Research Fellow – Biomass Conversion and Bioprocess Engineering

Research Fellow Position

This is an outstanding opportunity for a Research Fellow to develop expertise and an emerging research profile in bioprocess engineering, biomass conversion and integrated process development. The position forms part of the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub, Engineering Plants to Replace Fossil Carbon, a multi-institutional initiative developing sustainable technologies to convert plant biomass into renewable fuels and high value chemicals.

You will play a leading role in establishing, optimising and integrating biomass conversion processes, with a particular focus on the Hub's one-pot biomass-to-product platform. Working closely with academic researchers, postgraduate students and industry partners, including Novonesis, Sugar Research Australia and Praj Industries, you will help translate laboratory discoveries into robust and scalable bioprocesses with the potential for future industrial application.

Given the highly collaborative and experimentally intensive nature of this research, you will actively engage in daily laboratory activities, student mentoring, and interactions with collaborators and industry partners. This is an exceptional opportunity to work at the interface of biotechnology and engineering, contributing to the development of sustainable biomass-to-product technologies with real-world industrial impact.

Key responsibilities will include:

• Research: Lead the development, establishment and optimisation of integrated biomass conversion processes for diverse lignocellulosic feedstocks. This will include advancing the Hub's one-pot biomass-to-product platform by integrating biomass pre-treatment, enzymatic conversion and downstream processing into robust and scalable workflows. You will design, conduct and optimise bioprocess experiments under industrially relevant conditions, evaluate multi-enzyme and biocatalytic systems, and develop strategies for process intensification, reactor optimisation and process integration. You will also contribute to techno-economic evaluation, collaborative project planning, competitive research funding applications and high-quality research outputs for academic and industry audiences.
• Supervision and Researcher Development: Work collaboratively with colleagues and postgraduate students on interdisciplinary research projects. You will contribute to the supervision, mentoring and capability development of Honours and Higher Degree by Research students and research personnel, while supporting responsible research practices and a positive, inclusive research culture.
• Citizenship and Service: Demonstrate leadership through collaboration and active participation in Hub activities, laboratory operations and internal service. You will develop productive relationships with industry, government and external collaborators, maintain high-quality experimental records, and contribute to a safe, purposeful and well-organised research environment.

This is a research focused position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ's Criteria for Academic Performance.

About UQ

As part of the UQ community, you will have the opportunity to work alongside the brightest minds, who have joined us from all over the world, and within an environment where interdisciplinary collaborations are encouraged. As part of our commitment to excellence in research and professional practice in academic contexts, we are proud to provide our staff with access to world-class facilities and equipment, grant writing support, greater research funding opportunities, and other forms of staff support and development.

The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad: from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading, flexible working arrangements, access to exclusive internal-only vacancies, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.

Tagged as: Life Sciences