We are looking for two highly motivated and skilled PhD candidates with a recent university MSc degree in environmental sciences, biology or related area. The candidates should be a result-driven team player and have good communication skills and good proficiency in English (both oral and written). He or she should have experience in, preferably both, ecosystem-level experimentation as well as ecological modelling in relation to the ecological effects of chemicals. The provisional title of the PhD projects are "Understanding the relationships between increased CO2 and temperature and community effects of chemicals on aquatic ecosystems" and "Modelling effects of global change induced alterations of aquatic biological community composition on vulnerability to chemicals"

The successful candidates will:
be part of the EU funded ECORISK2050 project, which is an Innovative Training Network consisting of 8 beneficiaries and 12 PhD positions aiming to study the effects of global change on the emission, fate, effects and risks of chemicals in aquatic ecosystems.

PhD 1: Understanding the relationships between increased CO2 and temperature and community effects of chemicals on aquatic ecosystems.
The objectives of the first PhD project are to develop a mobile device to study the effects on increased CO2 concentrations and temperature in combination with chemical exposure on aquatic ecosystems and to use the device in microcosm experiments to be performed in Norway, The Netherlands and Spain to study the regionalism of these combined effects. The expected result is improved insight in how increased CO2 concentrations and temperature affect the fate of pesticides, personal and home care products and medicines and their effects on the sensitivity of communities (phytoplankton, macrophytes, zooplankton, and macroinvertebrates) to pesticides, on functional parameters (e.g. pH, DO, nutrient levels) and the recovery potential of impaired ecosystems.

PhD 2: Modelling effects of global change induced alterations of biological community composition on vulnerability to chemicals.
The objectives of the second PhD project are to develop models at different levels of biological organization (individual, population, community, ecosystem) which are able to describe the influence of global climate change on ecosystem function and structure and its interaction with chemical pressures. The expected results are a (partly) validated modelling framework that is able to evaluate the global climate change scenarios developed by another PhD student within the project in terms of future effects of chemicals on aquatic ecosystems. The models will be set up so that they can be linked to the exposure modelling framework for agrichemicals also developed within the project. Finally, the outcomes of this PhD project will be used to improve the risk assessment approach and the derivation of risk mitigation measures.

Applicants for these PhD positions should hold a recent university MSc degree in environmental sciences, biology or related area, with a strong aquatic and ecotoxicology-related background.
Special requirements
Applicants should comply to the EU rules regarding ITN projects (https://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/data/ref/h2020/grants_manual/amga/h2020-amga_en.pdf).
The most important rules are that applicants should not have a doctoral degree, should have obtained their MSc degree within the last four years and should not have spent more than 12 months of his/her time during the last 3 years in the Netherlands.

We offer t full-time position, initially for 18 months after which a go/no go decision will be taken on extension with another 30 months. Gross salary per month € 2.266,-- in the first year rising to € 2.897,= per month in the fourth year, for a fulltime appointment.
In addition to this salary you will receive a mobility allowance and, if relevant, a family allowance for a total of 36 months of the employment.

Wageningen University & Research

Wageningen University and Research (Wageningen UR) is a leading international organization. Within the field of healthy nutrition and living environment we are working on the quality of life.

The department of Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Management of Wageningen University focusses on the following research areas: the ecological structure and functioning of marine and freshwater systems, the physical-chemical quality of surface waters and sediments, the impact of water quality on human use of surface water, including diversity modelling of ecosystem relations and the fate and effects of substances. The research of the group is multidisciplinary (environmental engineering, environmental chemistry and aquatic ecology) and ranges from the laboratory scale (detailed process studies) to the scale of actual ecosystems (field studies). The multidisciplinary expertise of the team comes together in the development of integrated models for ecosystem and water quality management. The chemical stress ecology sub-group aims to incorporate more ecological theory by introducing novel methods, among others, traits based approaches and mechanistic effect models. This to improve the ecological risk assessment of chemicals but also to obtain a better linkage with the assessments of effects of emerging chemicals and multiple stressors, the latter also including non-chemical stressors like climate change, habitat destruction and flow alteration.
The department of Environmental Sciences of Wageningen University provides fundamental research and academic education on our living environment: nature, landscape, land usage, adaptation to climate change, water and ocean management, and the various competing claims on space. This also includes biodiversity and the sustainability of management and production. Wageningen University is part of the Wageningen University and Research Centre concern.

Wageningen University & Research centre
Delivering a substantial contribution to the quality of life. That's our focus - each and every day. Within our domain, healthy food and living environment, we search for answers to issues affecting society - such as sustainable food production, climate change and alternative energy. Of course, we don't do this alone. Every day, 6,500 people work on 'the quality of life', turning ideas into reality, on a global scale.
Could you be one of these people? We give you the space you need.