Kansas State University

Assistant/Associate Professor in Companion Animal Food Technology, Animal Nutrition, and Animal Food Safety

The Department of Grain Science and Industry is seeking applications for a 9-month tenure-track position at the Assistant/Associate Professor level with 50% Teaching, 40% Research, 10% Outreach/Service in companion animal food technology, applied companion animal nutrition, and animal food safety, with the possibility of a summer appointment as needed. The position will be in Manhattan, KS. The successful individuals will contribute primarily to the department’s land-grant missions in teaching and research.

About this Role:

Teaching

• The candidate shall provide leadership to the Feed Science and Management Major. This includes continued demonstration of an effective teaching program for undergraduate and graduate students in the Department of Grain Science and Industry focused on companion animal food science.
• The candidate is expected to support the undergraduate program. Anticipated teaching load is approximately 8 credit hours per academic year.
•  The candidate is expected to teach approximately 5 to 6 credit hours per academic year of courses that currently exist in the department. These courses potentially include GRSC 645 Pet Food Processing, GRSC 650 Nutritional Impacts of Processing, ASI 677 Companion Animal Nutrition, GRSC 615 Animal Food Safety, or other departmental courses.
• The candidate will be expected to develop and teach per academic year an additional 3 or 4 credit hour undergraduate or graduate level course with further emphasis on companion animal food science and keeping in mind our interest in promoting this curriculum with pre-vet students.
• The candidate will provide quality academic advising to undergraduate and graduate students, help students with setting academic and career goals, advise students to efficiently achieve academic requirements, provide supervision of undergraduate research as needed, and assist with undergraduate student recruitment activities as required.

Research

• The candidate is expected to develop an externally funded research program focused on processing technology to improve animal food nutrition/safety and identify/develop novel animal food ingredients.
• Potential areas of research include, but are not limited to, pet food nutrition, production of pet foods, sustainability aspects of pet food production,  production effects on nutrient delivery of pet foods, alternative feeds/foods for non-food animals (including captive wild and zoo animals), novel ingredients and new pet food product and technology development, pet food/non-food animal feed safety and risk mitigation research, and agro-industrial processing and value-added development opportunities with application in pet foods.
• The candidate is expected to establish and develop reputable scholarly research programs in companion animal food science area with extramural support from various sources including federal agencies, commodity organizations and industry partners relevant to the needs of the global animal food industry, including funds for the summer months to supplement salary.
• Candidate would be responsible for maintaining an in vivo testing facility comprising of dogs and/ or cats in collaboration with College of Veterinary Medicine or by other appropriate means.

Outreach

• Carryout and grow the department’s annual pet food event, KibbleCon.
• Teach 1 or more industry professional development courses through IGP (for example Pet Food Formulation for Commercial Production) with potential to develop new courses.
• Participate and lead industry events.

Service

The candidate is expected to serve on departmental, college, and university committees; and appropriate professional/industry associations.  The candidate will perform other duties as requested by the Department Head in keeping with the responsibilities of the appointment.  The candidate is expected to support diversity, collegiality, and must have the ability to work in a multi-cultural and multi-disciplinary setting.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Ph.D. degree in a relevant discipline, such as grain science, animal nutrition, agricultural or biological engineering, or food science
• Demonstrated aptitude and enthusiasm to teach and advise undergraduate and graduate students
• Ability to contribute to an impactful research program relevant to companion animal food
• Commitment to the University’s land-grant mission
• Demonstrated outreach in the companion animal food science field

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated ability to collaborate with faculty, university administration, and industry scientists and leaders.
• Experience in application of companion animal nutrition
• Applicability of scholarly activity towards K-State’s Plan for Economic Prosperity in Kansas
• Desire and ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team environment and advance the university’s commitment to collegiality, diversity, and inclusivity.

Other Requirements:

• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States at the time of employment.

Please submit the following documents:

1.    Cover letter to include an explanation of how your expertise aligns with the position

2.    Statement of teaching philosophy and statement of research philosophy

3.    Curriculum vitae

4.    Copies of unofficial academic transcripts

5.    Name and contact information for three professional references

To apply, go to: https://careers.pageuppeople.com/742/cw/en-us/job/514789/assistantassociate-professor-grain-science-industry

Instructor Position(s)

No positions currently available.

Post Doctoral Position(s)

Post Doc - Bioactive Peptides and Plant Proteins

Full-time, Unclassified Professional Staff, Term Contract (Job #513807)

A Post-Doc Research Associate position is available in the Department of Grain Science and Industry at Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas. This individual is expected to conduct both fundamental and applied research into bioactive peptides and plant proteins. The successful candidate will employ computational chemistry, wet chemistry, and instrumental techniques to identify, characterize, and develop bioactive peptides and protein hydrolysates for functional foods and nutraceuticals. The candidate may also conduct research on plant protein chemistry, modification, and functionality related to food applications and product quality. The individual is expected to prepare reports and manuscripts for publication, deliver presentations at scientific meetings and to stakeholders, write grant proposals, assist in training and supervising student researchers, manage lab facility, and perform other duties as requested by the PI. This is a full time, term position for 12 months with continuation contingent on the continued funding, satisfactory performance, and the need for the services.

The requirements of this position include:

• PH.D in Chemistry biochemistry, food science/engineering, or relevant disciplines; a track record of research publications; proficient in instrumental skills such as LC/MS, GC/MS, NMR, column chromatography; experience in molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulation, data mining, machine learning, QSAR
• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States at the time of employment.
• Self-motivated and able to conduct research independently
• Able to communicate in English
• Able to work in a multi-cultural environment as a team

Preferred qualifications include:

• Prior research experience and knowledge of food protein modification, characterization, and application; experience and knowledge of rational design and application of functional peptides, peptide synthesis, in vivo studies, programming language (e.g., Python, R, shell script), and/or scientific software (e.g., AutoDock/ Discovery Studio, NAMD/ GROMACS).

Review of applications begins: Immediately and continues until position is filled.

For more information, contact Dr. Yonghui Li at yonghui@ksu.edu.

To apply, go to: https://careers.k-state.edu/cw/en-us/job/513807/fellow-post-doc

Post Doc - Starch Chemistry

Full-time, Unclassified Professional Staff, Term Contract (Job #513808)

The Department of Grain Science and Industry is seeking applicants for a post-Doc position to conduct research in the area of starch chemistry. This is a full time, 12 months, benefit eligible position.  This position is contingent on continued funding, satisfactory progress, and need for service.

  The successful candidate will have:

• Prior research experience and knowledge of starch or other carbohydrate polymer. 
• Familiar with techniques to determine composition and structure of carbohydrate polymer.
• To develop a quick and easy screen method to detect contamination of normal sorghum grains in waxy grain, evaluate and compare different method of determining amylose contents in sorghum grain/flour. 
• Should have a strong track record of research publication in scholarly journals.
• Is expected to write reports and manuscripts for publication and able to give presentation at scientific conferences.
• Self-motivated to conduct research independently
• Have a strong Background in emulsion science.

 Required qualifications include:

• Ph.D. Degree in chemistry, biochemistry, polymer science, grain science, food science or relevant discipline and two years of relevant experience.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to speak English.
• Must be able to work in a multi-cultural environment.
• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States at the time of employment.

Review of applications begins: Immediately and continues until position is filled.

For more information, contact Dr. Yong-Cheng Shi at ycshi@ksu.edu.

To apply, go to: https://careers.k-state.edu/cw/en-us/job/513808/fellow-post-doc

Post Doc - Biomanufacturing

About This Role:

The Department of Grain Science and Industry seeks a Post-Doc to support the Biomanufacturing lab toward its scientific mission of the PI to implement research in grain fermentation for alcoholic beverage production, fermenting culture analysis/development/optimization, and the development of fermentation program.  This is a one-year position and could be renewed depending on the performance of the candidate and funding availability.

The candidate will help to conduct projects on the development of grain-based drinkable alcoholic beverage and byproducts, development of correlations between beverage flavor, fermenting culture, and type of grains, optimization of fermentation process for customized beverage products, and design and analysis of sensory evaluation. 

The requirements of this position include:

• Strong background on fermentation and microbiology for food production
• Microbial culture analysis, sequencing, and data analysis
• Alcoholic beverage fermentation and flavor profile analysis
• Chromatographic instrument management and operation
• Written and oral communication of scientific results
• Publish peer-reviewed papers and write grant proposals
• Work effectively in a large, multidisciplinary team

• Proficient communication in English

What You Will Need to Succeed:

Minimum Qualifications:

• PhD degree in fermentation, food science and technology, microbiology, bioprocess engineering, or related
• Experienced in fermentation for food production, alcoholic beverage from grains, alcohol distillation
• Experienced in microbial culture analysis and sequencing
• Experienced in various instruments, GC, GC-MS, HPLC, and LC-MS/MS
• Experienced in paper and grant writing.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Strong background on fermentation and microbiology for food production
• Microbial culture analysis, sequencing, and data analysis
• Alcoholic beverage fermentation and flavor profile analysis
• Chromatographic instrument management and operation
• Written and oral communication of scientific results
• Publish peer-reviewed papers and write grant proposals
• Work effectively in a large, multidisciplinary team
• Lab management and equipment maintenance
• Mentoring graduate and undergraduate students

Other Requirements:

• Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States at the time of employment.

To apply, go to: https://careers.pageuppeople.com/742/cw/en-us/job/514654/fellow-post-doc

University Support Staff Position(s)

No positions currently available.

Student Worker Position(s)

CDL/Student Worker Position

Summary: Perform the delivery of feed and other products to Kansas State animal farms on a timely basis resulting in outstanding customer service and customer satisfaction.  

Duties & Responsibilities: 

• Delivery of feed and other products from feed mill to animal science farms in the immediate area of the feed mill.
• Responsible for following all legal regulations and guidelines as required to maintain a commercial driver’s license.
• Help with feed manufacturing and housekeeping as assigned.
• Maintain necessary paperwork or documentation.
• Perform daily truck inspections, informing supervisor of all needed maintenance and repairs.
• Maintain a positive attitude that promotes teamwork within the feed mill and a favorable image of the feed mill to the university.
• Determine proper routing and distribution for manufactured feeds to appropriate holding bins.
• Assist with equipment maintenance and repair as needed.
• Load and unload feed truck in a safe and efficient manner.
• Perform general work around the facility and other duties as assigned by management.

Qualifications: 

• Minimum of one year of verifiable experience operating a commercial vehicle.
• Maintain a class B CDL, additional endorsements a plus.
• Excellent driving record.
• Must demonstrate excellent attendance and reliability.

Working Conditions & Physical Requirements: 

• Ability to work in all weather conditions.
• Driving a automatic shift single-axle feed tuck with and a swinging unloading auger.
• Sweep out load from the truck or underneath the truck, if necessary.
• Ability to climb in and out of the truck (Multiple times per day).
• Ability to climb up onto truck-on-truck ladder to inspect load in the truck.
• Ability to lift up to 60 pounds occasionally.

To apply go to: https://www.k-state.edu/careercenter/students/lets_go/handshake/

Job Number: 7942702