Post doc position Soil and Water Bioremediation

University of Burgos, 09001, (Burgos, Spain), 38 hours per week

International Research Center in Critical Raw Materials for Advanced Industrial Technologies (ICCRAM)

ABOUT UNIVERSITY OF BURGOS:

ICCRAM (International Research Center in CRMs for Advanced Industrial Technologies), is an International Excellence Research Center located at the University of Burgos facilities, which is developing activities in the following areas: Biophysics, Biotechnology, Industrial Technology, Materials Science, Nanosafety, Materials design, Nanotechnology, Resource management efficiency, Eco-innovation and Substitution of critical raw materials. ICCRAM is a major partner in international organizations with participation in 14 H2020 European projects. UBUCOMP was established in 2003 bringing together the research experience Edaphology and Agricultural Science Section of the University of Burgos and scientists from other Sections such as Organic Chemistry or Chemical Engineering, in order to set up a multidisciplinary team that takes part of the Composting Spanish Network and the Spanish Group of Soil Enzymology. UBUCOMP is an interdisciplinary team dedicated to the study of organic waste and its use in agriculture and environmental restoration.

Job description

The Biotechnology and Toxicology group of ICCRAM, together with the research group UBUCOMP at the University of Burgos, located in the north of Spain, aims to develop and apply novel biological and physico-chemical technologies to decontaminate water and soil sites. The capability of bacteria, fungi, algae and plants to transform toxic contaminants into harmless end-products, for the development of efficient and low-cost hybrid bioremediation solutions will be investigated. The candidate will be involved in fundamental research performed at lab-scale, as well as in pilot-tests, used to proof the scaling-up feasibility for field applications of newly developed technologies. At ICCRAM there is a vacancy for a post-doc position for a period of two years. The position is in the GREENER project: INTEGRATED SYSTEMS FOR EFFECTIVE ENVIRONMENTAL REMEDIATION (CE-BIOTEC-04-2018; H2020-NMBP-TR-IND-2018-2020).

The selected candidate will perform research in the area of soil and water bioremediation and will participate in the daily supervision of PhD students and technicians. The research will be executed in the framework of collaboration between ICCRAM and UBUCOM at the University of Burgos, in collaboration with other project consortium partners from the European Union and China.

Specific tasks

· Study of the strengthening effect and mechanisms of mixture plants, plant intercropping and chelating agents on phytostabilisation.

· Study of the joint action mechanism of plant probiotics (microorganisms) combined with plants to repair potentially toxic metals and metalloids pollution in water.

· Improvement of biostimulation/bioaugmentation technologies for soil remediation, through the addition of microalgae as biofertilizing agents, and the application of

alternative enrichment treatments, such organic amendments, nontoxic synthetic chelators and/or biosurfactants, in microcosms experiments.

· Identification of physical and chemical factors (such as soil temperature, salinity, pH, moisture content, nutrient content etc.) that may influence the biodegradation rate of contaminants by indigenous microorganisms in contaminated sites.

· Definition of optimal physico-chemical conditions for the application of developed bioremediation technologies at pilot and real scale.

Requirements

· PhD degree in microbial ecology, environmental science, edaphology, agricultural chemistry, or related disciplines.

· At least 10 research articles published in international journals included in JCR/PubMed, being first author on at least five of them.

· Two years postdoc experience

· Experience in participation in European Projects will be valuable

· Great communicative (both written and spoken) skills in English (at least C1 level).

· Proven international professional expertise and excellent collaborative skills.

· Able to work independently with little supervision.

· Availability and willingness to travel abroad for project meetings and research secondments.

· Proficiency in MS Office and Adobe Illustrator or similar tools.

We offer:

· A 2-year postdoc position which is available at the University of Burgos-ICCRAM.

· Salary: The offered salary will dependent on qualifications and work experience

How to apply?

You can either send your CV, academic records and motivation letter to Dr. Rocío Barros (rbarros@ubu.es), Dr. Carlos Rad (crad@ubu.es) and Dr. Juan Antonio Tamayo-Ramos (jatramos@ubu.es).

The deadline to receive the applications is 20/02/2020.