Bioforsk is a national R&D institute specialising in the fields of agriculture and food production, environmental protection and natural resource management. Bioforsk has 450 employees, with head office located at Ås, near Oslo, and research divisions in all major regions in Norway. Bioforsk Arable Crops at Apelsvoll, Kapp, 120 km north of Oslo, has 45 employees, mainly within applied research on cereals, potatoes, vegetables and soft fruit. Bioforsk Ullensvang, Lofthus in Hardanger, 120 km from Bergen, has 14 employees and a national responsibility for R&D within top and soft fruits. Bioforsk Plantehelse, Ås, 30 km south of Oslo with 110 employees, has national responsibility for R&D within plant health and plant protection. Nofima Mat is one of four business domains in Nofima, an industry-oriented research group of about 470 employees working with R & D for the aquaculture, fisheries and food industries in Norway. Nofima Mat at Ås, with about 180 employees, works with research and counselling regarding food processing. Core areas are raw materials quality and process optimisation, safe and long-lasting food, consumer and sensory sciences, food and health, industrial gastronomy and innovation.
PhD fellowships – long and short-term storage of apples, potatoes and vegetables
Three PhD fellowships are available in the research project ”Improved quality of Norwegian fruits, potatoes and vegetables after long- and short-term storage”. Two of the fellowships will be at Bioforsk (www.bioforsk.no) and one at Nofima Mat (www.nofima.no). The project is funded by the Foundation for Research Levy on Agricultural Products, the Agricultural Agreement Research Fund, and Norwegian food industries. The fellowships are available for a period of four years, starting in 2010, with the aim of completing PhD-degrees in 2014.
Successful applicants will be enrolled in the PhD program at UMB (Norwegian University of Life Sciences). All PhD students will join a common project group, but with separate model crops and work locations. The main work sites will be Bioforsk Ullensvang (apples), Nofima Mat, Ås (vegetables) and Bioforsk Apelsvoll with part time at Bioforsk Plantehelse (potatoes). All candidates must be prepared for periodic stays at Campus Ås and also to perform some of the work outside Norway. Additional duties at the respective institutes will be maximum 25 % of the total time.
The project is multidisciplinary and involves cooperation between national and international partners. The aim is to increase national competence on long- and short-term storage of fruit and vegetables, including potatoes. The project includes the development of knowledge and techniques used for prediction of storage behaviour of these commodities based on pre- and post-harvest factors.
PhD fellowship – potatoes. In addition to physiological and chemical factors related to the maturity of potatoes, the work on potatoes will also include plant pathology (including molecular methods) and use of different storage techniques.
PhD fellowship – apples. The work on apples involves methods related to cell structure and the use of data obtained by such methods in relation to climatic conditions and crop nutritional status in the prediction of storability.
PhD fellowship – vegetables. The work on short-term storage will be on minimal processing of selected Norwegian vegetables and vegetable mixes, followed by cold storage in modified atmosphere packaging. Focus will be on physiological and chemical responses. State-of-the-art techniques for minimal processing, active packaging, respirometry and chemical analysis will be used.
The applicants must fulfil the qualifications needed for PhD students. They should have relevant higher education (Master-level) in biology, chemistry, plant science, food science or another subject area relevant for the topics of the studies. English should be mastered in both written and spoken form. The applicants should be able to both collaborate and to work independently.
For further information contact the project leader Arne Hermansen, Bioforsk, Tel. 90745068, e mail: arne.hermansen@bioforsk.no. Contacts for the specific positions are for potatoes eldrid.lein.molteberg@bioforsk.no (Tel. 40482799), for apples eivind.vangdal@bioforsk.no (Tel. 90628035) and for minimally processed vegetables anders.leufven@nofima.no (Tel. 64970267).
Final date for applications April 6, 2010
Applications in Norwegian or English, including CV and references should be sent to Bioforsk, Frederik A. Dahls vei 20, 1432 Ås, or by e-mail to post@bioforsk.no. Mark the application “Postharvest” and indicate which of the three PhD fellowships you wish to apply for. Application papers will not be returned with the exception of original publications.
