SIK – The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology is a private, non-profit, industrial research institute which is a fully owned subsidiary of SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden. The number of employees is approx. 100, most of whom are university graduates. The head office is in Gothenburg, with regional offices in Lund and Uppsala.
SIK works in between academia and industry performing basic research in PhD and post-doc projects as well as assisting industry in R&D projects. Students and professors at SIK are affiliated with Chalmers University of Technology and can accommodate AWARD fellows in the areas of Structure and Material Design, Sensory and Aroma Analysis and Process Technology. SIK also performs R&D in Microbiology and Environmental analysis. The fellow will be integrated in existing projects working together with SIK staff and students.
SIK has specialists in e.g. material science of foods, microscopy, food processing, sensory analysis and aroma chemistry, and have extensive experience in international cooperating e.g. with southern Africa. Previous projects include development of protein based edible coatings for fruits and nuts (Enviropak), sorghum based foams (Sorghumfoam), traditional grains (Traditional Grains Review), drying technology (Combidry) as well as student exchanges in the areas of cereal science, food technology and in-line rheology.
We prefer longer stays of fellows for nine months rather than three months in order for the fellow to be fully integrated in the on-going projects and to properly learn new techniques and materials. Post-docs are preferred due to the complexity of projects.
Gothenburg is a port in the southern part of Sweden and hosts two major universities and several institutes. The climate is costal with mild winters with little snow and pleasant summers with temperatures in the range 20-30°C. The moderate size of the city (500 000 inhabitants) makes local transport smooth. Gothenburg is also a safe city making most sites and events reachable on foot. SIK is nicely located in a forested area in the outskirts of the city, yet easily accessible by bus, bike or on foot.
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