Job Information
Organisation/Company: Université Montpellier
Department: UMR HydroSciences Montpellier
Research Field: Environmental science » Water science, Environmental scienceResearcher Profile, Recognised Researcher (R2)
Country: France
Application Deadline: 24/02/2023 – 12:17 (Europe/Paris)
Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Full-time
Hours Per Week: 38
Offer Starting Date: 3/4/2023
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?: Not funded by an EU programme
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?: No
Offer Description
A postdoc position is available in the framework of the project “Sustainable water reuse practices improving safety in agriculture, food and environment (SAFE)” funded by the PRIMA joint programme.
The position will be funded for 24 months and the candidate will work at UMR HydroSciences (www.hydrosciences.org) in Montpellier but several short stays are planned at partner organizations (UniversitĂ degli Studi della Basilicata in Italy, Catalan Institute for Water Research in Spain).
SAFE project aims at providing safe, locally sustainable and accepted ways of water supply for the Mediterranean agricultural sector by exploiting non-conventional water resources, namely treated wastewater and improved methods to support agriculture. One of SAFE’s challenge is to develop tools for wastewater treatment based on natural solutions providing water of good quality for irrigation purposes with a special focus on the removal of emerging pollutants. Therefore, the candidate will focus on the characterization of novel absorbents (soil, activated carbon, biochar, wood chips and modified clay) for the removal of emerging contaminants and their application in constructed wetlands. Experiments will be designed firstly using novel absorbents in batch mode, and afterwards using planted glass columns at laboratory scale. Emerging contaminants (mainly pharmaceuticals, personal care products and pesticides) will be quantified and transformation products will be identified by LC-HRMS. The efficiency of the treatment will be evaluated using indicator emerging contaminants and spiked semi-synthetic wastewater effluents. Disinfection will be determined on the basis of microbiological growth tests, and eventually quantification of antibiotic resistant genes. The complete characterization of absorbents (XPS, XRD, SEM analysis, inductively coupled plasma – optical emission spectrometry, thermogravity and differential thermal analysis, and, differential scanning calorimetry analysis) of these materials will be done thanks to the collaboration of partners from Sapienza University of Rome. The researcher will have access to outstanding scientific equipment and will have the possibility to carry on her/his research training in a good quality environment.
The tasks will be the following ones:
Design and achievement of experiments at laboratory
Sample analysis by LC-HRMS
Microbial analysis (DNA extraction, qPCR, bioinformatic analysis)
The duties will be the following ones:
Interpretation of the experimental results
Writing articles
Contribution to research management in the host labs
Net salary: 2200€ / month
Requirements
Research Field: Environmental science » Water science
Education Level: PhD or equivalent
Skills/Qualifications
– Good background in environmental chemistry and/or environmental chemical engineering (additional background in plant biology, microbiology or plant-microbes interactions will be appreciated)
– A PhD or a first postdoc position in a similar research field will be appreciated.
– Proficiency in both written and oral English
– Capacity to work in a pluridisciplinary environment
– Driver’s license
LanguagesENGLISHLevelGoodResearch FieldEnvironmental science » Water scienceYears of Research Experience1 – 4
Additional Information
Work Location(s)
Number of offers available: 1
Company/Institute: University of Montpellier
CountryFranceState/Province: Occitanie
City: Montpellier
Where to apply
E-mail: serge.chiron@umontpellier.fr
Contact
State/Province: FRANCE +33
City: Montpellier
Street: 163 rue Auguste Broussonnet
Postal Code: 34000
