About the research project
In this doctoral student project, you will engineer bacteria to produce, display, and secrete carbonic anhydrases — enzymes that play a key role in biomineralization. Your work will include microbiology experiments, genetic engineering, protein purification, and biochemical analyses, as well as optimizing growth on waste biomass and conducting large-scale fermentations. You will be part of an interdisciplinary team at Chalmers and collaborate regularly with industry experts.
Who we are looking for
The following requirements are mandatory:
- To qualify as a Doctoral student, you must have a Master’s degree (masterexamen) of 120 credits or a Master’s degree (magisterexamen) of 60 credits* in biotechnology.
- Hands-on experience with bacterial cultivation and genetic engineering.
- Experience with sustainable extraction of biomass.
- >1 year of microbiology laboratory work experience.
- Ability to work as a part of an interdisciplinary team.
- Ability to plan and execute scientific studies from conception to implementation, including paper writing.
- You will need strong written and verbal communication skills in English.
*for students with an education earned outside of Sweden, a 4-year Bachelor’s degree is accepted.
The following experience will strengthen your application:
- Experience with AI-based synthetic biology.
What you will do
- Develop your own scientific concepts and communicate the results of your research verbally and in writing
- Microbiology assays and genetic engineering
- Protein purification and biochemical assays
- Optimization of growth on waste biomass and large scale fermentation
- The position generally also includes teaching on Chalmers’ undergraduate level or performing other duties corresponding to 20 percent of working hours
Contract terms
- The Doctoral student positions are fully funded from start.
- The position is a fixed-term appointment of four years, with the possibility to teach up to 20%, which extends the position up to five years.
- A starting salary of 34,550 SEK per month (valid from May 25, 2025).
- Doctoral studies require physical presence throughout the entire study period. A valid residence permit must be presented by the study start date; otherwise the admission may be withdrawn.
What we offer
- As a Doctoral student at Chalmers, you are an employee and enjoy all employee benefits. Read more about working at Chalmers and our benefits for employees.
- A dynamic and inspiring working environment in the coastal city of Gothenburg.
- Read more about Sweden’s generous parental leave, subsidized day care, free schools, healthcare etc at Move To Gothenburg.
Chalmers is dedicated to improving gender balance and actively works with equality projects, such as the GENIE Initiative for gender equality and excellence. We celebrate diversity and consider equality and inclusion as fundamental aspects of all our activities.
If Swedish is not your native language, Chalmers offers Swedish courses to help you settle in.
Find more general information about doctoral studies at Chalmers here.
Application procedure
The application should be written in English and attached as PDF-files, as below. Maximum size for each file is 40 MB. Please note that the system does not support Zip files.
CV
Personal letter
- A brief introduction about yourself.
- A brief motivation as to why you are interested in this position.
Bachelor’s and, if available, master’s thesis together with the transcripts.
Use the button at the foot of the page to reach the application form.
Please note: The applicant is responsible for ensuring that the application is complete. Incomplete applications and applications sent by email will not be considered. Contact details to references will be requested after the interview.
We promise that qualifications of each applicant will be assessed by human evaluators, no AI will be used in screening of candidates.
We welcome your application no later than December 15th, 2025.
For questions, please contact:
Prof. Ivan Mijakovic, SysBio, ivan.mijakovic@chalmers.se
Link for Apply: https://www.chalmers.se/en/about-chalmers/work-with-us/vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=14351
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