PhD Researcher in PSOL PhD-Cohort (f/m/x): Novel approaches for the removal of PFAS from living[...]

PhD Researcher in PSOL PhD-Cohort (f/m/x): Novel approaches for the removal of PFAS from living organisms

Place of work

Leipzig

Working time

65 % (25.35 h / week)

Contract limitations

Limited contract / 36 months

Salary

Remuneration according to the TVöD public-sector up to pay grade 13 including attractive public‑sector social security benefits.

Contact

Your contact for any questions you may have about the job:
Prof. Dr. Tamara Tal (

Your application

Please submit your application via our online portal with your cover letter, CV (please omit your photo , age, or marital status) and relevant attachments.

Diversity and Inclusion

The UFZ has a strong commitment to diversity and actively supports equal opportunities for all employees regardless of their origin, religion, ideology, disability, age or sexual identity.
We look forward to applications from people who are open‑minded and enjoy working in diverse teams.

The UFZ

The Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) with its 1,100 employees has gained an excellent reputation as an international competence centre for environmental sciences. We are part of the largest scientific organisation in Germany, the Helmholtz association. Our mission: Our research seeks to find a balance between social development and the long‑term protection of our natural resources.

The job

Per‑and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) represent a diverse class of ubiquitous, co‑occurring environmental pollutants. While a limited number of well‑known PFAS have been banned from use in the EU, all compartments in the environment remain contaminated and, based on the levels of PFAS detected in rainwater, surface water and soils exceeding proposed regulatory guideline levels, it has been proposed that the planetary boundary for PFAS pollution has been breached. There is a global lack of solutions for the removal of PFAS contamination from the environment, including from highly exposed human populations.

This PhD project is one of four in the newly funded UFZ PhD College PSOL project “Solutions for exceeded planetary boundaries: Novel technologies to remove PFAS from the environment”. You will join three other students, co‑mentored by an interdisciplinary team of chemists, toxicologists, engineers, and social scientists, in a supportive and vibrant ongoing exchange.

PhD3 centers on the removal of persistent PFAS from living organisms. Based on mixtures of co‑occurring PFAS detected in human blood, multiple drug and compound‑related strategies will be examined to facilitate removal of PFAS from exposed zebrafish larvae to ultimately ask: can decontamination of living organisms reverse PFAS‑dependent health effects? Based on our group’s previous work, this project will center on the potential reversal of PFAS‑dependent effects on neuro‑behavioural development (PMIDs: ; ; ; ).

To optimize PFAS removal, this project centers on the development of drug and compound delivery strategies. The candidate will additionally leverage high‑content imaging, automated behaviour testing, analytical chemistry, and application of R‑ and python‑based pipelines to computationally analyze and integrate diverse data streams.

We offer

• Excellent supervision and optimal professional and interdisciplinary qualification through our HIGRADE graduate programme
• The freedom to master even the most demanding challenges between basic research and practical application
• The opportunity to work in interdisciplinary, international teams and benefit from a wide range of perspectives
• First‑class integration into national and international research networks to work together on global challenges
• Excellent research infrastructure and research data management to optimally support your work
• A wide range of options for balancing care responsibilities and work through our family office
• Competent support and advice for international colleagues arriving at the UFZ from the ‘International Office’
• A workplace in a vibrant region with a high life quality and social and cultural diversity

Your profile

We seek a creative and ambitious candidate to lead this interdisciplinary project. A completed Master’s degree is a minimum requirement. This work will require an animal use application in German. We are therefore looking for a methodical candidate with excellent organizational and communication skills, ideally in both English and German. Computational experience is a plus.