Department of Food Science and Technology
Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering
University of California, Davis

This is a nine-month tenure-track appointment with eleven-month term employment to be offered and continued based on academic personnel review.

The Mission Statement of the Department of FST articulates the goal of ensuring the availability of safe, nutritious, appealing food with minimal environmental impact for the benefit of all people. As such it will be seen that the department's mission and that of the Foods for Health initiative can be superimposed. The Foods for Health website is at: http://caes.ucdavis.edu/AcadProg/foods_for_health.htm.

The mission of BAE is to discover, develop, and disseminate new mechanisms and processes for the sustainable production, management and use of biological materials in natural and controlled environments, and to prepare students to undertake this work within industrial, governmental and academic settings. The unifying theme is the management and control of biological materials and processes. Food engineering is currently one of the major strengths of our program, and we hope to maintain our leadership role by branching into new areas such as that proposed here.

Responsibilities: The holder of this position will conduct important collaborative research under the auspices of the Foods for Health Institute with existing faculty who are presently working on structure-function relations in foods and advanced food sensors, processing and packaging techniques to improve food safety and sensory quality. The candidate is expected to conduct mission-oriented, applied research and outreach relevant to the mission of the California Agricultural Experiment Station. The successful candidate will occupy a key position in a University-wide multi-disciplinary program in Foods for Health that aims at providing foods with nutrients optimized for each individual to reduce the risks for chronic diseases. In particular, the holder of this position will develop new post-harvest handling and processing techniques that will be key links in providing precise delivery of nutrients tailored to the needs of individuals or targeted sub-populations.

This individual must have high interest and ability to integrate work on post-harvest handling and processing with colleagues working on food production, safety, nutrition, health, economic, sensory and social sciences, so that synergies will result. The selected individual will also have important interactions with other faculty who are working on changes in plant and animal foods and agricultural practices to improve nutrient profiles, faculty who are developing methods for identifying and quantifying phytonutrients in foods, and faculty who are identifying factors that influence consumer food choices. In addition to the targeted emphasis on providing precise and targeted delivery of nutrients to individuals and identifiable sub-populations, the research is expected to involve novel food handling and processing techniques that allow for profitable commercial application and that have minimal environmental impact.

The holder of this position will be expected to teach courses in Food Science and/or Biological Engineering and, as such, is required to show evidence of ability to teach. Teaching responsibilities will include undergraduate and graduate courses in food processing and food design and process engineering that enhance the Foods for Health Institute.

Qualifications: Applicants are expected to have a Ph.D. in Engineering and a record of research publications. Academic preparation and/or industrial experience in food processing is desirable, as is a demonstrated ability to obtain external funding.

Salary: Commensurate with experience within the Assistant Professor ranks at the University of California.

Appointment Date: Applications will be reviewed with the expectation that the appointee will be available for service on or about July 1, 2007.

Applications: Applications and inquiries should be directed to Charles Bamforth, Department Chair, Food Science & Technology, Univ. of California , Davis , CA 95616 , telephone (916) 752-8079, email cwbamforth@ucdavis.edu.

Applicants should submit: curriculum vitae; statement of research and teaching interests and background; official undergraduate and graduate transcripts; copies of relevant publications, reports, in-press, accepted-for-publication, and submitted manuscripts, and a summary or abstract of the Ph.D. dissertation; and names, addresses, email addresses and telephone numbers of four references. The position will remain open until filled. To ensure consideration, applications should be received by February 1, 2007.

UC Davis is an affirmative action/equal employment opportunity employer and is dedicated to recruiting a diverse faculty community. We welcome all qualified applicants to apply, including women, minorities, veterans, and individuals with disabilities.