Postdoc in Diet–Microbiome Interactions and Food Metagenome Mining - BRIGHT

DTU; Kongens Lyngby; Remote; DKK 600,000 - 800,000; Full time

Job summary

DTU is inviting applications for a PhD-level research role within BRIGHT’s Mission 2: Microbial Foods. The project aims to design AI-driven microbial foods with health, sustainability and scalability goals, focusing on fungal chassis and multi‑omics characterisation.

You will link inferred food intake to microbiome data, work across BRIGHT, and advance predictive models for flavor, nutrition and process scale-up in collaboration with national and international partners.

Qualifications

• Experience with large-scale shotgun metagenomic analysis and taxonomic/functional profiling.
• Strong programming skills in Python and/or R; experience with HPC or cloud environments.
• Solid statistical skills and experience with machine learning.
• Experience with or motivation to learn in vitro/ex vivo fermentation or synthetic community experiments.

Responsibilities

• Develop dietary inference framework linking intake to microbial species, MAGs and pathways.
• Build curated food-reference databases including fermented and plant-based foods.
• Mine large public/collaborative metagenome cohorts for diet–microbe–function associations.
• Apply statistical, compositional, network and ML approaches to identify diet-associated patterns.
• Design and run validation experiments and feed data into BRIGHT’s modelling pipeline.
• Communicate results through publications/presentations.

Skills

Metagenomic analysis

Python

R

Statistics

Machine learning

Diet–microbiome interactions

Collaborative mindset

Education

PhD degree

Tools

HPC

Cloud environments

Job description

Are you a computational microbiome scientist who wants to see your discoveries tested at the bench? Would you like to unlock a hidden dietary layer in thousands of gut metagenomes that already exist? Then this position offers you the chance to shape a new direction in diet–microbiome research.

This position is a part of BRIGHT's mission- oriented Microbial Food research programme (“referred to as Mission 2”), which aims to build an AI-powered framework for the rational design of microbial foods that meet four targets: consumer acceptance, health, sustainability and scalability. The first phase focuses on two fungal chassis, Aspergillus and Yarrowia, characterizing more than 500 prototypes through multi-omics, sensory analysis, life-cycle assessment and safety testing. Predictive models for flavor, texture, nutrition and process scale-up are trained iteratively through active learning. The scientific scope spans strain engineering, adaptive laboratory evolution, solid- and liquid-state fermentation, sensory and consumer research, and pre-clinical and clinical evaluation of safety, bioavailability and cardiometabolic health, in collaboration with national and international partners.

Responsibilities and qualifications

Your overall focus will be to develop and apply a framework that links inferred food intake to microbial species, strain-level variation, pathways and metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs). We treat diet as a complex exposure pattern and the microbiome as a multi-layered ecosystem, so you will move beyond one-food, one-microbe correlations towards interpretable patterns that can be tested in the lab. You will work closely with computational and experimental colleagues across BRIGHT. Your primary tasks will be to:

• Develop dietary inference and benchmark it against state-of-the-art methods
• Build curated food‑sequence reference databases, including fermented and plant‑based foods relevant to BRIGHT
• Mine large public and collaborative metagenome cohorts for reproducible food–microbe–function associations across populations and health states
• Apply statistical, compositional, network and machine-learning approaches to identify and prioritise diet-associated microbiome patterns
• Design and run validation experiments
• Feed validated diet–microbiome interaction data into BRIGHT’s modelling and product‑optimisation pipeline
• Communicate results through publications and presentations

Your background is in microbiome science, bioinformatics, computational biology or a related field, and you have:

• Documented experience with large-scale shotgun metagenomic analysis, including taxonomic and functional profiling
• Strong programming skills (e.g. Python and/or R) and experience with HPC or cloud environments
• Solid statistical skills and experience with machine learning
• Experience with, or a clear motivation to learn, in vitro/ex vivo fermentation or synthetic community experiments
• A genuine interest in diet–microbiome interactions and a collaborative, interdisciplinary mindset

As a formal qualification, you must hold a PhD degree (or equivalent).

We offer

DTU is a leading technical university globally recognized for the excellence of its research, education, innovation and scientific advice. We offer a rewarding and challenging job in an international environment. We strive for academic excellence in an environment characterized by collegial respect and academic freedom tempered by responsibility.

Salary and terms of employment

The appointment will be based on the collective agreement with the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations. In addition, supplements can be negotiated in accordance with DTU’s salary structure for scientific staff: www.inside.dtu.dk/en/human-resources/during-employment/salary/salary-structures.

The period of employment is 3 years and 5 months. Starting date is 01-12-2026 (or according to mutual agreement). The position is a full-time position.

You can read more about career paths at DTU here.

Further information

Further information may be obtained from Professor Morten Sommer, [e-mail], and Alberto Santos, [e-mail].

You can read more about BRIGHT at bright.dtu.dk.

If you are applying from abroad, you may find useful information on working in Denmark and at DTU at DTU – Moving to Denmark.

All interested candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability, race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply. As DTU works with research in critical technology, which is subject to special rules for security and export control, open-source background checks may be conducted on qualified candidates for the position.

The position is hosted at BRIGHT and is part of Mission 2: Microbial Foods under the supervision of Professor Morten Sommer, with co‑supervision by Associate Professor Alberto Santos. You will join a multidisciplinary, international environment that brings microbiome science, fermentation and AI-driven data analysis together.

BRIGHT Mission 2: Microbial Foods

BRIGHT Mission 2 aims to build an AI-powered framework for the rational design of microbial foods that meet four targets: consumer acceptance, health, sustainability and scalability. The first phase focuses on two fungal chassis, Aspergillus and Yarrowia, characterizing more than 500 prototypes through multi‑omics, sensory analysis, life‑cycle assessment and safety testing. Predictive models for flavour, texture, nutrition and process scale‑up are trained iteratively through active learning. The scientific scope spans strain engineering, adaptive laboratory evolution, solid‑and liquid‑state fermentation, sensory and consumer research, and pre‑clinical and clinical evaluation of safety, bioavailability and cardiometabolic health, in collaboration with national and international partners.

BRIGHT – The Novo Nordisk Foundation Biotechnology Research Institute for the Green Transition

The Novo Nordisk Foundation Biotechnology Research Institute for the Green Transition (BRIGHT) is a major initiative based at DTU that aims to accelerate the development of biosolutions and strengthen the bio‑based economy. BRIGHT serves as a hub for academic and industrial partners working together to unlock the potential of bioproduction. BRIGHT focuses on three main areas: Sustainable materials (Developing bio‑based alternatives to fossil‑derived materials), Microbial foods (Innovating food production through microbial technologies), and Microorganisms for net‑zero agriculture (Creating solutions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture). The goal is to develop and scale innovative biosolutions within these areas, ultimately creating sustainable and competitive alternatives to fossil‑based products and processes that can make significant contributions to reducing global greenhouse gas emissions.

DTU – For the benefit of society since 1829

DTU is one of Europe’s leading elite technical universities. Through research and education at an international top level, we create solutions to the major societal challenges of our time and help secure Europe’s global leadership in sustainable technological development. Since Hans Christian Ørsted founded DTU almost 200 years ago, our mission has remained the same: We develop and create value through the natural and technical sciences for the benefit of society. DTU has 13,800 students, 1,600 PhD students, and 6,500 employees. We work in an international environment and have an inclusive, stimulating, and informal work culture. DTU has campuses in all parts of Denmark and in Greenland and collaborates with the best universities around the world.