Project Overview

Food security is a growing global concern. Singapore, as an island city-state with little to no arable land, is almost completely dependent on other nations to feed its population of >5M. Additionally, 15% of the world’s 7.4-billion-person population currently lacks access to sufficient calories or micronutrients and is malnourished. The ability of traditional agricultural practices to meet the world’s growing nutritional demand (with the global population expected to reach 9 billion by 2050) is further threatened by climate and political instability as well as increased demand for energy and water. Novel methods and technologies for the efficient and sustainable production of foodstuffs are needed to ensure both Singapore, and global food security.

The Disruptive and Sustainable Technologies for Agricultural Precision (DiSTAP) program is developing a suite of novel analytical, genetic and biomaterial technologies that are fundamentally changing how plant biosynthetic pathways are discovered, monitored, engineered and ultimately translated to meet the global demand for food and nutrients. The DiSTAP Integrated Research Group (distap.mit.edu) is a part of the SMART program, MIT’s research enterprise in Singapore. Our focus is to develop new tools, based on nanotechnology and advanced optics for the continuous measurement of important plant metabolites and hormones for novel discovery, deeper understanding and control of plant biosynthetic pathways in ways here-to-fore not yet possible. DiSTAP works with our partner institutions including the Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory, the National University of Singapore, and the Nanyang Technical University in Singapore to leverage these new techniques to engineer plants with highly desirable properties for global food security, including high yield density production, drought and pathogen resistance and biosynthesis of high-value commercial products.

Responsibilities

The Scientific Director will provide the day to day scientific oversight to the interdisciplinary research group (IRG) and assist with the development and integration of the IRG’s scientific vision, goals and objectives. The Scientific Director is responsible for the daily scientific direction and operation of the IRG. The candidate will also lead efforts to commercialize DISTAP technology, and support business development efforts. The Scientific Director reports to the Lead Principal Investigator with oversight from the Director of Research Operations. The Scientific Director provides overall leadership for a diverse workforce that includes research scientists, post-doctoral students, graduate students, and technical staff. The candidate will receive SMART PI status.

The candidate

• is responsible for the day to day scientific operation and management of the IRG
• assists the Lead Principal Investigator to ensure that all the IRG projects are scientifically productive and are operating consistently with the descriptions in the principle investigator’s proposal
• provides leadership and technical direction in carrying out the IRG’s research objectives
• provides mentorship and career guidance to post-docs and graduate students
• works with Singapore collaborators to strengthen and enhance the research projects
• is responsible for ensuring and maintaining a strong safety culture
• leads efforts to secure extramural research funds from governmental and industry sponsors
• represents the IRG at meetings with governmental agencies, industry sponsors or visitors
• works with the intellectual property offices to ensure SMART IP is protected and/or licensed

Requirements

• Ph.D. in an engineering or science field or MBA with a scientific/engineering background or experience.
• Proven scientific contributions or experience in one or more of the following fields are viewed positively: nanotechnology, applied optics, biosensing, plant biotechnology, biomaterials, AI/ML computational expertise.
• Research management in a large-scale research centre or academic laboratory viewed positively.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a multi-disciplinary research effort viewed positively.
• Strong interpersonal and relationship-building skills
• Excellent written and oral communication skills in English
• Demonstrated experience in proposal writing

Interested applicants are invited to send in their full CV/resume, cover letter and list of three references (to include reference names and contact information). We regret that only shortlisted candidates will be notified.