PhD projects

This PhD position aims to analyse whether aquatic sediments may become an internal source for phosphorus and other contaminants under changing climatic conditions and to test readily available adsorptive materials for trapping these contaminants in the field.

You will perform lab experiments to determine phosphorus and pollutant remobilization from sediments under various environmental conditions. The binding capacity of different adsorptive materials will be determined via laboratory and field experiments.

You will develop temperature-dependent mobilization and adsorption models to identify conditions and materials with a high release/trapping capacity and deduce management strategies for the mitigation of water pollution in human-impacted catchments in the future.

The PhD position includes short visits and secondments to BEYOND partners (e.g. Institut Agro Agrocampus Ouest Rennes, France; Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet, Sweden) for additional training and knowledge exchange.

The project will be supervised by Gabriele Weigelhofer (WasserCluster Lunz, Austria; BOKU University Vienna) and co-supervised by Magdalena Bieroza (Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet, Sweden). Miriam Glendell (James Hutton Institute, UK) and Michael Rode (UFZ, Germany) will be the advisors for the PhD. 

Working place: WasserCluster Lunz – Biological Station GmbH, 3293 Lunz am See, Austria https://wcl.ac.at/en/; Home university: BOKU University Vienna https://boku.ac.at/en/

Extent of employment: 40 hours per week

Duration of employment: 3 years

Gross monthly salary: EUR 2675.- (paid 14 times per year, annual indexing 3%)

The gross monthly salary consists of a country-dependent living allowance, a mobility allowance, and, if applicable, a family allowance.

The deadline for application has been reached. Not possible to apply.

The aim of this PhD position is to explore and fingerprint colloidal P and associated elemental content within European river networks to advance understanding of pollution pressures in complex catchments. The objectives include:

1. Quantify colloidal nutrient (P focus) mobilization and retention processes.
2. Identify and quantify hot spots and hot moments of colloidal P emissions in catchments.
3. Testing of colloidal fingerprinting for tracing N mobilisation, where opportune specific stable isotopes approaches will be employed.

As part of this PhD position, the Doctoral Candidate will have an opportunity to take part in short visits and secondments to BEYOND partners (Uppsala University, James Hutton Institute POSTNOVA, AFBI and CHIVAS) for additional training and knowledge exchange.

The project will be supervised by Professor Dr. Roland Bol (FZJ, Germany), Prof. Dr. Michael Rode (UFZ, Germany) and Ass. Professor Gabriele Weigelhofer (BOKU, Austria).

The position duration is three years. You will be based in the Agrosphere (IBG-3), Institute of Bio- and Geosciences (https://www.fz-juelich.de/en/ibg/ibg-3) located in Juelich, Germany.

The deadline for this position has been reached. It not possible to apply for.

This PhD position aims to explore long-term high-frequency (sub-hourly) water quality data from BEYOND experimental catchments to advance understanding of concentration-discharge (C-Q) relationships in diverse rivers and their catchments. The concentration-discharge relationship encapsulates information on hydrological and biogeochemical processes and can provide information on dominant pollution pressures.

The objectives of this PhD project include:

1. To establish C-Q relationships for multi-pollutants in diverse catchments and varying climatic conditions across temporal scales
2. To explain dominant processes encapsulated in the C-Q relationships
3. To test turbidity, conductivity, and UV-absorbance high-frequency measurements as proxies for multi-pollutants.

As part of this PhD position, the Doctoral Candidate will have an opportunity to take part in short visits and secondments to BEYOND partners (Ulster University, CEAB-CSIC, INRAE, INTEL, Irish EPA and LUODE) for additional training and knowledge exchange.  

The project will be supervised by Associate Professor Magdalena Bieroza (SLU, Sweden), Senior Researcher Susana Bernal (CEAB-CSIC, Spain) and Professor Phil Jordan (University of Ulster, UK). 

The position duration is four years. You will be based in the Department of Soil and Environment (https://www.slu.se/en/departments/soil-environment/) in Uppsala, Sweden.

The deadline for application has been reached. Not possible to apply.

The main objective of this PhD position is to target phosphorus and nitrogen removal in European streams based on the coupling of biochemical and hydrological methods for assessing the effectiveness of anthropogenically impacted streams and streams with natural morphology in retaining nutrients.

The objectives of the PhD project include:

1. Quantify seasonal variability of nutrient retention in headwater streams with deviating hydro-morphological characteristics, including stable isotope approaches
2. Quantify assimilatory nutrient uptake and removal in streams and sorption to stream sediments using high frequency measurements
3. Analyze in-stream nutrient removal at the river network scale

As part of this PhD position, the Doctoral Candidate will have an opportunity to take part in short visits and secondments to BEYOND partners (Uppsala University, Sweden; James Hutton Institute, UK;  National Research Institute for Agriculture/IARA, Food and Environment, France; TRIOS and LHW, Germany) for additional training and knowledge exchange.

The project will be supervised by Professor Dr. Michael Rode (UFZ, Germany), Professor Dr. Roland Bol (FZJ, Germany) and Dr. Zahra Thomas (IARA, France).

The position duration is three years. You will be based in the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research-UFZ, Department of Aquatic Ecosystem Analysis (https://www.ufz.de/index.php?de=34219) located in Magdeburg in Germany.

The aim of this PhD position is to determine how citizen science can be best engaged to contribute to water quality monitoring and protection.

The objectives include:

1. Investigate who does citizen science (CS) and why? Compare and contrast perspectives of the local community, NGOs, and other groups engaging in water improvement projects with and without CS
2. Evaluate how reliable CS data are for monitoring and assessment and quality control mechanisms based on existing and new data collections
3. Identify gaps that can be filled by citizen science
4. Develop a CS-based toolkit for identifying pressures at local and catchment scales
5. Evaluate existing and new frameworks for sustained CS projects

The project will be supervised by Mary Kelly-Quinn (University College Dublin), Jan-Robert Baars (University College Dublin) and co-supervised by Gabriele Weigelhofer (WasserCluster, Lunz, Austria).

The advisors for the PhD research include Per-Erik Mellander (Teagasc, Republic of Ireland), Alena Bartosova (SMHI, Sweden) and Eulyn Pagaling (James Hutton Institute, UK).

The position duration is <3 years (with an additional year if required). You will be based in the School of Biology & Environmental Science, University College Dublin, located in Dublin, Ireland.

The aim of this PhD position is to assess the impact of multiple stressors from agricultural headwater catchments in Europe on aquatic ecology. The objectives of the project are to:

1.  Assess the impact of acute and chronic inputs of multiple pollutants (including P, N and sediment) and flow variability on aquatic bio-indicators
2. Establish the mechanism by which nitrate can impact aquatic communities
3. Establish ecological impact thresholds for nitrate and sediment

The project will consist of an exciting combination of fieldwork, mesocosm and laboratory studies. It will address the need for better data on the interaction of multiple pollutants/stressors in the context of acute vs chronic inputs and climate change.

The project will be supervised by Dr Daire Ó hUallacháin & Dr Per-Erik Mellander (Teagasc, Ireland); and Prof Mary Kelly Quinn & Dr Marcin Penk (University College Dublin, Ireland).

The position duration is three years. The doctoral candidate will be based in Teagasc in the Environment, Soils and Land Use Department (https://www.teagasc.ie/environment/johnstown/), located in Wexford, Ireland.

As part of this PhD position, the doctoral candidate will have an opportunity to take part in short visits and secondments to BEYOND partners, including The James Hutton Institute (UK), Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet (Sweden) and WasserCluster Lunz (Austria) for additional training and knowledge exchange.

The expected start date for this position is between the 1^st of July and the 30^th of September 2025.  

Candidates selected for interviews will be contacted within one month from the closing date.

This fully funded PhD position is available under the recently launched Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action (MSCA) Doctoral Networks (DN) project “BEYOND” Beyond the current: Improving European flowing waters in an era of global change. BEYOND will train the next generation of water professionals who will deliver scientific and technological innovation across disciplines, institutions and countries needed to solve European water quality problems in an era of global change.

This PhD position aims to investigate the impact of low flows and intermittency on stream metabolic activity, water chemistry and the capacity of streams to process carbon and nutrients. The research involves evaluating the spatiotemporal extent of low-flow conditions and the variability of stream water chemistry across different intermittent fluvial networks. You will use a combination of field and laboratory empirical approaches to measure in-stream carbon and nutrient cycling and associated greenhouse gas emissions. These measurements will help to assess how in-stream bioreactive capacity changes with varying land uses and hydrological conditions. You will run hydrochemical models to explore changes in stream water quantity and quality under future scenarios of water scarcity. The insights gained from this work will contribute to design more effective water monitoring strategies for intermittent fluvial networks and provide recommendations to water stakeholders for ensuring water quality in these highly vulnerable aquatic systems.

As part of this PhD position, you will have an opportunity to take part in short visits and secondments to BEYOND partners (Institut Agro Agrocampus Ouest Rennes, France; Teagasc-Agriculture and Food Development Authority, Ireland; and others) for additional training and knowledge exchange.

The project will be supervised by Susana Bernal (Center of Advanced Studies of Blanes from the Spanish Research Council, CEAB-CSIC) and co-supervised by Per-Erik Mellander (Teagasc-Agriculture and Food Development Authority, Ireland) and Ophélie Fovet (French Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, INRAE, Rennes, France).

The position duration is three years. You will be based at the Center of Advanced Studies of Blanes (CEAB-CSIC) (https://www.ceab.csic.es/es/) located in Blanes, Spain.

The deadline for application has been reached. Not possible to apply.

The aim of this PhD position is to investigate:

1. How nutrient export dynamics (i.e. long-term trend, seasonal variations and storm responses) vary across spatial scales from small headwater catchments (<10 km²) to meso-scale catchments (50-500 km²)
2. How hydro-climatic extremes (droughts, heatwaves, extreme precipitation events) differentially influence water quality according to catchments size and stream order.

The research hypothesizes that the land-to-water delivery signal dominates nutrient export dynamics in the smaller catchments, while the influence of in-stream processes and point sources increases in larger catchments.

This project will rely on high-resolution water quality monitoring data from research catchments in Sweden, Germany, France, Ireland and the United Kingdom, complemented by analysing public water surveillance data across the EU.

In addition to the analysis of these long-term environmental observation data, you will implement a 2-year water quality monitoring downstream of one of the research catchments (Agrhys in western France https://eng-agrhys.rennes.hub.inrae.fr/, 5km²) to study how the water chemistry signal observed by current monitoring propagates downstream.

Data analysis methods will include statistical spatial and temporal data analysis and parsimonious modelling. As part of this PhD position, you can take part in short visits and secondments to BEYOND partners for additional training and knowledge exchange.

The project will be supervised by Rémi Dupas (INRAE, France) and Ophélie Fovet (INRAE, France) and co-supervised by Magdalena Bieroza (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) and Per-Erik Mellander (Teagasc, Republic of Ireland).

Miriam Glendell (James Hutton Institute, UK) and Michael Rode (UFZ, Germany) will be advisors of PhD.

The position duration is three years. You will be based in the joint research unit SAS https://eng-umrsas.rennes.hub.inrae.fr/ in Rennes, France.

The deadline for application has been reached. Not possible to apply.

Integrated agroecological management is seen as a potential solution to degrading agroecosystems. However, its impacts on water quality are still poorly understood, despite agroecology's focus on whole-system approaches that reduce reliance on external inputs and could potentially reduce water pollution.

The aim of this project is to examine whether and how systemic change in agronomic practices and spatial targeting of measures could scale up to allow the protection of water quality under future climate and socio-economic scenarios. Specifically, the PhD will:

1. Investigate the potential of agro-ecological agricultural practices to mitigate diffuse pollution from nutrients, sediments and other contaminants to deliver multiple ecosystem services (clean water availability, carbon stewardship, biodiversity conservation)
2. Investigate the potential of systemic change in agronomic practice to deliver resilient water quality and water resources under future hydrological extremes
3. Quantify the scale and targeting of interventions required for mitigation and adaptation to these impacts across a climatic gradient

This PhD will provide excellent multi-disciplinary training in catchment science (hydrology, water quality, soil science, agronomy) and system-based modelling, with an opportunity for limited field data collection and engagement with stakeholders in the farming sector.

The PhD will be able to take part in short visits and secondments to the world-leading Agricultural Research Program in Ireland, Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland, Norwegian Institute for Water Research (NIVA) and CARBERY food producer in Ireland for additional training and knowledge exchange.  

The project will be supervised by Dr Miriam Glendell and Dr Cathy Hawes from the James Hutton Institute and Prof. Phil Jordan at the University of Ulster, UK. The student will have access to additional support from Dr Nicholas Schurch from Biomathematics and Statistics Scotland, Dr Leah-Jackson Blake at NIVA in Norway and Dr Per-Erik Mellander from Teagasc in Ireland. You will be based in the Environmental and Biochemical Sciences Department (https://www.hutton.ac.uk/department/environmental-and-biochemical-sciences/) located in Aberdeen, Scotland.

The deadline for application has been reached. Not possible to apply.

The aim of this PhD position is to understand the effects of pollutants on in-stream microbial processes. The experimental objectives are:

1. Investigate how microbial community compositions change across environmental pressure gradients (land-use, climate, riparian conditions, water chemistry) related to sensitivity to chemical and physical stressors.
2. Test how pollutants affect microbial community structure, C, N and P cycling and broader ecosystem services.
3. Test if specific microbial community groups influencing key processes may differ in stressor sensitivities from whole community diversity and whether this can inform better monitoring and management of rivers.

The project will be supervised by Dr Eulyn Pagaling, Prof Marc Stutter, Prof Phil Jordan and Dr Anna Lupon.

The position duration is three years. You will be based in the Environmental and Biochemical Sciences Department at the James Hutton Institute located in Aberdeen, Scotland in collaboration with the School of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Ulster University, N. Ireland.

The Doctoral Candidate will also have an opportunity to take part in short visits and secondments to BEYOND partners University College Dublin, Centre d’Estudis Avançats de Blanes, Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Environment Protection Agency and CHIVAS for additional training and knowledge exchange.