Phd Candidate in Experimental Soft Matter Science Related to Food Applications

It is well known that small particles can get trapped at the interface between two fluids. This effect can be used to coat droplets with micro or nano-scale particles, and thereby stabilize emulsions without the use of surfactant molecules, known as Pickering emulsions.

Would you like to start your career in a European training network of leading research universities and professionals from the industry? Then you might be interested in this PhD position, which will enable you to join the PICKFOOD project. PICKFOOD is a top-level interdisciplinary training and research programme involving 15 PhD positions across physics, physical chemistry and food science. PICKFOOD aims to create at European level a network of next generation young scientists trained in novel methodologies within Pickering emulsions research enabling the development of safe, healthy and functional foods and at the same time minimizing food waste due to lipid oxidation.

This network is detailed on the site www.pickfood.eu

In the PICKFOOD project NTNU has three PhD vacancies working in the area of experimental soft matter science in the Soft and Complex Matter Lab located at the Department of Physics, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology – NTNU in Trondheim Norway. The 13 other Pickfood positions are advertised through the EURAXESS portal (https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/691490 ).

About  Pickfood position #7 located at NTNU:

Title: Particle assembly on liquid droplets.

The current project is to study structure and dynamics of particles on individual  Pickering droplets, primarily by microscopy, including confocal microscopy. This may involve magnetic control and manipulation of individual droplets or pairs of droplets, and in general develop experimental setups that allow precise imaging of static and dynamic phenomena. It will also be of interest to study particle ordering (Pickering layer formation) when the droplets are made of heterogenous or anisotropic liquids, such as liquid crystalline phases.

The NTNU workplace of the PhD candidate will be in the Soft and Complex Matter Lab (http://www.softcomlab.com ) in certain cases supported by the NTNU Nanolab (https://www.ntnu.edu/nano ).

The position has a duration of 3 years.

Staring date for employment in the position is January 1 2022.

Experimental methods that may be utilized in the project are microscopy (optical, atomic force - AFM, electron (SEM, TEM)) and microfluidic methods. Electron-spin resonance will be used to quantify  oxidation of samples. Custom made experiments, such as special purpose sample cells, acoustic levitation etc. will be designed and built with the help of the laboratory’s technical staff, the NTNU mechanical workshop or by own 3D printing.

You will report to Head of Department of Physics Professor Erik Wahlstrøm.

Dr. Paul Dommersnes from the Department of Physics will be the main supervisor of the PhD candidate, and Researcher Matti Knaapila and Professor Jon Otto Fossum   (Department of Physics) will be co-supervisors at NTNU. Supervision at DTU will be conducted by  Professor Charlotte Jacobsen, and at Unilever by Professor Krassimir Velikov.

For more information and how to apply, please click the above 'Apply' button to access.