We are Austria’s largest research and technology organisation and an international player in applied research for innovative infrastructure solutions. This makes us a powerful development partner for industry and a top employer in the scientific community. Our Center for Health & Bioresources is seeking to hire a new Ingenious Partner for our location in Tulln (in immediate vicinity to Vienna):

Master Thesis “Encapsulation of biostimulants for foliar spray”

IMAGINE

• Increasing human health and environmental concerns as well as steeply rising regulatory hurdles are shifting innovation from synthetic to biological control agents.
• Microbial bioeffectors, elicitor compounds and plant essential oils are the most promising alternatives to chemical pesticides to protect plants from disease. Those active ingredients need to be packed into a stable matrix to be successfully delivered to the field. Several techniques are available to produce such beads and capsules. In the field the active ingredients are then released upon contact with moisture.

ENGAGE

• You will prepare beads and capsules with three different types of active ingredients (bacteria, elicitor compound, oil) using extrusion as well as emulsion techniques. For extrusion, a Büchi encapsulator will be employed with either a flow vibration or concentric nozzle system.
• We will test a range of biopolymers including alginate, various gums and celluloses.
• The beads and capsules will be dried under different conditions and swellability and release of active ingredient will be determined using the light microscope and specific assays.

ACHIEVE

• We will build a simple spray apparatus, aimed to evaluate the beads in a spray formulation (spray pattern, drop size, size homogeneity).

Your qualifications as an Ingenious Partner (m/f):

• Enrolled as a master student in biochemistry or a related field
• Accuracy in laboratory work and profound knowledge in biochemistry
• Highly-motivated, willing to interact and contribute scientifically to our multidisciplinary-team.
• Excellent communication skills in English both in spoken and written.

What to expect: 
EUR 719,51 gross per month for 20 hours/week based on the collective agreement. There will be additional company benefits. As a research institution, we are familiar with the supervision and execution of Master theses and we are looking forward to supporting you accordingly! 

At AIT, the promotion of young female scientists is important to us - that's why we are especially looking forward to applications from ambitious female candidates! 

TOMORROW TODAY - WITH YOU?

Please submit your application documents including CV, cover letter and certificates online, via: https://jobs.ait.ac.at/Job/115234