MSCA-PF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Chemical Engineering.

Professor Francisco Ríos Ruiz, from the Department of  Chemical Engineering at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) in 2024 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (for more information about the 2024 call, please consult this link.

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531, is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. With over 56,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and more than 6,000 members of staff, the UGR offers over 90 undergraduate degrees, 164 master’s degrees (8 of which are international double degrees) and 28 doctoral programmes via its 124 departments and nearly 50 centers. Accordingly, the UGR offers one of the most extensive and diverse ranges of higher education programmes in Spain.

The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflects the the institution’s commitment to continuously improve its human resource policies in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The UGR is also internationally renowned for its excellence in diverse research fields and ranked among the top Spanish universities in a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, and international funding.

The UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking - Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The 2023 edition of the ARWU places the UGR in 201-300th position in the world and as the 1-2 highest ranked University in Spain (http://sl.ugr.es/0dwJ), reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research. From the perspective of specialist areas in the ARWU rankings (http://sl.ugr.es/0bSp), the UGR is outstanding in Food Science & Technology (ranked in the 48th position in the world), Hospitality & Tourism Management (ranked between 51th-75th position), and in the areas of Mathematics and Library & Information Science, both of them ranked between 76th-100th position. A little lower in the ranking, the UGR also stands out in the areas of Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science & Engineering and Nursing, in which the UGR is positioned at the rank in the 101-150th position. Finally, Dentistry & Oral Sciences is positioned between 151-200th position.

Additionally, the UGR counts with 9 researchers at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list, most of them related to the Computer Science scientific area. It is also well recognised for its web presence (http://sl.ugr.es/0a6i), being positioned at 76th place in the top 200 Universities in Europe.

Internationally, the University of Granada is firmly committed to its participation in the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union. For the duration of the last Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, the UGR obtained a total of 121 projects with a total funding of around €29,4 million. For the current Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, the UGR has obtained 74 projects, so far, with a total funding of almost €20 million.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group:

This research group of Surfactants within the Department of Chemical Engineering have been focused since its creation on the formulation of specific detergents for different types of dirt, optimizing cleaning efficiency and minimizing environmental impact of cleaning formulations. The lines of work have covered the physicochemical and ecotoxicological characterization of surfactants and their mixtures, the study of the activity and stability of enzymes in the presence of surfactants and the analysis of their effectiveness in removing dirt, mainly agri-food type. https://iquimica.ugr.es/

The interests of the group at present are the environmental assessment of microplastics and microfibers, their interactions with detergents formulations and concerning pollutants from wastewater, and their degradation by Advance Oxidation Processes using ozone. Nevertheless, the research group is open to new research lines related to the above. 

The Group’s Lab has a high-quality infrastructure including the following equipment:  dynamic light Scattering (DLS), zetasizer, static multiple light scattering, turbiscan, oxitop® biodegradation reactors for aerobic and anaerobic biodegradation, toxicity sets to bacteria, microcrustaceans and microalgae, liquid chromatograph (HPLC), ozone generator and analyzer, force tensiometer and freeze dryer. Additionally, access to larger and high-cost equipment through the Scientific Instrumentation Centre: Elementary analyzer, Transformed Fourier Spectrometer Infrared (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (HRSEM) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM).

Project description:

The project will address the current environmental problems derived from the release of textile microplastics (MPs) in form of microfibers (MFs) in the environment after the domestic and industrial washing of clothes and fabrics. Theses MFs are directly released into aquatic bodies or reach the wastewater treatment plants where they cannot be completely captured. Several studies have alerted about the environmental and human health impact caused by MFs, they are toxics for some aquatic organism and can act as carriers of adsorbed toxic pollutants being ingested by aquatic organisms becoming finally part of the trophic chain. The main goal of the project is the generation of knowledge to reduce or mitigate the environmental impact associated with MFs and specifically in combination with the usual contaminants present in the washing wastewater and coming from the laundry detergents used.

The project will study natural, synthetic, and commercial fabrics in combination with concerning ingredients of laundry detergents. Firstly, the interactions and adsorption of these contaminants on different MFs will be described. Secondly, the use ozonation for the degradation of MFs in combination with these pollutants will be evaluated, and finally the environmental impact of MFs, combination of MFs and laundry pollutants, and liquors after ozonation process will be environmentally evaluated through biodegradation and toxicity assays.

The results of the project will be essential for a proper selection of fibers and ingredients to be part of fabrics and laundry detergents products that allow to reduce the impact of MFs in the environment.

Research Area:

 ☒ Chemistry (CHE)

☒ Environment and Geosciences (ENV)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Francisco Ríos Ruiz (rios@ugr.es): 

• CV
• Letter of recommendation (optional)