R&D internship: Bioprocess development and optimisation

Vacancy closes: June 30th 2025

Are you a student interested in working in a professional research environment? Are you passionate about sustainable innovation and do you want to have an impact on the protein transition in the agricultural sector? Apply now and join us at our laboratory and pilot research facility within the Agrifirm R&D centre! 

The challenge

Our R&D team Biobased Technology is developing a new fermentation process to create protein rich fungal biomass from low-cost by-products. In the future, this ingredient could be used as a circular alternative to soy in animal feed. We are seeking a motivated student intern to join our project for 5-6 months and contribute to the improvement of this fermentation process. Your role will involve identifying and addressing biological and chemical growth-limiting and promoting factors associated with using by-products as substrate in fermentation, with the goal of accelerating and optimizing the process. You will perform lab-based experiments, analyse data and support your findings with literature. Together with the team, you will translate your findings into an optimized production process of the novel feed ingredient

Your responsibilities 

•  Design and perform your own lab-based fermentation experiments;
•  Operate our lab or pilot scale bioreactors;
•  Perform assay analysi
•  Analyze currently available literature and data;

What’s on your CV?

• You follow a relevant study at BSc- or MSc-level, for example in the field of biotechnology, Bioprocess engineering, Biochemical engineering ,food, biochemistry, or microbiology;
• During your studies, you gained knowledge on (one of) the following items:

o   Chemical and nutritional composition of feed and food ingredients

o   Fermentation

o   Biochemical Bioreactor/bioprocess design

o   Modelling dynamic systems

o   Microbiology

• You have established lab experience in chemical and microbial experiments;
• You are fluent in English, understanding Dutch is beneficial;

This is who you are!

•      You have a passion for biotechnology, preferably fungal fermentation;
•      You are a strong analytical thinker with an assertive mindset;
•      You are pro-active and effectively organise your own work;
•      You are available for 6 months from September 2025 onwards, earlier starting dates are negotiable

Our offer

By doing an internship with us, you will experience what it is like to work in a young, energetic and ambitious R&D team within a global agricultural organization that passionately works on a more sustainable food chain. As an intern you will become acquainted with the working method of Royal Agrifirm Group, you will be intensively supervised, and you will have the opportunity to gain broad experience. In addition to pre-set guidelines and project tasks, you will be given the freedom to come up with your own hypotheses and experiments, to further develop your capacities as a researcher.  

We offer an internship allowance of € 400.00 gross per month based on 40 hours per week. You will join an enthusiastic and committed team where cooperation and results are central. The location is ‘s-Hertogenbosch.

Why work at Agrifirm?

At Royal Agrifirm Group, we are passionate about agriculture. We want to make a difference, care for the future and achieve ambitious goals. Together we can be the best and create globally relevant impact. At Agrifirm, you contribute to a responsible food chain for future generations. 

Information

For more information, please contact (Amber Windt, Application Specialist Biotechnology, a.windt@agrifirm.com).

You can apply via the application button. Your application (CV and motivation) and/or questions can be directed to Amber Windt