Submission of the applications before October 25th 2023 at 23:59
The successful applicant will become part of research team 2021-SGR-01008. In close collaboration with the principal investigator and the rest of the research team, the selected candidate will be able to: develop a doctoral thesis on a topic related to the project.
The selected applicant will be integrated into the BioremUAB research team (https://bioremuab.com/ ) in the line of using fungi for pollutant degradation to develop a PhD Thesis up to 48 months and full-time contract.
The profile is:
- Graduated in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Environmental Sciences or related, with a good record.
- Master’s in Biological, Environmental or Chemical Engineering, Master’s in Electrochemistry, or related (minimum 60ECTS) with a good record.
- Minimum English level B2.
Call Information:https://tauler.seu.cat/pagDetall.do?idEdicte=457080&idens=11
The PID2022-138929OB-I00 project aims to develop and apply sustainable electrochemical technologies to treat groundwater contaminated with organochlorine compounds. Pollution of soils, sediments, groundwater and surface water caused by human action and leakages into water sources has become a serious problem due to the scarcity of drinking water that has become evident with the effects of climate change. Halogenated organic compounds in general, and chlorinated compounds in particular, have been widely produced and used for industrial and agricultural purposes. But improper use, storage, and disposal have resulted in global pollution due to its characteristics such as inherent stability, bioaccumulation, low water solubility, volatilization, and long-distance migration. Among the different treatment strategies, bioremediation is a sustainable alternative because it is low-cost and environmentally friendly. In recent years, one of the emerging sustainable and versatile technologies to improve bioremediation processes is the bio-electrochemical systems. In this project, microbial fuel cells will be used where the use of white rot fungi, producers of extracellular oxidoreductase enzymes, in the cathodic chamber can enhance the reduction of oxygen as a terminal electron acceptor, as well as demonstrating the ability to degrade organo-contaminant xenobiotics. The main objective of this project is the bio-electrochemical degradation of organochlorine pollutants into non-toxic products through microbial fungal fuel cells (F-MFC). Lindane will be used as a model pollutant, but the study will be extended to other organochlorine compounds. Laboratory studies will therefore be carried out to explore the dechlorination potential of white rot fungi growing on the cathode of microbial fuel cells.
If you have any doubt, please contact Montserrat.Sarra@uab.cat