项目介绍

2026年5月1日

Your job

Are you interested in working on circular water systems? Do you enjoy working together with other scientists and societal stakeholders on fundamental research questions? Do you want to make municipal wastewater treatment more energy efficient and enable resource recovery?

The Department of Environmental Technology of Wageningen University & Research is looking for a PhD candidate within the research consortium BlueVantage. BlueVantage is a large research program with scientific and societal partners that aims to tackle growing water challenges by finding new ways to reuse water safely and sustainably. To that end, BlueVantage explores new treatment technologies to remove persistent organic micropollutants and recover valuable resources from water, thereby ensuring a clean water cycle for economy, ecology and society. The research in BlueVantage is divided over different thematic work packages in which a number of PhDs, their supervisors and societal partners together work on the ambitions of BlueVantage. 

This PhD-position will be performed in a work package focussed on developing a next generation of municipal wastewater treatment technologies. The research will be performed in collaboration with 3 other PhD-candidates, in close cooperation with the “Treatment plant of the future” initiative of the Waterboards and STOWA, several consulting firms and technology developers. You will develop novel approaches for anaerobic treatment of low concentrated wastewater using innovative concentration technologies and reactor designs to ultimately reach low effluent concentrations and energy-efficient and circular water treatment strategies. 

Specifically, your duties and responsibilities include:

• study fractionation of organic components of wastewater with novel technologies and assess the biodegradability of the different fractions;
• assess the optimal conditions for degradation of organic contaminants to different end products (i.e. building blocks for bio-based industry or energy carriers like methane);
• develop low-temperature microbial consortia capable of effectively removing dissolved organic contaminants;
• assess feasibility of the selected processes with respect to energy and product recovery;
• take part in BlueVantage activities, such as consortium meetings, workshops, stakeholder interaction and courses;
• pro-actively communicate your research findings with partners within and outside of the BlueVantage consortium;
• publish your research in peer-reviewed journals and present your research at (inter)national conferences.

You will work here

The research is embedded within the Department of Environmental Technology, where you will be a member of the ‘Biorecovery/Water Group’ team. You will be co-supervised by Prof. Adriaan Mels, Dr. Dainis Sudmalis and Dr Miriam van Eekert.

Your qualities

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate holding an MSc. degree in environmental sciences, water technology, biotechnology or a related field with a strong background in microbiology. A strong background in physical chemistry will be considered as an advantage.

A key success factor of this project is intensive collaboration between the PhD projects, which means that candidates should enjoy collaboration with other PhD-students and the experts from the industry involved in this project. The candidates should enjoy working within the interface between curiosity-driven and application-inspired research. You are well capable to switch from fundamental scientific discussions with scientific peers to formulating the relevance of your research within the broader scope of water reuse.

You also possess: 

• the availability to start your PhD at September 1st 2026;
• hands-on experience with anaerobic bioreactors will be considered a plus;
• good command of programming languages like Python will be considered as a plus. 

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.

We offer

Wageningen University & Research offers excellent terms of employment. A few highlights from our Collective Labour Agreement include:

• partially paid parental leave;
• working hours that can be discussed and arranged so that they allow for the best possible work-life balance;
• there is a strong focus on vitality and you can make use of the sports facilities available on campus for a small fee;
• a fixed year-end bonus of 8.3%;
• excellent pension scheme.

In addition to these first-rate employee benefits, you will receive a fully funded PhD position and you will be offered a course program tailored to your needs and the research team.
The gross salary for the first year is € 3.059,- per month rising to € 3.881,-  in the fourth year in according to the Collective Labour Agreements for Dutch Universities (CAO-NU) (scale P). This is based on a full-time working week of 38 hours. We offer a temporary contract for 18 months which will be extended for the duration of the project if you perform well. 

We encourage development and internal mobility within our organization. Our recruitment and selection policy sets out the conditions that apply specifically to you as a (former) employee. If you have any questions, we are happy to help.

You will work on the greenest and most innovative campus in the Netherlands, in an international and open working environment. 

Coming from abroad

Wageningen University & Research is the university and research centre for life sciences. The themes we deal with are relevant to everyone around the world and Wageningen, therefore, has a large international community and a lot to offer to international employees. 

Because we expect you to work and live in the Netherlands our team of advisors on Dutch immigration procedures will help you with the visa application procedures for yourself and, if applicable, for your family. 

Feeling welcome also has everything to do with being well informed. Wageningen University & Research’s International Community page contains practical information about what we can do to support international employees coming to Wageningen. Furthermore, our Welcome Center can assist you with any additional advice and information about for example housing, opening a bank account, dual career programs or schooling. Finally, certain categories of international staff may be eligible for a tax exemption on a part of their salary during the first five years in the Netherlands.

Important information

For more information about the position, please contact Dr. Miriam van Eekert via email: miriam.vaneekert@wur.nl. 
Questions about the procedure? Get in touch with Evelien Janssen, Corporate Recruiter, via email: evelien.janssen@wur.nl.

Ready to apply?
You can apply directly using the apply button on the vacancy page on our website which will allow us to process your personal information with your approval. Only applications submitted through our website will be considered.

To apply, please send the following documents (max. 3 pages in total for both documents):

• complete and up-to-date curriculum vitae;
• motivation letter.

The maximum length of the documents must not exceed 3 pages. If it exceeds, applications will not be considered. Additional files such as grades and transcripts are not required during this stage and will not be considered.

You can apply up to and including 25 May 2026.