MSCA Doctoral Candidate Position in TERRA-MED project (Ref: UdG3)

Universitat de Girona (UdG) is recruiting a researcher within the Horizon Europe Marie Sklodowska Curie Co-Fund doctoral network TERRA-MED (An Interregional PhD Programme for Advancing Sustainability and Climate Resilience in Occitania, Balearic Islands, and Catalonia). The successful candidate will carry out a joint doctorate (dual degree) in University of Girona (programme: “Water Science and Technology”) and University of Toulouse (Doctoral School of Mechanics, Energetics, Civil & Process Engineering).

Workplaces: Universitat de Girona (UdG), Spain – Molecular Microbial Ecology Group (gEMM). Université de Toulouse (UT), Occitanie, France – Biofilm Engineering Group at the Laboratoire de Génie Chimique. Universitat de les Illes Balears, Spain – Microbiology and Environmental Biotechnology Group (MICROBIAM).

Main supervisor: Dr Lluís Bañeras, UdG (lluis.banyeras@udg.edu). Co-supervisor 1: Dr Benjamin Erable, UT (benjamin.erable@ensiacet.fr). Co-supervisor 2:  Dr Joseph A. Christie-Oleza, UIB (joseph.christie@uib.eu).

Project duration: 3 years

Research objectives. The project aims to address the persistent presence of microplastics (MPs) in greywater and wastewater treatment plant effluents, a resource that represents up to 75 % of domestic wastewater and yet remains under cleaned. Existing systems are designed for conventional pollutants and offer limited capacity to mitigate persistent plastic contaminants. This exciting project will explore how electromicrobial processes, combined with conductive nanostructured membranes, controlled redox environments and specialized microbial consortia (and pure microbial cultures), can accelerate MP biodegradation. The research will investigate several questions, namely:

1. How do electrochemical conditions influence oxidative ageing of MPs, and how does this ageing enhance microbial accessibility and degradation kinetics?
2. Which microbial communities (populations) are the most effective and have the highest plastic degradation rate?
3. What metabolic pathways govern the transformation of MPs under combined electrochemical and biological action by studying genes (transcriptomics) and degradation intermediates (metabolomics)?
4. What are the environmental, regulatory and practical implications of integrating such systems into decentralized frameworks?

Expected results: The project is expected to deliver a mechanistic and technological improvement in the treatment of persistent plastic, and plastic derived contaminants in water. First, it will generate a quantitative understanding of how electrochemical (and bioelectrochemical) conditions accelerate oxidative ageing of MPs and plasticisers, identifying the specific redox regimes and reactor configurations that will maximize functionalization (promoting oxidative reactions) and fragmentation under low‑energy conditions. Second, it will identify and characterize microbial communities and isolates capable of degrading electro‑aged plastics (leachates), revealing their ecological traits and metabolic capacities, and enabling the construction of defined cultures (synthetic communities) promoting efficient mineralization. Third, a combined -omics approach will elucidate major metabolic pathways and degradation intermediates involved in electrochemically stimulated plastic transformation, providing the first integrated map of gene expression and metabolite fluxes under hybrid electrochemical-biological conditions. Technologically, the thesis will produce a validated hybrid reactor concept that demonstrates accelerated degradation of MPs compared with biological or electrochemical treatments alone. This system will serve as a prototype for decentralized greywater treatment and as a final polishing step of wastewater treatment plant effluents, offering a low‑energy, water compatible solution aligned with circular resource management.

Benefits.  Annual gross salary (aprox): 30.600€ (net salary + employee’s taxes and contributions). Permanent contract linked to TERRA-MED project duration.

Indicative mobility arrangements: Hosting institution: 15 months (Universitat de Girona)
Co-hosting institution secondment 1: 9 to 12 months Université de Toulouse,
Co-hosting institution secondment 2: 6 to 9 months Universitat de les Illes Balears,
Non-Academic secondment: 3 months (to be defined)

Requirements for candidates. Candidates must meet the following mandatory requirements:

• Applicants must be eligible for enrolment in a doctoral programme at the employer institution and must not already hold a doctoral degree at the date of recruitment.  Detailed information is provided on UdG Doctoral School website.
• Have not resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately before their recruitment date, and
• Have fluency in English (B2 level minimum)

Skills and competences: Microbiology, Electrochemistry, Chemical Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Molecular Biology, -omics, Microbial Ecology.

TERRA-MED doctoral network. TERRA-MED is an interregional doctoral program funded under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND Actions that will recruit and train a new generation of researchers to address the sustainability and resource stress (Water–Land–Energy nexus) in Mediterranean territories. The Euroregion Pyrenees–Mediterranean, coordinator of the program, brings together the Regions of Occitanie (France), Catalonia and the Balearic Islands (Spain) forming a cross-border research ecosystem. Through this collaboration, TERRA-MED connects world-class universities, research centres and socio economic actors committed to advancing resilience in the face of climate change. With more than 22,000 scientists across 10 universities and 2 research centers, encompassing 1000 research units, TERRA-MED provides a rich, interdisciplinary environment where doctoral candidates can excel and launch their research careers. 33 PhD positions will be offered to early-stage researchers with a unique interregional, interdisciplinary and intersectoral environment. Fellows will benefit from having two supervisors (a principal supervisor and a co-supervisor) from two different regions and having a non-academic mentor. The fellows will undertake mandatory cross-border or international stays to the co-institution, as well as a secondment in a non-academic entity. Moreover, doctoral candidates will receive a specifically designed training program related to their research topics, alongside modules on innovation, entrepreneurship, project management, ethics, open science, etc.