Do you have a PhD in a relevant area, and are you looking to expand your experience and use your talents to help society address an actual environmental challenge? Then this might be the job for you!

The Broekpolder area near Rotterdam, The Netherlands is polluted with Aldrin and Dieldrin. In a partnership with DCMR Milieudienst Rijnmond and the Province of Zuid-Holland, the Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) of the University of Amsterdam has formulated a six month PostDoc project to explore the options for tackling this pollution through bioremediation and/or phytoremediation.

Broekpolder is a nature and recreation area of ca. 350 ha located in the northwest of the municipality of Vlaardingen. In the time period 1958 to 1975 a large part of Broekpolder was elevated using dredging sludge from the Rotterdam harbour. This sludge proved to be highly polluted with heavy metals (Zn) and pesticides (drins: Aldrin and Dieldrin). Research conducted in 2016 shows that as a result of the application of the polluted sludge the Zn- and drins contents of soil and surface water in Broekpolder exceeds the legal limits for both. Because of the potentially high mobility and bioavailability, the presence of drins in the soil presents an unacceptable ecological risk necessitating urgent remediation of (part of) the area. For this a remediation plan is currently being drawn up.

Based on the results that were obtained in the preliminary studies so far, the potential of application of bioremediation or phytoremediation to remediate drins pollution in Broekpolder is high enough to warrant further investigation. To this end a 6 month PostDoc research project has been formulated with the following goals:

1. to establish the level of Aldrin and Dieldrin pollution in a selected priority area of Broekpolder based on analytical chemical measurements;
2. to establish potential options for bioremediation and/or phytoremediations of Aldrin and Dieldrin pollution in Broekpolder and the feasibility thereof, based the results of the previous step combined with an in-depth literature review  and
3. to prepare a report summarizing the findings of the previous two steps and providing clear recommendations with respect to feasibility of bioremediation and/or phytoremediation to remove Aldrin and Dieldrin from Broekpolder. If deemed feasible, subsequently clear directions for future research and subsequent implementation of bioremediation and/or phytoremediation for this purpose should be given.

The analytical methodology to be used will include GC/MS analysis, passive sampling with polyoxymethylene and the solvent standardized Tenax method (ISO/TS 16751).

• You have a PhD in environmental chemistry, earth science, biology or other relevant field;
• you have proven experience with research of the bioremediation and/or phytoremediation of pesticides, including their extraction from soils and subsequent analytical chemical analysis;
• you are a good writer, able not only to write scientific articles, but also to formulate a well-written advise for non-academic partners;
• you are available at short notice.

An employment contract of 6 months for 38 hours per week, preferably starting at 1 juni 2019. The job profile Researcher with level 4 is applicable. The salary, depending on relevant experience before the beginning of the employment contract, amounts from €2.709 to € 4.274 gross per month, based on38 hours per week, exclusive 8 % holiday allowance and 8.3 end-of-year bonus. The Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities is applicable.

Are you curious about our attractive secundary employment benefits like our ample leave arrangements and development options? Take a look at Working at the Faculty of Science.

University of Amsterdam

With over 5,000 employees, 30,000 students and a budget of more than 600 million euros, the University of Amsterdam (UvA) is an intellectual hub within the Netherlands. Teaching and research at the UvA are conducted within seven faculties: Humanities, Social and Behavioural Sciences, Economics and Business, Law, Science, Medicine and Dentistry. Housed on four city campuses in or near the heart of Amsterdam, where disciplines come together and interact, the faculties have close links with thousands of researchers and hundreds of institutions at home and abroad.  

The UvA’s students and employees are independent thinkers, competent rebels who dare to question dogmas and aren’t satisfied with easy answers and standard solutions. To work at the UvA is to work in an independent, creative, innovative and international climate characterised by an open atmosphere and a genuine engagement with the city of Amsterdam and society.

http://www.uva.nl/en/home

Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics

The Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics (IBED) is one of eight research institutes within the Faculty of Science at the University of Amsterdam. Our scientific work aims at a better understanding of the dynamics of ecosystems at all relevant levels, from genes to ecosystems, using a truly multi-disciplinary approach, and based on both experimental and theoretical research. We want to unravel how ecosystems function in all their complexity, and how they change due to natural processes and human activities.

http://ibed.uva.nl