Research Fellow, Cultivated Meat & Seafood

Update and expand written resources related to cultivated meat and seafood end products and scaffolding

The Good Food Institute (GFI) is a nonprofit think tank working to make the global food system better for the planet, people, and animals. Alongside scientists, businesses, and policymakers, GFI’s teams focus on making plant-based, fermentation-enabled, and cultivated meat delicious, affordable, and accessible. Powered by philanthropy, GFI is an international network of organizations advancing alternative proteins as an essential solution needed to meet the world’s climate, global health, food security, and biodiversity goals.

How You Will Make a Difference

In this position, you will have the opportunity to update and expand GFI’s existing scientific explainers related to cultivated meat and seafood. Your research will help to make complete, accurate information about the state of cultivated meat science available to the research community and identify the most crucial gaps for future research. The Research Fellow, Cultivated Meat & Seafood will be responsible for:

• Conducting a literature review to identify relevant scientific advances from the past ~2 years that should be included in an update to GFI’s existing “Deep Dive” resources on cultivated meat and seafood scaffolding and end products.
• Identifying areas where our coverage of these topics could be expanded, improved, or clarified.
• Drafting updates to the two resources mentioned above and incorporating edits and feedback from other members of GFI’s Science and Technology team.
• Generating figures and visualizations to add to these resources.
• Developing a fact sheet to answer common questions about cultivated meat end products.
• Assessing opportunities to improve upon GFI’s existing cultivated meat End Product Tracker database, including incorporating data from this tool into the related Deep Dive page.
• Presenting a summary of findings to GFI’s Science and Technology team at the end of the fellowship tenure.

Who We’re Looking For

An ideal candidate for the Research Fellow, Cultivated Meat & Seafood position will have experience that reflects the following:

• Advanced degree (M.Sc or Ph.D.) in food science, tissue engineering, or aligned fields. Candidates currently pursuing an advanced degree or with at least 2 years of relevant experience will be considered. No candidates currently pursuing an undergraduate degree will be considered.
• A strong understanding of the cultivated meat and seafood production process and associated challenges, especially those related to end products and scaffolding.
• Strong skills in analyzing and interpreting data, including the ability to go beyond simply summarizing to draw meaningful conclusions and suggest future research directions.
• Strong scientific writing skills and ability to communicate effectively to both scientific audiences and science-interested lay audiences.
• Strong skills in designing and creating scientific figures are a plus.
• Ability to perform independent, self-paced work.
• A commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion and to building an inclusive workplace where everyone feels like they belong.
• Comfort working remotely and in a rapidly growing and evolving organization.
• Strong support for GFI’s philosophy and mission; demonstrated interest in plant-based & other alt proteins, public health, environmentalism, climate change, animal protection, or hunger relief.
• A commitment to GFI’s values: believe change is possible, do the most good we can, share knowledge freely, act on evidence, and invite everyone to the table.

We want the best people and we don’t want biases holding us back. We use a third-party anonymizing tool to redact personal information from submitted applications — including name, location, contact details, and several other factors — to reduce bias and increase fairness in our process. We strongly encourage people of every race, color, orientation, age, gender, origin, and ability to apply. Since we value a diverse workplace, we prioritize an inclusive climate absent of discrimination and harassment during the application process and after you join the team.

Research indicates that men tend to apply for jobs when they meet just 60% of the criteria, while women and people from other marginalized groups only apply if they are a 100% match. If you are passionate about GFI’s mission and think you have what it takes to be successful in this role even if you don’t check all the boxes, please apply. We’d appreciate the opportunity to consider your application.

The Fine Print

• Position Type: Independent Contractor
• Position Term: 10 hours of work a week for 16 weeks
• Reports to: Claire Bomkamp, Senior Lead Scientist, Cultivated Meat & Seafood
• Location: Remote, United States
• Stipend: $4,800 and will be paid pro-rata biweekly over the length of the assignment ($30/hour for 16 weeks)

Important Dates

Application Deadline: May 12, 2025

Anticipated Start Date: On or about June 23, 2025