PhD position at the Environmental Engineering and Bioprocesses Research Group (University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain)

Position Characteristics
Contract for one year (extendable up to 3 years) within the Environmental Engineering and Bioprocesses Research Group (Biogrup ) to join the ENERWATER project team.
Salary = 1,173 €/month and 14 pays/year, i.e. 16,422 €/year.
Start date = March the 1st 2015
Description of the position
ENERWATER is an ambitious project with the Horizon 2020 that involves 10 partners (universities and companies) from 4 European countries (Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom), coordinated by the Biogrup.

Description

The ENERWATER project belongs to the research line “Product and process sustainability: Life Cycle Assessment and carbon footprint” and therefore the hired person is expected to carry out his/her PhD thesis in the field of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and urban wastewaters, in particular related to issues such as the definition of best practices in the application of LCA to this particular sector and the development and application of greenhouse gases emissions models, in order to be used for the incorporation of the environmental vector into the design and control of wastewater treatment plants.

Research area
Energy optimization and LCA of urban wastewater treatment.

Requirements
• Candidates must have a master degree on chemical engineering, environmental engineering, environmental sciences or similar, and an adequate knowledge on wastewater treatment.
• Specific knowledge on LCA and related environmental management tools as well as modelling and control of wastewater treatment systems will be valuable.
• Candidates must show a clear interest in developing a research career with the aim of achieving the doctoral degree.
• High level of English is required.
• Willingness to travel to attend project meetings or conferences, as well as to perform research stays in other institutions elsewhere is also required.

Selection process
Candidatures must be sent to almudena.hospido@usc.es (stating “Enerwater job offer” in the subject) before January the 20th at 2.00pm

Candidatures should include the following documents:
• Motivation letter (max. 1 page), where the contact details as well as the reasons why the candidate should be selected are described.
• Curriculum.

Selection process will comprise the following steps:

1. Candidatures evaluation, where the suitability of the candidate to the profile and requirements of the application will be checked. Step 1 accounts for 30% of the final evaluation and candidates achieving less than 20% will be disregarded.

2. Test: Candidates who pass the first stage will be invited to perform a screening test with the aim of assessing the candidate's ability to develop a research career as well as reading and writing skills in English. Step 2 accounts for 25% of the final evaluation and candidates achieving less than 15% will be disregarded.

3. Interview: Candidates who pass the second stage will be invited to perform a personal interview where, among other elements, his/her oral English skills will be evaluated. Step 3 accounts for 45% of the final evaluation, 25% for the personal interview and 20% for oral English skills.

The selected candidate will be invited to sign the research contract and a waiting list with two candidates will be defined. No selected candidates will be also informed.
If no suitable candidate is identified, the position will be considered deserted.