PhD in Agricultural Sciences at Wageningen University & Research (Netherlands)

Key details

• Host institution: Wageningen University & Research
• Location: Wageningen University & Research, Droevendaalsesteeg, Wageningen, Netherlands
• Application deadline: May 25, 2026

Funding

Not funded by a EU programme

Funding level (from listing): partial or not via EU framework — confirm on the official call.

How to apply

• Apply by email to [email protected] (subject line and attachments per the official instructions).
• Full vacancy text and updates: Euraxess listing.

About the position

Are you interested in working on circular water systems? Do you enjoy collaborating with other scientists and societal stakeholders on fundamental research questions? Do you want to better understand if treated wastewater can safely be used for future crop irrigation?

The Department of Environmental Technology and Wageningen Food Safety Research (WFSR), part of Wageningen University & Research, are looking for a PhD candidate within the research consortium BlueVantage. BlueVantage is a large research program with scientific and societal partners that aims to tackle growing water challenges by finding new ways to reuse water safely and sustainably. To that end, BlueVantage explores new treatment technologies to remove persistent organic micropollutants (OMPs) and recover valuable resources from water, thereby ensuring a clean water cycle. The research in BlueVantage is divided over different thematic work packages in which a number of PhDs, their supervisors, and societal partners together work on the ambitions of BlueVantage.

This PhD position will be performed in a work package focused on tools for designing and assessing circular water systems. The work in this work package will be performed in collaboration with another PhD candidate and post-doc. You will study the safety of crop production in relation to the use of treated wastewater for irrigation. Your focus will be on organic micropollutants (OMPs) and PFAS, and if their presence in treated wastewater limits safe reuse of that water for irrigation, especially in terms of environmental and crop safety. Currently there are no clear guidelines for the presence of OMPs and PFAS in irrigation water. You will perform crucial research to help develop these guidelines while also exploring the mechanisms by which OMPs and PFAS are taken up in plants.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Build a model for transfer of OMPs and PFAS from treated wastewaters to crops. To that end you will collect and optimise available models and prioritise the different contaminants;
• Perform experiments to validate the developed model. This will include performing plant-pot experiments and the determination of OMPs and transformation products using state-of-the-art analytical methodologies;
• Identify mechanisms by which OMPs and PFAS are taken up in plants and relate these to the physical-chemical properties of these contaminants;
• Take part in BlueVantage activities, such as consortium meetings, workshops, stakeholder interaction and courses;
• Pro-actively communicate your research findings with partners within and outside of the BlueVantage consortium;
• Publish your research in peer-reviewed journals and present your research at (inter)national conferences.

Your Work Environment

The research is embedded within the Department of Environmental Technology, where you will be a member of the “Micropollutants & Pathogens” team, which is led by Dr. Nora Sutton. You will be supervised by Dr. Milou van de Schans, Dr. Stefan van Leeuwen, and Dr. Nora Sutton. Chemical analysis will be conducted in close collaboration with WFSR.