Research Fellow / Engineer – Insect Protein Chemistry & Functional Beverages

About the role

The Singapore Institute of Technology seeks a Research Fellow/Engineer to lead an applied project on cricket‑protein based functional beverages. You will work in a multidisciplinary team, using pilot‑scale facilities to develop sustainable food innovations.

Key responsibilities

• Characterise insect protein and hydrolysates for compositional and techno‑functional properties under various processing conditions.
• Investigate protein‑polysaccharide interactions and optimise processing to minimise bioactive losses.
• Design oil‑in‑water emulsions for bioactive encapsulation and develop scalable beverage prototypes.
• Conduct in‑vitro digestion, bioaccessibility and bioavailability studies using SIT analytical platforms.
• Lead consumer surveys, perform multivariate statistical analysis and integrate findings into product formulation.
• Prepare scientific manuscripts, technical reports and present results to industry and academic audiences.
• Supervise junior researchers and coordinate with internal and external stakeholders.

Required profile

• PhD in Food Science, Food Technology, Food Chemistry, Chemistry, Nutrition or related field (strong MSc/BSc candidates may be considered for Engineer grade).
• Solid grounding in protein chemistry, hydrolysis and structure‑function relationships in food systems.
• Hands‑on experience with emulsion formulation, droplet‑size analysis and shelf‑life assessment.
• Familiarity with HTST, UHT, drying, high‑pressure or multi‑stage homogenisation in beverage processing.
• Experience with biochemical assays, HPLC, MS and in‑vitro digestion models.

Required skills

• Protein chemistry and hydrolysis techniques
• Emulsion formulation and stability testing
• Food processing technologies (HTST, UHT, drying, high‑pressure homogenisation)
• Analytical methods: HPLC, MS, antioxidant assays
• In‑vitro digestion and bioavailability testing
• Statistical analysis and multivariate techniques (PCA) using Origin or R