Evaluation of the potential risks of antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes (ARBs & ARGs), and microplastics (MPs); and monitoring of their removal in water treatment processes.

This PhD student position offers an exciting and innovative research project for understanding the occurrence and fate of ARGs and MPs in water treatment plants with emphasis in safe drinking water. The ESR will be trained in microbial quantification, analytical tools for ARGs and MPs quantification, modelling and simulation of transport of MPs in water, and UV LED technology. The PhD will be focused on the optimisation of UV-C LED based technologies to reduce the prevalence of ARBs & ARGs in drinking water and wastewater effluents. In addition, the student will be involved in the performance of the final prototype (UV-C coupled with a membrane filtration system) in MPs removal. In ProPhotonix, the student will test the performance of different UV-C LED emitters on the removal of ARBs and ARGs at bench scale.