1. You have a PhD in Engineering Technology (preferably specialized in Biochemistry), a PhD in Bioscience Engineering, a PhD in Brewing and Beverage Technology or an equivalent degree in a domain that guarantees an excellent starting position for the above described teaching and research programme.
2. You have a strong research track record in the discipline, evidenced by your publications or by your research experience in industry. You have the ambition to contribute to the valorisation of research in industry and in society. International experience is an important asset.
3. You have verifiable qualities related to academic education. Teaching experience is an advantage.
4. You possess organisational skills and have a cooperative attitude. You also possess leadership competencies in a university or industry context.
5. Both junior and senior profiles are eligible. In principle, junior researchers are appointed as assistant professor on the tenure track for a period of 5 years. At the end of this period and after a positive evaluation, they are permanently appointed (or tenured) as associate professor.
6. Proficiency in English is required. The official language used at KU Leuven is Dutch. If you do not speak Dutch (or do not speak it well) at the start of employment, KU Leuven will provide language training to enable you to take part in meetings. Before teaching courses in Dutch or English, you will be given the opportunity to learn Dutch, respectively English, to the required standard.
KU Leuven offers a full-time academic vacancy in the area of bioprocess technology for the beverage industry at its Ghent Campus (educational programmes in engineering technology). We are looking for internationally oriented candidates with a strong interdisciplinary research record and capable of supporting our educational programmes in engineering technology (chemistry-biochemistry) in the field of biochemistry, biotechnology and biochemical process technology.The successful applicant will be appointed in the Department of Microbial and Molecular Systems, Division Food and Microbial Technology, of the Science, Engineering and Technology Group of KU Leuven, and will join the research group Enzyme, Fermentation and Brewing Technology (EFBT) at the Ghent Campus of KU Leuven (educational programmes in engineering technology). The research group is active in applied scientific research and development and technological services for the beverage, food and feed industry with a strong emphasis on the malting and brewing process (raw materials, beer flavour stability, high-tech hopping, development of specialty beers, industrial proteomics, technological innovations), and it has developed an extensive national and international network. An up-to-date lab and pilot infrastructure is available, including bioreactors for the production of bacteria and fungi, enzymes and other functional proteins as well as high-quality microbial metabolites from side streams. The research group also has a very well equipped analytical centre for microbiological and (bio)chemical monitoring of the processes and for chemical-analytical fingerprinting and sensory profiling of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, food products and packaging materials.We offer full-time employment in an intellectually stimulating environment.KU Leuven is a research-intensive, internationally oriented university that carries out both fundamental and applied scientific research. Our university is highly focused on interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary research and strives for international excellence. In this regard, the university actively works together with research partners in Belgium and abroad and provides its students with an academic education that is based on high-quality scientific research.You will work at the Ghent Campus of KU Leuven (educational programmes in engineering technology, Campus Rabot), in a historic city with a 40-minute rail connection to Brussels, and about three hours train to Paris, London and Amsterdam.To facilitate scientific onboarding and accelerate research in the first phase, a research position will be made available equivalent to a PhD scholarship for 4 years. If you have no other substantial funding available to you, you can apply for a start-up grant of EUR 100.000, on the condition that you are appointed for at least 50%.KU Leuven is well set to welcome foreign professors and their family and provides practical support with regard to immigration & administration, housing, childcare, learning Dutch, partner career coaching, …