We are seeking a PhD candidate for the following position: https://euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/515906. The candidate must be in his/her first 4 years after MSc and not be resided in Italy for more than 12 months in the last 36 months. The position will be open untill filled. PhD will start on 1st Nov. 2020.

With indicative financial conditions of the research project (in local currency)

  • 3-years full-time employment contract
  • Attractive salary tuned to living standards of the hosting country. Brut salary, and excluding family and mobility allowance will be around 2900 € NB: this net salary results from deducting all compulsory (employer/employee) social security contributions but not direct taxes (e.g. income tax, health insurance).
  • Conditional family allowance of 500,00 € per month (potentially subject to taxes)
  • Net mobility allowance of 600,00 € per month (potentially subject to taxes)

Ph.D. Title : REE-related toxicity in bauxite ores and residues

Research objectives

Diesel fuel and diesel exhaust particulate (DEP) are major REE-containing complex mixtures. Limited, yet convincing evidence both from analytical and from animal studies point to the relevance of DEP as a major concern in environmental and human health. This ESR is planned to verify the REE levels in dust collected from urban areas, and in diesel repair workshops, along with REE excretion and hair accumulation in DEP-exposed (and unexposed) workers. The main aims are related to the evaluation of REE content and REE-related toxicity in diesel exhaust from roads, diesel repair workshops and in workers’ urine and hair.

This part will be implemented by collaboration with two industrial medicine units, in Avellino and Como (Italy). Analyses will be made mainly by ICP-MS. Toxicity will be evaluated by means of the multiple bioassay models (sea urchins, microalgae, and Vicia faba).

Presentation of the research project (cooperative aspect)

This PhD position is within the framework of a European ITN project named PANORAMA: EuroPean trAining NetwOrk on Rare eArth elements environMental trAnsfer: from rock to human involving 15 PhD positions.

Under the supervision of Prof. Marco Trifuoggi, the PhD student will to be completed.

The project involves a strong collaboration with UNIBA (Prof. F. Tommasi) including required research stays (secondment) during M16-18 months for plant bioassays and with HAW (Prof. S. Heise) including required research stays (secondment) during M24-26 months for bacterial and fish bioassays.

The PhD student will be also involved in scientific/soft-skills meetings and in research activities conducted in other laboratories/companies from Europe and associated countries.

An important component of the training will be the participation to 3 main major training events:

WS1-(December 2020) REE as emerging contaminants: Properties, uses and dissemination –Germany-fundamental REE biogeochemistry and currently known anthropogenic REE inputs into the environment

SS1 (May 2021) – AMD and REE contamination mitigation – Portugal-Management and remediation solutions of AMD in old mining areas and Management of WEEE, recycling areas

WS2 – Colloids and nanoparticles as REE vectors -France- Structural characterization of colloids and nanoparticles by innovative and fine spectroscopic and scattering techniques: X-Ray absorption fluorescence and scattering, light scattering. REE interactions with bearing phases.

SS2 – (Eco)toxicology of REE –Germany- Ecotoxicological concepts and approaches, Physico-chemical properties of REE for bioavailability, ecotoxicity and environmental risk.

In addition to these major milestones of the program, the PhD students will 1) continuously develop their core research skills via their own research project locally and within the network while at secondments and conferences, 2) receive a mandatory amount of hard and soft-skills training specific to their own doctoral school, along with mentoring by joint supervising bodies, 3) use conferences both as dissemination events for ESRs results and network events for progress reports and evaluations, and 4) collaborate into practical activities aimed at network-structuring legacy deliverables.

PANORAMA’s research objective is to elucidate the man-induced environmental dissemination of REE and the associated effects on the environmental health. For that purpose, interdisciplinary approaches are required combining geochemistry, ecotoxicology, hydrology, chemical analysis and coupling field monitoring, original in and ex situ experimental set-up and modelling from the element speciation to the environmental impact

PANORAMA’s key aim is to set-up an optimal scientific and non-scientific training to the understanding and forecasting of the environmental impacts of new emerging pollutants such as REE.

 

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