Applicants are invited for a PhD fellowship/scholarship at Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University, Denmark, within the Animal and Veterinary Sciences programme. The position is available from 01 February 2026 or later. You can submit your application via the link under 'how to apply'.
Title
Targeted Fermentation for Improved Feed Resources – part of the Horizon Europe project ‘Nourishing Europe's Future through Regenerative Animal Nutrition’ (NUTRIFEEDS)
Research area and project description
The research area of the PhD project is microbiology and animal nutrition, and the aim is to characterize bacterial strains for their ability to be used in targeted fermentation of certain food by-products and side streams for optimizing their use as livestock feed.
Domestic production of plant protein for animal feed in the EU is insufficient, as it accounts for only 27% of the total feed protein used in the EU. As a result, the ‘protein gap’ in the EU is currently being filled by im-porting soya products from overseas. NUTRIFEEDS aims to explore and improve the potential of alternative protein sources by targeted fermentation processes, developed to transform by-products and side streams from food production, crop residues and climate resilient plants into high-quality feed products.
Targeted fermentation refers to the deliberate and strategic use of specific microorganisms to enhance the nutritional value of feed materials. The focus of the PhD project is therefore investigation and selection of microorganisms that can break down antinutritional factors and release locked nutrients.
The starting point will be a collection of bacterial strains, isolated from the gastrointestinal tract of pigs, as well as commercially available strains that will be tested in laboratory growth media for their ability to degrade pure compounds of selected antinutritional factors. Promising new isolates will be further characterized (genotypically and phenotypically). This is followed by performing in vitro fermentations with the most promising bacterial strains using side stream matrices (e.g., brewer’s spent grain) and analysing the resulting metabolite profiles. Finaly, a small-scale in vivo trial will be conducted in the university barns to assess performance of pigs fed a prototype fermented feed product.
The project will be run in close collaboration with NUTRIFEEDS partners at the Institute of Animal Nutrition, Freie Universität Berlin and we therefore offer a challenging PhD position in a highly international environment.
Project description
For technical reasons, you must upload a project description. Please simply copy the project description above and upload it as a PDF in the application.
Qualifications and specific competences
Applicants to the PhD position must have a relevant Master’s degree (120 ECTS) in Biology or Animal Science with documented laboratory skills in microbiology and preferably basic bioinformatics competences.
Place of employment and place of work
The place of employment is Aarhus University, and the place of work is AU Viborg, Blichers Alle 20, 8830 Tjele, Denmark.
Contacts
Applicants seeking further information regarding the PhD position are invited to contact:
- Ole Højberg, ole.hojberg@anivet.au.dk (main supervisor)
- Mette Skou Hedemann, mette.hedemann@anivet.au.dk (co-supervisor)
For information about application requirements and mandatory attachments, please see our application guide. If answers cannot be found there, please contact:
How to apply:
Please follow this link to submit your application.
Application deadline is 31 October 2025 at 23:59 CET
Preferred starting date is 01 February 2026
Please note:
- Only documents received prior to the application deadline will be evaluated. Thus, documents sent after deadline will not be taken into account.
- The programme committee may request further information or invite the applicant to attend an interview.
- Shortlisting will be used, which means that the evaluation committee only will evaluate the most relevant applications.
Aarhus University’s ambition is to be an attractive and inspiring workplace for all and to foster a culture in which each individual has opportunities to thrive, achieve and develop. We view equality and diversity as assets, and we welcome all applicants. All interested candidates are encouraged to apply, regardless of their personal background. Salary and terms of employment are in accordance with applicable collective agreement.
INFORMATIONER OM STILLINGEN:
- Arbejdspladsen ligger i:
Viborg Kommune
-Virksomheden tilbyder:
-Arbejdsgiver:
Aarhus Universitet, Blichers Allé, 8830 Tjele
-Ansøgning:
Ansøgningsfrist: 31-10-2025;
Se mere her: https://job.jobnet.dk/CV/FindWork/Details/d91359f8-cd18-4365-b0ad-204567aa2e73
