PhD student position in Seaweed valorization for high quality products

SUSWEED aims at releasing the potential of Swedish seaweed as a future sustainable food source. You will be part of creating new circular seaweed cultivation systems, and subsequently, in the design of new processing sequences securing high-quality seaweed products.
Information about the division and the department
The (FNS) is one of four research divisions at . FNS addresses major societal challenges related to sustainable food production, nutrition and health. We conduct fundamental and applied research, innovation, education and dissemination in Food and Nutrition Science with the aim to provide new knowledge and solutions that pave the way for a sustainable planet and healthy humans. Research topics span from food chemistry and food technology to molecular and data- driven nutrition (Precision Nutrition). In Food Science, we focus primarily on marine and plant-based food systems for which we develop tools and processes to promote high food quality, minimize losses throughout the value chain and allow nutrient recovery from alternative biomasses. In nutrition, we focus on human observational and intervention studies as well as cell- based model studies and apply advanced data-driven approaches and state of the art biochemical and OMICs technologies to understand and predict the role of foods, dietary components and dietary patterns in human health. The research is also related to global food security topics in an international context.

Major responsibilities
In this PhD-project, food industry side streams will be pre-processed for optimal integration into seaweed cultivation, the latter carried out by Tjärnö Marine laboratory and Nordic Seafarm. Subsequently, protein-enriched seaweed biomasses will be stabilized and converted into versatile and high-quality intermediate raw materials; ready for the industry to incorporate into a broad variety of food products, some developed within the project. Important tasks will here be to optimize the sequence of stabilization and processing methods against the seaweed colour, flavour and nutritional properties, the latter in terms of both nutrient content and digestibility/accessibility.

Results will boost diversification of our food system, stimulate broad acceptance for seaweed as a new sustainable food commodity and ultimately enhance food security. The work is part of the Formas-funded SUSWEED project, and will be carried out in close collaboration between academic and industrial partners paving the way for fast implementation of project results.