MSc thesis projects - organic micropollutants, nature-based solutions & water management hos Aarhus Universitet

Background

Organic micropollutants can impact water quality and the way we currently manage water in urban and rural areas. Nature-based solutions are effective and sustainable options to mitigate their impacts. Our research group is pursuing different research lines within this major topic.

NATURE project is assessing various nature-based solutions (NBS) for urban wastewater treatment (from conventional to novel constructed wetlands) and river basin management for reducing the impact of antibiotics and pathogens including by-products and antimicrobial resistance on aquatic ecosystems.

MULTISOURCE is an EU-funded project that will facilitate the systematic, city-wide planning of nature-based solutions for urban water treatment, storage, and reuse. With seven technical pilots across Europe and USA, a wide range of urban waters will be treated throughout the project, while decision support tools will be co-designed together with local, national, and international stakeholders. We are measuring the fate of organic micropollutants in all seven pilots of the project.

WETCYANO and TOXICROP projects are dealing with the more and longer events of cyanobacterial blooms that are resulting in the irrigation of crops with contaminated water. It is currently unknown if constructed wetlands can be used to remove the cyanobacteria biomass and degrade the cyanotoxins. We are performing in-depth characterization of the potential for removal, including removal mechanisms and cyanotoxins biotransformation, as well as how shock loads of cyanobacteria may impact the microbial community in the constructed wetlands.

An MSc thesis project will support the activities in one of these research lines.

The work will be based at the Department of Environmental Science of Aarhus University. Please note that the Department of Environmental Science is located at Risø Campus in Roskilde.

Training opportunities

  • Water treatment biotechnology & nature-based solutions

  • Environmental chemistry

  • Environmental analytical chemistry (LC-MS/MS, High-resolution mass spectrometry)

  • Environmental microbiology

  • Sequencing and bioinformatics

  • Biodegradation processes (chemical and biological)

  • International cooperation (project partners in Denmark, Portugal, Italy, Colombia, USA, among others).

Your Background

Your preferred educational background is chemistry, biology, or environmental sciences/ engineering.

Project timeframe

NATURE is running until the end of 2024, while MULTISOURCE is running until 2025. WETCYANO and TOXICROP are running until the end of 2023. These projects provide the umbrella and funding. MSc projects can be started on an ongoing basis.

If you are interested in joining our research group, please send an email with a motivation letter and CV.

Contact person / Supervisor:

Associate Professor Pedro Carvalho; pedro.carvalho@envs.au.dk

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