Postgraduate Scholarship

Flinders University / SARDI : Microalgal strain optimization for lipids and bioactives - Postgraduate Scholarship

Internal Closing Date: 22-06-2009

Flinders University in collaboration with the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) has been granted a South Australian Premier's Science and Research Fund (PSRF) grant to develop a microalgal biodiesel biorefinery to realise a sustainable South Australian biofuels industry. Under this program we are offering a PhD scholarship of $25,000 per annum for three years starting July 2009. The scholarship has an additional operating budget of at least $9,000 per year for three years and $300 towards thesis binding in the third year. The successful candidate will be fully engaged in the PSRF project and will interact with other members of the multidisciplinary project team.

We are looking to appoint a postgraduate student to undertake a PhD project that aims to select and improve native microalgal strains for biodiesel production on large scale. The key challenge to develop an elite algal strain for biodiesel production is to ensure simultaneous high biomass growth rate high lipid yield and tolerance to fluctuating environmental conditions. A number of strain improvement and selection strategies will be employed to obtain high lipid yielding strains and other desirable traits, and will be facilitated with high throughput methods such as Fluorescence activated cell sorting. Strain selection will be complemented with process improvement techniques that will lead to an end point of high growth and lipid yield. This project will offer the student an excellent platform to develop skills in molecular and cell biology and integrate this training with bioprocessing operations. It will also provide an entry into the exciting area of sustainable biofuel production.

The student will be enrolled at Flinders University CRICOS Provider , Adelaide, and will be co-supervised at Flinders by Professor Chris Franco, who has over 20 years of experience in industry screening and strain improvement, and Dr Sasi Nayar, a marine biologist with over 15 years experience in microalgal culture and who leads the algal production program at SARDI Aquatic Sciences.

The student will work primarily in the newly commissioned Health Sciences Building housing the Flinders Marine Bioproducts and Bioprocessing facility located in the laboratories of the Dept. of Medical Biotechnology, at the Flinders University Bedford Park campus. Some components of the project will require work to be carried out at SARDI laboratories at West Beach, Adelaide, and at the SARDI hosted NCRIS facility in metropolitan Adelaide where the large scale algal facility will be located.

Selection criteria – essential:

1. An Honours (1ST or 2A) degree, Master's degree (Distinction average) or equivalent in a relevant discipline (e.g., Biological Sciences, Biotechnology, Biochemical Engineering, Cell and Molecular Biology or Aquaculture).
2. Demonstrated ability to culture microbial, plant or mammalian cells and carry out biological and biochemical experimentation and data analysis.
3. Ability and experience in working both independently and as part of an interdisciplinary team.
4. Strong written and oral communication skills, including an ability to publish and present results of scientific research and to communicate effectively in a variety of scientific and non-scientific forums.
5. Knowledge, understanding and commitment to Equal Employment Opportunity, Occupational Health and Safety including biosafety, Workplace Diversity and Employee Participation.
6. Compliance with the requirement to sign a non-disclosure agreement and Intellectual Property (IP) assignment agreement with the University due to the commercial nature of the project. IP counseling will be provided as per standard University policy for students.

Selection criteria – desirable:

7. Demonstrated ability to conduct independent research into literature and other sources of information on existing research on algal biology, strain improvement and biosynthesis of primary and secondary metabolites.
8. Demonstrated ability to perform laboratory cell culture, and biochemical analysis and quantitation procedures (e.g., fermentation, cell viability measurements, assessment of growth kinetics, microscopy, HPLC, GC-MS, flow cytometry, spectrophotometer, bioassays).
9. A commitment to applied research and an interest in supporting the development of bioenergy and renewable fuels.

Applicants should address each selection criterion individually and should argue their case by citing evidence to support their claims rather than presenting a list of facts only. A willingness to explore and learn is also important.

Applicants are required to include two documents: (1) a document addressing the selection criteria and (2) a "Resume or CV" including the names of at least two referees. For instructions on how to apply, please follow the information on the following links: http://www.flinders.edu.au/scholarships/

The application form is at http://www.flinders.edu.au/scholarships-system/forms/hdrscholarships.cfm

International applicants must meet the English language requirement - see http://www.flinders.edu.au/international-students/study/entry--and-english-requirements/english-language-requirements.cfm

The final decision on the award of this scholarship will be based on an assessment of the requirements of the total Position Description. The decision will be final but feedback may be given to unsuccessful candidates as to how to improve their future applications. For further information regarding this scholarship, organisational environment and other aspects of pursuing a PhD at Flinders University, please contact:

Prof Chris Franco, Head, Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA 5042. Phone: +618 7221 8554 / 0421 547 016, Fax: +61 8 7221 8555, Email: chris.franco@flinders.edu.au, OR;

Dr Sasi Nayar, Phytoplankton Biologist and Subprogram Leader, Algal Production Group, SARDI - Aquatic Sciences, 2 Hamra Avenue, West Beach SA 5024. Phone: +618 8207 5321, Fax : +61 8 8207 5481, Email: sasi.nayar@sa.gov.au.

Email address for more information: chris.franco@flinders.edu.au
Download an application form for this scholarship scheme. This document is provided as an Adobe Acrobat portable document format (pdf) file. You will need to install the Adobe Acrobat reader on your computer to view pdf files. The Adobe Acrobat Reader is available free of charge from Adobe's website. Adobe provides tools for converting pdf files to HTML and ASCII text for users with vision impairments at its access.adobe.com website. If you require this document in other formats (plain text, ASCII), please contact the Higher Degree Administration and Scholarships Office.
Scholarship Type: Postgraduate Research