PRR Project

Summary

RATIONALE FOR THE NEED TO HIRE THIS CHAIRBefore the COVID-19 pandemic, global efforts were already falling short of eradicating all forms of malnutrition and meeting the 2030 Agenda. Undernutrition and the rising rates of overweight and obesity indicate ongoing challenges in achieving nutritional health. The situation has worsened due to crises like climate change, biodiversity loss, the pandemic, and conflicts. Recent years have shed light on the crucial relationship between diet, health, and environmental sustainability, with the pandemic exacerbating existing nutritional issues and highlighting the urgent need for addressing future demographic changes and their implications on nutrition and health. Recently, the United Nations (UN) established the UN-Nutrition “one UN for nutrition”. This coordination mechanism was established to unify UN efforts in addressing malnutrition in all its forms, bringing together funds at global and country levels, and UN agencies – e.g., the World Health Assembly, the FAO Conference, the Committee on World Food Security, the High-Level Political Forum, the Interagency Task Force on Non-Communicable Diseases and the UN General Assembly - with a mandate in improving nutrition as a means of achieving sustainable development (2030 Agenda). UN Nutrition works towards improving global health outcomes and sustainability. This intersection of health, nutrition and sustainability needs fierce research. Producing safe, high-quality food solutions with nutritional benefits while optimizing processing efficiency and reducing costs is crucial for innovation. Advancing beyond the current state of the art presents several opportunities and challenges. These include adopting plant-based food ingredients, implementing sustainable processing methods, developing functional foods, investigating the complexities of food bioaccessibility, and creating personalized dietary recommendations informed based on gut health metrics. In response to this urgent global issue, CEB proposes 3 research positions that address distinct strategies to tackle these challenges. In this scientific profile, CEB is committed to investing in a role dedicated to fundamental research, aiming at enhancing our understanding of sustainable food processing and digestion technologies. This effort focuses on improving food processing efficiency, and the functionality and nutritional aspects of food, including the bioavailability and bioaccessibility of key compounds.SCIENTIFIC PROFILE REQUIREDThe ideal candidate should have a PhD in Biological and Chemical Engineering, Food Engineering, Food Biotechnology or Food Science and Technology and Nutrition, with a background in food processing methods and digestion in vitro models, as well as protein science and food nanotechnology. A strong proven track record, demonstrating high quality research in this field, will be highly valued. Experience in doctoral supervision, management of research projects, and participation in outreach events will also be valued.TASKS TO BE ASSIGNED TO THE PROSPECTIVE RESEARCHERThe candidate to be recruited will be required to conduct original research aimed at addressing critical challenges in the nexus of nutrition, health, and environmental sustainability. This includes conducting fundamental research into sustainable food processing methods and digestion technologies, with a focus on enhancing efficiency, safety, and food functionality. The researcher will explore innovative processing solutions for adopting non-animal food ingredients, developing functional foods, and understanding food bioaccessibility. Through these tasks, the researcher will contribute to UN Nutrition´s goals of improving global health outcomes and sustainability through advanced nutritional research and development.The selected candidate will also be required to be actively involved in grant proposal development, by participating in large R&D projects submission and to secure his/her research projects, as principal investigator. As such, project management will be a pivotal duty of this Chair.Recruiting  undergraduate students will also be pivotal for the successful development of this Chair. As such, formal supervision duties,  for both MSc and PhD students, will be required.The candidate will also be encouraged to establish and developed new collaboration networks with both national and international researcher’s, that can complement the ongoing  efforts related to food technology, nutrition and health. In line with this duty, it is expected that the candidate will participate in international events.The chosen candidate will also be required to participate in CEB outreach events and will be given the liberty to propose and organize novel outreach events. The candidate will also be stimulated to participate in the governance of CEB, as an active member of its scientific council, and will be encouraged to engage in specialized governing committees.