A three year research position in immobilisation of degrader microorganisms for bioremediation of contaminated soil and water resources is available - 02.02.2011

Objective of the project

 

The overall objective of this research project is to develop new carrier-based technologies for bioremediation of pesticide-contaminated soil and water resources. The project focuses on bio-augmentation, i.e. the introduction of specific degradative microorganisms into contaminated soil, waterworks sand filters, etc.

 

 

Project description

 

This three year research position offers the opportunity to join the projects Microbial Remedia-tion of Contaminated Soil and Water Resources (www.miresowa.dk) and Biotreatment of Drink-ing Water Resources Polluted by Pesticides, Pharmaceuticals and other Micropollutants (BIOT-REAT). The research project will initially involve laboratory work with immobilisation of de-grader microorganisms on specific carriers designed to improve bioaugmentation efficiency in soil and water resources. Later phases of the project will include field work in collaboration with other project partners.

The primary aim of the project is to test known and design new carriers for immobilising de-grader microorganisms. The immobilisation should enhance degrader survival and activity in addition to protecting them from protozoan grazing, thereby facilitating more efficient bioaug-mentation. New carriers should be designed based on known metabolic (e.g. nutrients or electron acceptors) and environmental (e.g. pH optima) requirements of the specific degrader strains. Low-concentration contamination adds to the challenge of carrier design, as the threshold con-centration for degradation activity in most degrader strains is higher than the levels typically detected in the environment. This challenge will be met by designing carriers that concentrate the contaminants in close proximity to the immobilised strains. Another challenge is the design of carriers with tailor-made consortia (e.g. fungi and bacteria or defined bacterial consortia) con-taining members that possess parallel or cooperative degradation capacities aimed at multi-component contaminations. Other aspects such as carriers allowing for a slow release of active cells should also be included.

The applicant will be employed at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) in Copenhagen, Denmark, for a period of three years.

 

 

Requirements

 

The successful candidate should have a solid background in microbiology and/or environmental engineering at the Ph.D level. Knowledge about environmental chemistry, mathematics and hands-on experience in techniques for cell immobilisation will be an advantage, but not a pre-requisite. The applicants are also required to have a documented research potential, and should

be interested in working in an interdisciplinary research environment. A committee of two inter-nal scientists will evaluate the qualifications of all the applicants for the position.

 

 

Salary and employment conditions

 

Terms of payment and appointment, is according to the agreement between the Ministry of Fi-nance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.

 

 

Application

 

You can apply for the position by entering GEUS website (www.geus.dk) under Jobs and apply for the position from here. Formal applications marked "031-00028" must be submitted elec-tronically to GEUS no later than the 7 of February 2011 (Danish time) and must contain:

1) A full CV

2) A statement of motivation (not more than one page)

3) Copies of relevant exams, grades, abstract of Ph.D. work and peer-review publications

4) Contact information to two reference persons.

We expect successful candidates to join our research team in March 2011.

 

For further information please contact Professor Jens Aamand, Department of Geochemistry, GEUS. Phone +45 38 14 23 26, e-mail:  or Senior Researcher Sebastian R. Søren-sen. Phone +45 38 14 23 17, e-mail:

 

 

The National Geological Surveys for Denmark and Greenland (GEUS) is an international re-search institution within environmental geology, water resources, energy and mineral raw mate-rials. The research and advisory of GEUS provides the authorities and industry with the optimal basis for decisions to the benefit of the society. GEUS is an institution under the Ministry for Climate and Energy and is part of Geocenter Denmark.