Limit of tenure: 4 Years.
2 PhD students are sought for an international collaboration between the Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology, the Netherlands, NIZO Food Research, the Netherlands, and the Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, UK. The 4 year project is aimed at elucidating the physico-chemical properties of highly concentrated protein solutions, and is funded in the Industrial Partnership Programme of the Dutch Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter FOM.
Position 1: statistical mechanical studies of coarse-grained models of dense dispersions of proteins by means of analytical theory and computer simulation. The theorist will be based in Eindhoven and enrol in the Dutch PhD system. Close collaboration with the experimental partners will require frequent visits to Cambridge.
Position 2: experimental studies on dense protein solutions with a wide variety of techniques including electron and light microscopy, microrheology, diffusing wave spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, neutron scattering and NMR The experimentalist will be based in Cambridge and enrol in the University of Cambridge PhD system. Some essential experiments will also be carried out at NIZO Food Research and Utrecht University in The Netherlands, and frequent visits to the Netherlands are envisaged also for reporting purposes.
Applicants (who must be EU citizens for the position in Cambridge due to funding constraints) should be educated to Master's Level in Physics, Chemistry or Materials Science. The positions are available from around the start of 2011.
Project Description
High concentrations may cause the unfolding of the proteins from their native compact, soluble state into a more extended and insoluble state stabilized by strong intermolecular interactions that drive solidification and release of water (syneresis). The purpose of the proposed research programme is to study the poorly understood interaction between globular protein molecules in concentrated systems, where hydration is limited by lack of water. This will be done by studying the micro- and macro-structural rearrangements and concomitant changes in rheological and elastic properties when solutions of proteins are condensed towards the intended levels for high-protein foods. While the physics of dilute protein suspensions and their denaturation caused by poor solvent quality, salt, heat and enzymatic breakdown have been the subject of intense study, little academic attention has been devoted to concentrations at which there is a competition among protein molecules for hydration water and conformational space. To understand the structure of a dense, high protein systems we will study how structural changes on a molecular level (nanometers) affect order at the supramolecular level (micrometers), as well as the structure and mechanics at the heterogeneous mesoscopic (> micrometer) scale. Getting to grips with the physics at each of these length scales presents a fundamental challenge that we address via an interwoven combination of theory and experiment, by adapting multi-scale models borrowed from soft-matter physics, and by applying a range of spectroscopic, optical and dynamical-mechanical techniques.
Applications should be sent to:
Prof. P. van der Schoot (applications for the theoretical position 1)
Theory of Polymers and Soft Matter Group, Department of Applied Physics, Eindhoven University of Technology P.O. Box 513, 5600 MB Eindhoven.
Email: p.p.a.m.v.d.schoot@tue.nl
Prof. A.M. Donald (applications for the experimental position 2)
Sector of Biological & Soft Systems, Department of Physics, University of Cambridge, Cavendish Laboratory, J. J. Thomson Ave, Cambridge CB3 0HE, UK.
Email: amd3@cam.ac.uk
Quote Reference: KA07593, Closing Date: 31 January 2011
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