Placement Student - Biotechnology

CPI have exciting opportunities available for 4 Biological Sciences / Biotechnology students to join us to support various crucial and exciting projects - through the development of innovative biotechnological approaches and processes you could help CPI to solve some of the biggest challenges the industry face. You will have the opportunity to be involved in many varied and exciting projects (from lab scale right through to pilot scale) using industrial bioprocesses to help make products which are more sustainable and environmentally responsible., Due to CPI's collaborative nature, although the opportunities vary, each will provide you with experience of working across multidisciplinary teams within the Biotechnology technology team, supporting colleagues on activities within the microbiology, host strain development and fermentation teams to support both commercial and internal projects. Your contributions in any of these roles will help CPI support the UK in achieving its Net Zero targets and make the world a healthier place!

• Host Strain Development - within the host strain development team you will gain exposure to new microbial strains and processes to produce platform chemicals, enzymes, and novel food ingredients. You will have the opportunity to apply molecular biology approaches for the development of new strains; and develop lab-scale fermentation processes and biochemical assays for process and product monitoring.


• Novel food cultivation (Food & Feed team) - within the Food & Feed team you will gain exposure to the development of upstream novel food processes. You will have the opportunity to develop processes and capability at lab scale using cultivation techniques such as biomass and precision fermentation, and cell cultivation to produce novel foods and functional ingredients.


• Fermentation (x2 students) - within the Fermentation team you will gain experience developing novel biocatalysts through strain engineering and cultivating microbes in bioreactors (batch, fed-batch, continuous) at a lab scale, to produce food ingredients, biochemicals, and industrial enzymes.
  
  Candidates will be studying towards a Degree in Biological Sciences / Biotechnology / Biochemistry or related field and ideally have some working experience in a microbiological lab / molecular biology lab / analytical lab/ chemistry lab.


Relevant experience: molecular biology/ cell biology/ microbiology/ microbial cultivation in flasks and ideally in bioreactors; measurement of growth parameters of a microbial culture (e.g., dry cell weight and optical density); microscopy; good laboratory practise; enzyme assays; ability to identify contaminations in a bacterial culture; washing glassware and plasticware; ability to diligently perform often repetitive tasks; maintain accurate and up-to-date records; write up research findings and produce reports.

Applicants should be enthusiastic, have effective interpersonal skills and be willing to learn to gain hands-on/practical experience. The ideal candidates will be committed to, and actively seek opportunities to develop themselves within these new and exciting roles.

About CPI

CPI helps make great ideas and inventions a reality. We're a team of intelligent people using advances in science and technology to solve the biggest global challenges in healthcare and sustainability.

Through our incredible people and innovation infrastructure, we collaborate with our partners in industry, academia, government, and the investment community to accelerate the development and commercialisation of innovative products.

From health technologies and pharmaceuticals to sustainable food and materials innovations, we turn the entrepreneurial spirit and radical thinking of our people and partners into incredible impact that makes our world a better place.

At CPI, we offer a wide range of benefits to our employees, this includes:

• Up to 36 days holiday, including bank holidays - Plus a holiday purchasing scheme


• Generous pension scheme


• Life assurance and accident insurance schemes


• Flexible working


• Learning and Development Opportunities


• Free parking