In the framework of the BEWARE program (see link below), co-founded by the Marie Actions Sklodowska-Curie of the European Commission, the researcher will join a collaborative project established between the public research center CRA-W and the private SME CEBEDEAU.
CRA-W aims to combine scientific research and services for the benefit of Walloon farmers, breeders, horticulturalists, forestry workers and operators in the agro-food sector.
The core mission of CEBEDEAU is to harness science in the service of innovation and economic development, focusing on water treatment solutions.
The Research Project:
The project, MicroSense “Development of a field kit to assess the capacity of complex matrices to metabolize organic micropollutants” is presented in the Annex.
What you would be doing:
- Lead a research project exploring micropollutant metabolization in soil and water matrixes;
- Prepare and maintain SOPs for the research function;
- Design and carry out scientific experiments;
- Develop metagenomic tools.
What we are looking for:
- PhD degree in life sciences (e.g. microbiology, bioscience engineering);
- Relevant knowledge in environmental science, enzymology, molecular tools and bioinformatics;
- Previous research experience on the fate and/or the biological degradation of organic micropollutants, or on the soil biological activity involved in agrosystem performance or functioning would be a plus;
- Ability to actively contribute to the construction of the scientific project, the candidate should be able to write the grant application;
- Ability to manage deadlines, to synthesize and to work independently;
- Team Player and entrepreneurial;
- Passionate, motivated, dynamic, problem solver;
- Results-oriented and organised;
- Ability to write reports and papers;
- Committed to the Project;
- Fluent in English and/or French.
The candidate must be in a situation of transnational mobility, i.e. have spent less than 12 months in Belgium over the last 36 months on a professional basis and with an employment contract.
In return, we can offer a three-year contract from January 2022 with professional development in addition to a competitive salary.
We expect that the candidate will contribute to the writing of the BEWARE proposal from mid-August 2021. For information, the deadline for submission of the project file is 15 October. The selected researcher is mentioned by name in this proposal file.
How to apply:
Send the following minimum information to Ms. Fabienne Delporte before the 23rd of July 2021:
Resume (CV) including:
- place and date of birth, nationality
- place, date and title of diploma(s)
- details of the PhD ongoing or obtained
- current position
- any specific experience and/or competencies in relation to the project.
- list of publications
Country of residence for the last 3 years (BEWARE Fellowship specific conditions)
Motivation letter for the project and for research in Belgium.
Any recommendation letters will be appreciated.
Beware Fellowship link :
BEWARE Project – CRA-W CEBEDEAU
Development of a field kit to assess the capacity of complex matrices to metabolize organic micropollutants
MicroSense
Why – What – Objectives – How
- Delporte, C Meunier, JF Gérard, B Huyghebaert
Why
Water resources are an essential element for drinking water supply but also to meet the needs of agriculture. Soil is a non-renewable resource. Its preservation is essential to ensure food security and a sustainable future. Soil is home to an abundance and diversity of life.
These natural resources are subject to strong anthropogenic pressures, through synthetic fertilizers and agricultural pesticides, the application of sludge and industrial by-products, nanoparticles, hormones and drugs discharged into wastewater, for example. In addition, soil erosion by rainfall washes land-based pollutants into watercourses.
What
Microorganisms represent a tremendous biological and biochemical resource. Through their multiple functions they fulfil a variety of services.
CEBEDEAU and the CRA-W are two institutions that place microbial ecology at the centre of their activities. On the one hand is the interest of microorganisms in the field of water quality and treatment. On the other hand are the major functions performed in the broad sense by microbial communities in agrosystems.
Objectives
By pooling their complementary skills, the CRA-W and the CEBEDEAU have found points of convergence in the study and exploitation of the major biological functions concerning these two matrices: water and soil.
The objective of the project is to develop
- indicators of quality (e.g. water quality, soil health and fertility, etc.), and
- indicators of the functioning of processes (e.g. determining the quality of a depolluting biomass in terms of organic micropollutant elimination, evaluating pesticide metabolization in the soil during a biological transition period, etc.)
through the development of dynamic functional tools.
These tools will be based on the identification of the main enzymatic functions involved in biological activities targeting the metabolization of organic micropollutants (e.g. for water purification or soil decontamination by metabolizing pesticides, etc.).
How
A 3-year collaborative project in molecular biology and enzymology in the broad sense. The MicroSense project focuses on the development of simple field extraction methods coupled to two semi-quantitative measurement methods such as MinION and Biolog©. A panel of functions will be judiciously selected from the major enzymatic families. Coupled with 16S metagenomic data, the metabolic activity indicators will make it possible to identify the bacterial genera involved in the degradation of micropollutants present in soils and waters.
The start-up is planned in January 2022 for a period of 3 years. Prior involvement in finalizing the grant application from August will be required. For information, the deadline for submission of the project file is 15 October. The selected researcher is mentioned by name in this proposal file.
The deadline for applications is 23/07/2021. The interviews will be held by video conference in the first half of August.
Soil, water and integrated production Unit - Pole Soil
Walloon Agricultural Research Center
Sustainability, systems and prospectives Department
Rue du Bordia, 4 - 5030 Gembloux - Belgique
phone : +32 (0) 81 626 555 – +32 (0) 479 86 72 41
_xl.jpg)
