food & Nutritional Science Tel: + 353 (0) 21 4903625; Email: [email protected]

Applications must be submitted online via the University College Cork vacancy portal (https://ore.ucc.ie/). Please include names and contact details of three referees. Queries relating to the online application process should be referred to [email protected], quoting the job-title and project name.

Candidates should apply, in confidence, before 12 noon (Irish Local Time) on Friday, 01st March, 2024.

No late applications will be accepted.

Please note that an appointment to posts advertised will be dependent on University approval, together with the terms of the employment control framework for the higher education sector.

UCC is committed to creating and fully embracing an inclusive environment where diversity is celebrated.  As a University we strive to create a workplace that reflects the diversity of our student population where people from a wide variety of backgrounds learn from one another, share ideas, and work collaboratively. UCC is committed to being an employer that recognises the value of diversity amongst its staff.  We encourage applicants to consult our policies at https://www.ucc.ie/en/edi/policies/ and initiatives at https://www.ucc.ie/en/edi/implementation/ and we welcome applications from everyone, including those who are underrepresented in the protected characteristics set out in our Equal Opportunities & Diversity Policy. 

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE CORK IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES EMPLOYER