项目介绍

2024年10月3日

Function

Are you a curiosity driven and highly motivated researcher with a fascination for environmental biotechnology for the recovery of scarce resources? Do you like working with bioreactors in the laboratory and learning to master a wide array of experimental protocols and analytical techniques? Would you like to gain of fundamental understanding of biological crystallization processes? Then you could be the ideal PhD candidate to join our team!

Why this PhD position?
Selenium, just like nitrogen and phosphorus, is an essential dietary element. However, when present at too high concentrations in surface water, it poses a threat to fish and birds. In many surface waters, both in the Netherlands and worldwide, the selenium concentration is too high.  Selenium is released to surface water through various routes, such as via industry and agriculture. In addition, the element is scarce in many agricultural areas worldwide and has to be supplied as a fertilizer. Recovery therefore is essential. No chemical environmentally friendly technologies exists to remove the selenium from water, let alone recover it. However, through biocrystallization, microorganisms precipitate selenium in its elemental form, making it suitable for recovery. However, little is known about the crystallization mechanisms.

What will you do?
Through batch and bioreactor experiments you will study the selenium biocrystallization process. You will investigate variations in co-pollutants (nitrogen, arsenic, sulfur etc), reactor configurations, pH, temperature etc. Emphasis will also be on the selenium polymorphs through in-depth structural study using advanced solid characterization techniques. For some of these analyses, you may perform experiments at an international research facility abroad. Within the project, frequent contact will take place with industrial stakeholders, both end-users and technology providers. In this PhD-project, you will map the selenium biocrystallization process under industrially relevant conditions to pave the way to technological application. As a result of your research, you will not only understand the selenium biocrystallization better, but in general add to knowledge concerning biocrystallization mechanisms.

Your duties and responsibilities include:

• performing batch bottle experiments to study a wide variety of conditions;
• building your own continuous bioreactor set-up, including sensors for monitoring process parameters;
• performing bioreactor experiments to study selenium biocrystallization in continuous reality-based wastewater and using analytical techniques to determine mass balances, reaction rates and biological growth;
• analysing the formed selenium solids structure with various advanced solid characterization techniques;
• verbally communicating your findings with project stakeholders and colleagues;
• publishing your research results in peer-reviewed scientific journals;
• teaching (10% of your time),  including supervising MSc-thesis students;
• obtaining 30 credits with PhD-courses at the Wageningen Institute for Environment and Climate Research (WIMEK) graduate-school.

Function Requirements

• you have, or will soon obtain, a MSc degree in biogeochemistry, environmental engineering, environmental technology, biotechnology, analytical chemistry or a related field from an internationally recognized two year master program taught in English;
• you have extensive experience with laboratory work, for instance as part of your MSc-thesis;
• you have hands-on experience with either mineral characterization (using e.g. XRD, SEM, synchrotron based characterization techniques such as XANES) or operation of (lab-scale) bioreactors;
• you have affinity with either research into wastewater treatment or biological resource recovery;
• you are able to think in and work with multidisciplinary research approaches;
• you have affinity with working as a team player, proactive in your work, involved actively in your working environment and capable of independently addressing and solving research problems.

For this position your command of the English language is expected to be at C1 level. Sometimes it is necessary to submit an internationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the English Language. More information can be found here.

Contactinformation

For more information about this position, please contact Annemerel Mol, Assistant professor, by e-mail: Annemerel.mol@wur.nl.
For more information about the procedure, please contact Rutger Voorrips, corporate recruiter, by e-mail: rutger.voorrips@wur.nl.