The doctoral candidate will carry out research at Universitat de Girona (Catalonia, Spain) under the supervision of Sebastià Puig, with secondary supervision by Deepak Pant from VITO (Belgium). This position aims to advance research in Microbial Electrochemical Technologies as a sustainable alternative to fossil-based chemical production, with ethanol and methane as target products. This involves integrating cutting-edge reactor designs like zero-gap flow cells and vapor-fed anode systems, developing a real-time control system for intensified, autonomous operation, and demonstrating the technology at TRL 5 using real industrial CO₂ emissions from WWTP flue gases. A great added value to the progress of this pre-doctoral research position will be the industrial secondment of held in Aqualia for 3 months to foster the industrial adoption of this process.

Academic requirements: Chemical Engineers, Chemistry, Environmental Technology, Biotechnology, Biology or other types of Engineering are acceptable. The doctoral candidate should also hold a Master in one of the abovementioned subjects, with those related to electrochemistry or environmental engineering being the most suitable.

Mobility rule: Mobility rule: candidates must not have resided or conducted their main activities (work, studies, etc.) in Spain for more than 12 months in the 36 months immediately preceding the application deadline.

Deadline for applications: 31th January 2025

Intended starting date: September/October 2025

Principal investigator: Dr Sebastià Puig (sebastia.puig@udg.edu) 

Application: Pre-doctoral researcher (PRE56_2024) | EURAXESS