PhD Programme in Food Engineering and Biotechnology

PhD Programme in
Food Engineering and Biotechnology

A public competition for the allocation of PhD positions in Food Engineering and Biotechnology is open for

• 5 positions is announced, of which 5 will be covered by scholarship.

Programme content
The PhD on Food Engineering and Biotechnology is a full-time programme.
PhD students should benefit from the special multilingual opportunities offered by the University, which include activities/events in Italian, German or other languages (e.g., seminars, optional courses, social events). The PhD programme comprises lectures and research activities that can be completed both at the Free University of Bozen-Bolzano and at universities abroad. The time spent abroad can be at one of the foreign universities where foreign members of the PhD Course Committee are coming from or at other universities or research centres. Research areas
The following research areas, including sub-headings, are considered: Primary food production
This issue mainly concerns those foods that are not subjected to technology processing, and their relationships with the agriculture and environmental features. The main goal is to focus on natural, sustainable and high performing processes and products. Non-restrictive examples of related research areas are as follows: renewable technologies and sensors in agriculture engineering; sensors and predictive tools for application in agricultural industries; precision agriculture; identification of microbial and plant metabolic markers in response environmental stresses and nutritional supply; thermo-conversion of agriculture and food by-products for the production of chemical compounds; development and evaluation of processes in the company for the preservation of plant products. Set-up, management and validation of food processes
This issue mainly concerns food processing, with particular emphasis to the set up, and consequent management and validation, of novel processes for the manufacture of products with very high quality sensory, rheology, hygiene and nutritional attributes. Non-restrictive examples 3 of related research areas are as follows: optimization of structure, aroma and hygiene of food and beverages (wine chain); point-of-care diagnostic for food and beverages (wine) traceability, quality assessment and smart packaging; application of non-thermal technologies and rapid methods (e.g., electrochemical biosensors); food microstructure engineering; biotechnology production of natural foods through the gene and enzyme conditioning; conditioning of the chemical changes of food compounds with high nutritional value; study and definition of chemical and sensory markers of authenticity and process for food and beverages (wine) as strategic decision support for food companies and wineries. Application of the omics techniques
This issue mainly concerns the application of food omics platforms (meta-genomics, proteomics and/or metabolomics) for conditioning and characterizing food processing and products, with particular emphasis towards fermented foods and beverages. Omics platforms will deserve an interest also to characterize the food-human axis, aiming at strengthening the role of the gut microbiome. Non-restrictive examples of related research areas are as follows: functional characterization of foods and related microbiota for the manufacture of fermented foods; set-up of microbial food processes for improving the nutritional and functional attributes; characterization and use of chemical nutrients that affect the response by the human gastrointestinal microbiome; exploitation of the potential of food by-products. Duration: 3 years
Official teaching language: English
Further information about the PhD programme can be found here.
The application should be submitted here by 15. June 2023, 12:00 midday (GTM +2.00) Contact person:
Karin Felderer
Sparkassenstr. 21
I-39100 Bozen
Tel. +39-0471-012805
phd@unibz.it