Deadline: March 31, 2020
Applications for Future Food Fellowship 2020 are open. Future Food provides opportunities to educate and train new talent around the food value chain by leveraging the complementary strengths of the Swiss academic and industrial research communities.
The fellowship is a postdoc programme for exceptionally qualified young researchers who propose projects targeting future food issues such as nutrition, production, packaging and digital health. The fellowship provides personal research funds for three years, enabling fellows to work on their projects in a research laboratory anywhere in Switzerland with a “champion” in academia (the host professor at ETH Zurich or EPFL) and in industry (the industry partner).
The overarching goal of the Future Food Initiative is to develop solutions that address grand challenges, including sustainable packaging (for example the elimination of plastics) and affordable nutrition (for example combatting deficiencies and starvation globally). A successful fellow must demonstrate the willingness to engage with scientific or economic issues across the frontiers of food and nutrition sciences.
The aim is to award up to ten fellowships each year. The actual number depends on how many candidates successfully complete a selection process culminating with a face-to-face interview. In addition to scientific skills, the personality and motivation of the candidates will also be considered. However, the main criterion for selection is scientific excellence combined with industrial relevance. The call for new research or translational projects is conducted once every year.
Funding
The programme aims to award ten fellowships each year. However, available funds will only be exhausted if the quality standards of the programme are fulfilled. The maximum duration of funding for each postdoctoral Fellowship is three years.
The funding will be granted to cover the fellow’s salary in accordance with the host institution’s standard conditions plus annual funds of max. 20,000 Swiss Francs for project costs directly related to the approved project. Upon project approval, funds will be allocated at the start of the project for the entire duration of the project to the hosting laboratory, which will manage its usage in conformity with the rules of the hosting institution.
Eligibility
To submit a proposal within the framework of the Future Food Initiative, the following eligibility criteria must be fulfilled:
- Citizens of any nationality may apply; there are no restrictions concerning age.
- Applicants must hold a doctorate (PhD) and must have obtained their doctoral degree at maximum three years before the submission deadline. The latest possible date for a successful defence of the PhD is 30 September succeeding the interview date.
- Applicants must not have been affiliated for studies, research, employment or other activities (with or without payment) at either ETH Zurich or EPFL during the 12 months that immediately precede the submission deadline.
- Applications will not be forwarded for evaluation if applicants already hold or have held a faculty-equivalent position (e.g. assistant professor) in a higher education institution in Switzerland or abroad.
- Applications and supporting documentation must be written in English.
- The prospective research project must also comply with the applicable ethics regulations and adhere to the principles of research integrity valid at the host institution (ETH Zurich or EPFL). Relevant ethical, legal and social considerations should be included in the proposal.
Criteria
The Call 2020 is open to any outstanding proposal that fits the criteria. Special preference will initially be given to projects that address the following areas:
- Plant-based proteins
- Eligible examples: Dairy analogues, meat analogues, sustainable proteins, etc.
- Digital technologies for food design
- Eligible examples: Development of food structures, modelling of flavour profiles, modelling of stability, formulation of new food products, etc.
- Not eligible: Consumer apps, dietary recommendations, manufacturing technologies or optimisation
- Sustainable packaging
- Eligible examples: New or transformed materials, bio-sources, re-use or recycling, bio-degradation, new packaging formats, etc.
- Microbiome
- Eligible examples: Concrete applications
- Not eligible: Longer-term, fundamental research
For all subsequent calls, the topics for research projects will be announced on a yearly basis.
Application
For more information, visit Future Food.
