Two PhD positions are available within the project micro-bial remediation of contaminated soil and water resources (MIRESOWA)
Objective of the project
The overall objective of MIRESOWA is to develop new technologies for bioremediation of pesticide-contaminated soil and water resources. The project focuses on bioaugmentation, i.e. the introduction of specific degradative microorganisms into contaminated soil, waterworks sand filters, etc.
PHD 1: BACTERIAL DEGRADATION OF PESTICIDES
The primary aim of this PhD project will be to address pesticide-degrading bacterial pure cul-tures and co-cultures and their use for bioaugmentation of polluted soil and drinking water. One of the most important obstacles for bioaugmentation is the fact that most contaminants are pre-sent in micro- or nanomolar concentrations, whereas most degradative strains have been selected on the basis of their capacity to degrade contaminants present in high concentrations. In this pro-ject it will be studied whether potential bottlenecks of de¬gradation may be created by the low pesticide concentrations found in the environment. It will be studied whether the bioaugmenta-tion can be optimised using bacterial co-cultures rather than pure cultures. Soil and sand columns inoculated with the candidate strains will be prepared in the laboratory in order to study 1) their degradation efficiency, 2) their survival and sustained metabolic activity, and 3) the effects of environmental factors on degradation (e.g. starvation, availability of electron acceptors and hu-midity. The fellow will be employed at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS).
Requirements
Applicants should have a solid background in environmental or molecular microbiology on a Master level and be experienced in aseptic work and bacterial cultivation. Hands-on experience in analytical chemistry or fungal microbiology will be an advantage, but not a prerequisite.
The applicants are also required to have a documented research potential, and should be inter-ested in working in an interdisciplinary research environment. The two fellows will work closely together evaluating the efficiency of fungal-bacterial consortia for bioremediation of pesticide-contaminated soil and water.
PHD 2: FUNGAL DEGRADATION OF PESTICIDES
The aim of the PhD project is to examine the fungal pesticede degradation potential and to ex-plore the possibilities of using fungal-bacterial consortia for bioaugmentation. New strategies will be developed for isolating fungi able to degrade pesticides present in the soil or water in low concentrations, and for determining their potential usefulness for bioaugmentation. Fungi repre-senting major taxonomic and functional groups will be selected from our culture collection and will, along with the new isolates, be screened for potential to transform/degrade pesticides. The research will involve co-cultivation of the isolated fungal and bacterial strains or stable bacterial consortia. Potential degradation synergism between fungi and bacteria in soil will be investigated by microcosm studies. Soil samples will be inoculated with pure cultures of fungi, bacteria, or both. The effect of different soil parameters such as pH, temperature, humidity, nutrient avail-ability, etc, on consortial pesticide degradation will be investigated. The fellow will be employed at the University of Copenhagen (KU).
Requirements
Applicants should have a solid background in mycology and environmental or molecular mi-crobiology at a Master level.
The applicants are also required to have a documented research potential, and should be inter-ested in working in an interdisciplinary research environment. The two fellows will work closely together evaluating the efficiency of fungal-bacterial consortia for bioremediation of pesticide-contaminated soil and water.
Salary and employment conditions
Terms of payment and appointment according to agreement between the Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations.
Application
Applications marked ‘j.no. 031-01204’ must be available at GEUS no later than 25th of June 2009, at 12.00 am (Danish time).
Applications should be sent to GEUSjob@geus.dk and contain:
1) A full CV
2) A statement of motivation (not more than one page)
3) Copies of relevant exams, grades, master thesis work or publications
4) Contact information to two reference persons.
We expect successful candidates to join the MIRESOWA network in August 2009. You can learn more about the MIRESOWA project at
www.miresowa.dk
For further information please contact Professor Jens Aamand, Department of Geochemistry, GEUS. Phone +45 38 14 23 26, e-mail: jeaa@geus.dk or Professor Søren Rosendahl, Depart-ment of Biology, KU. Phone +45 35 32 23 14, e-mail: soerenr@bio.ku.dk |
