PREDOCTORAL RESEARCHER (PreDoc_MGR)

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE JOB

• Job location:  ICRA – Catalan Institute for Water Research, Girona, Spain
• Number of positions available: 1
• Expected start: September/October 2022
• Temporal Position. The position is for 48 Months (approximately)
• Gross Annual Salary package: According to Spanish regulations for PreDoctoral Researchers (Additional benefits: tuition fees)

JOB PURPOSE / PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA) based in Girona (Spain) is a research institute created in 2006 by the Catalan Government within the framework of the Research Centres Program of Catalonia. The trustees supporting ICRA are the Department of Economy and Knowledge from the Catalan Government, the Catalan Water Agency and the University of Girona. This research centre tackles water-related issues from a comprehensive scientific and technological perspective. ICRA has the mission of implementing a holistic and multidisciplinary approach to water research, considering all the components related to water and wastewater cycles.

ICRA is offering a PhD student position in the Area of Water Quality.

We are looking for a PhD student who will research on the occurrence, fate and impact of emerging contaminants in the subsurface environment. Groundwater is an extremely important resource in many European countries, especially in areas where surface water is of limited availability or poor quality. Various emerging pollutants from agricultural, household, or industrial origin enter aquifers via different pathways. Thus, the evaluation of its quality is of outmost importance to avoid potential environmental and human health risks. In this project, the candidate will work on the development of innovative target and suspect screening analytical methods to determine a wider range of contaminants in groundwater and related matrices, with special focus on persistent and mobile substances and understudied pharmaceuticals and antibiotics. These methods will be applied to study the occurrence of these contaminants in groundwater at field scale, and to identify the processes that determine their fate (e.g. degradation and sorption to aquifer sediments) and variability in the subsurface. Finally, the impact associated with the occurrence of these substances in groundwater, especially antibiotics, will be also evaluated. The candidate will join a multidisciplinary research.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

We are looking for a motivated person with interest on laboratory and field work. The tasks of the PhD candidate will involve:

• The development of innovative target and suspect screening analytical methods to identify emerging pollutants (persistent and mobile compounds, pharmaceuticals and antibiotics) in groundwater and related matrices
• Sample preparation, analysis, and quantification of emerging contaminants (chromatography and mass spectrometry)
• Organization of monitoring campaigns and field work. The samples collected will be analysed using the developed methods to assess the occurrence, fate, and impact of emerging pollutants in groundwater.
• Writing scientific papers and reports and presentations at national and international conferences
• As with all technicians, PhD students and postdoctoral fellows, a small percentage of the time will be allocated to communal services such as joint laboratory maintenance, standards preparation, etc.