Professor (Tenured) in Food Science and Engineering

Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore is seeking an accomplished and visionary academic and research leader for the position of Professor in Food Science and/or Engineering to lead the food related activities at NTU.

The appointment will be hosted jointly by the College of Engineering and the College of Science. Food security/resilience and safety are key areas identified by the Singapore government as national priorities. In order to strengthen Singapore’s food security and achieve the “30 by 30” goal set by the government to meet 30% of population’s nutritional needs locally by 2030. “The Singapore Food Story”, a S$144M initiative has been setup by the National Research Foundation (NRF) and jointly developed by Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR). This initiative will fund three R&D themes focusing on development and use of productive, climate-resilient, innovative and sustainable technologies for agriculture and aquaculture, as well as new biotech-based foods and ingredients, underpinned by a robust future-ready food safety system. To achieve the ambitious goal of “30 by 30”, universities such as NTU, and research agencies will play a critical role in terms of talent development as well as providing essential research and development expertise. NTU aims to become a global leader in food science and technology by coordinating its relevant research and educational activities across various colleges. The current vacancy will play a pivotal role in realising this.

The Position

NTU has early on recognized the importance of the food area and has over the last 5 years made significant efforts in developing its own capacity in this research space. A number of institutional and individual initiatives have been launched for education and research.

The Food Science and Technology (FST) program has developed a strong program in education of talent ranging from undergraduate to PhD education. The educational program is a collaborative effort with Wageningen University in the Netherlands. FST has also developed food tech innovations towards food circular economy which have been recognised globally with strong industry partnerships.

NTU has been awarded national research initiatives by National Research Foundation (NRF) in the area of urban solutions and alternative food sources.

NTU is also the host institution for Singapore Future Ready Food Safety Hub (FRESH) and Singapore Agrifood Innovation Lab (SAIL), two national initiatives aiming at enhancing food safety science and promoting successful translation of food innovations respectively.

Together with these efforts, individuals and groups of faculty from science, engineering, medicine, humanities, and business disciplines have built-up a research base at NTU which can broadly be classified as (i) urban food production and disease management, (ii) food processing technology (iii) food safety, (iv) functional foods, health, nutrition and the gut microbiome, (v) consumer behaviour and education, (vi) supply chain analytics and fintech for agriculture, and (vii) food security and sustainability. These topics align well with the overall national research focus on sustainable food production, future foods (advanced biotechnology-based protein production), and food safety science

and innovation. The topics reflect NTU’s unique multidisciplinary approach to food research unlike the classical approach employed by most universities; based on the strong position that NTU has in adjacent disciplines.

Application Procedure

Search Committee Chair

Professor William Chen, CCEB

Hiring Institution: NTU