Future Food – A Swiss Research Initiative 2020, ETH Zurich and EPFL, Switzerland

ETH Zurich and EPFL have launched Future Food – A Swiss Research Initiative (“Future Food Initiative”) together with Swiss food industry leaders Bühler, Givaudan and Nestlé as the first partners on board, with the possibility for additional partners to join in the near future. The goal of the initiative is to expand research and education in the area of food and nutrition sciences; the fellowship programme within the initiative aims at bringing together competences from academic and industrial research in this field. The overarching goal 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. In short, the research project must meet the following criteria:

1. Over a time horizon in the order of ten years, the project will be able to significantly impact the research fields of food and nutrition and/or has significant potential for societal or industrial impact, for example by affecting a large segment of the consumer market, leading to new industrial processes, solving ecologically important issues, or improving the quality of human life or health.
2. It brings together, in a collaborative effort, Swiss companies participating in this programme with one or several laboratories in at least one of the two Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology (ETH Zurich or EPFL);
3. It is led and managed by the fellowship recipient, who is embedded in a hosting laboratory or in hosting laboratories at ETH Zurich or EPFL;
4. It has an annual budget equal to the fellow’s salary according to standard conditions of the host institution plus annual funds of max. 20’000 Swiss Francs for project costs directly related to the approved project.

The programme is structured around annual calls for proposals for research projects at the postdoctoral level. The fellowship provides personal research funds for three years that enable fellows to work on their projects in a research laboratory with a host professor at ETH Zurich or EPFL and, in certain instances, in industry (under conditions to be agreed upon).

The programme is co-managed by the World Food System Center at ETH Zurich and the Integrative Food Science and Nutrition Center at EPFL.

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.

For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.