Denmark : Ph.D. project position in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry

A full-time 3-year Ph.D. student position is offered at the Institute of Environmental Science, Aarhus University (AU), Denmark in collaboration with the Food Institute at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). The project will mainly be carried out at the Institute of Environmental Science at Aarhus University in Roskilde under the supervision of Professor Philipp Mayer (AU) and co-supervision of Senior Researcher Anne MarieVinggaard (DTU). The anticipated starting date is December 15th, 2011.

The Department of Environmental Science conducts both basic and applied research on some of the major challenges that face the society, such as pollution and pollution control mechanisms, management of soil, water, air and biodiversity, protection of ecosystem services, climate change, and energy systems. The department is highly interdisciplinary and the expertise ranges from physics, chemistry, microbiology, geography, mathematics, and computer science, to social science, economics and policy analysis. The department has approximately 130 employees of which approx. 80 are scientific staff. Further information on the department may be found.

The Ph.D project:
The project aims at the development and application of new concepts and methods to improve the exposure basis of toxicological research, particularly for persistent organic pollutants and their mixtures. This includes novel “passive dosing” methods to provide well-defined and constant exposure levels in several test systems. Special emphasis will be given to the dosing of complex mixtures and to the dosing of in vitro tests that are particularly prone to sorption and evaporation losses. Possibilities for fundamentally new experimental platforms based on passive dosing will be explored, such as passive dosing under the microscope, where the exposure of microorganisms or cells is tightly controlled while the effects can be inspected and studied. New concepts will be applied to determine the “concentration at the site of toxic action”, and toxicity observations will be related to this novel exposure parameter. The Ph.D. project will go beyond just improving research methodology and special attention will be given to generate new toxicological observations and to link these to the physical chemistry and toxicokinetics of the tested chemicals. Examples of relevant questions are: Can physicochemical properties and processes explain the obtained results? Can we improve the sensitivity and reproducibility of in vitro tests when improving the dosing and applying new dose metrics? Can we transfer complex mixtures from the environment and into a standardized toxicity test in such a way that the mixture composition is conserved and kept constant during the test?

The Ph.D. project will involve instrumental analysis of the test chemicals (GC, GC-MS, HPLC) as well as cell culture work and in vitro testing with cell lines. Parts of this Ph.D. study will be connected to several collaborative research projects in which passive dosing will be applied in toxicological research and testing. A research visit at a high-level research institute in another country is envisioned.

Qualifications
We are looking for a highly motivated candidate who is well educated in analytical and environmental chemistry and (eco)toxicology. The applicant should further have a strong background, experience and interest within some of the following specific areas: exposure and effects of organic contaminants, organic environmental chemistry, physical chemistry, toxicity testing and instrumental analytical chemistry. We presume a specific interest in questions related to environmental pollution and its effects, the readiness for interdisciplinary and international collaboration and the capability of working independently.

Place of work
The place of work will be Aarhus University, Department of Environmental Science, Roskilde, (Sealand), 35 km west of Copenhagen.

Application
Your application, written in English, should include a letter of interest, a, project description of max 5 pages, CV, list of publications (if any), and documentation of academic degrees. Please follow this link below

Further information: For specific information on academic content, please contact Professor Philipp Mayer, phm@dmu.dk, +45 87 15 86 63 (AU).

Formalities and salary range

The Faculty of Science refers to the Ministerial Order on the Appointment of Academic Staff at Danish Universities under the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

Further information on qualification requirements and job content may be found in the Memorandum on Job Structure for Academic Staff at Danish Universities.

Your qualifications will be assessed by an expert panel. Matriculation as a PhD student will be in accordance with Ministerial Order no. 18 of 14 January 2008 on the PhD Programme at Universities, and matriculation at the Ph.D school DTU-FOOD, is a prerequisite for employment as a PhD student.

Salary depends on seniority as agreed between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Confederation of Professional Unions

Further Information

Application Deadline : 8 December 2011

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Posted on 2011-11-27 12:25:27

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