Project description
Biotech training for food science innovation
The mix of food science and biotechnology is an emerging field that offers vast possibilities – from food manufacturing to process and from packaging to preservation. The Germany-based, technology-driven company, c-LEcta has developed a unique technology platform to produce food ingredients. The EU-funded BOB project will support c-LEcta in their search for a specialist in the field of industrial biotechnology/food science and innovation management/business administration. The candidate will be trained and called upon to identify and assess new target products, turning the assessment into an innovation idea and strategy for at least one innovation project.
Objective
The main objective of BOB is to hire and integrate a highly-committed candidate to build up an innovation strategy at c-LEcta to valorize its unique technology platform by developing an innovation project according to the company strategy to become a food ingredient producer. The envisaged innovation will help to solve the industrial problem of natural product synthesis, which is today hampered by yield limits, inefficiencies in chemical synthesis, or side-effects. The functional potential of numerous natural products can only be fully exploited if the commercial production at low cost is possible. Synthetic biology is expected to achieve a break-through for increased or cheaper production. c-LEcta has conceptualized a unique technology platform, already demonstrated the concept’s feasibility, and is targeting new molecules for further growth.
However, the innovation team currently lacks of a candidate that comprises excellent technology knowledge in industrial biotechnology and/or food science and innovation management or business administration skills for assessing market values at an early development stage. The German job market is currently marked by a lack of expert personnel, and c-LEcta is experiencing difficulties in receiving high-quality responses to such a position, as it is not visible enough to job-seekers. This will be overcome by a targeted international publication of the vacancy on EURAXESS and beyond. After acquisition of a suitable candidate according to the defined profile, the specific objectives of BOB are: 1) to train the Associate according to a dedicated initiation and advanced training plan (according to the specific needs of the candidate); 2) to identify and assess new target products; and 3) to turn this assessment into an innovation idea and a strategy, deriving at least 1 innovation project. Finally, the Innovation Associate is expected to stay with the company and to strengthen the Innovation and Business development team.
Fields of science
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
CSA - Coordination and support actionCoordinator
04103 Leipzig
Germany
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.