PhD fellowship in Environmental Analytical Chemistry

Section for Environmental Chemistry and Physics invites applicants for a PhD fellowship in Environmental Analytical Chemistry/Screening for neutral PFAS by HRMS and 19F NMR. The project is part of the activities of the ‘Danish PFAS Center’ (2025-2028) which is a collaboration between the four Danish universities (UCPH, AU, DTU, DSU) financed by the Danish Parliament under the supervision of the Danish Environmental Protection Agency.

Start date is (expected to be) 1 July 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The project

The PhD revolves around the development and implementation of a combination of novel screening methods to detect, identify and quantify poly- and perfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) in consumer products, chemicals, environmental and food matrices with high levels of pollutants. You will become part of the newly established Danish PFAS Centre which aims to provide tools to monitor and assess PFAS, and thereby to support the Danish Enviromental Protection Agency (EPA) and the ministry in limiting PFAS pollution and exposures in Denmark. The methods will be a combination of

• low and high resolution mass spectrometry (LRMS and HRMS) coupled to 1 dimensional and potentially 2 dimensional gas chromatography (GC) at University of Copenhagen
• Fluorine Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy (19F NMR) at DTU Chemistry
• Combustion Ion Chromatography (CIC) at a collaborating university in Denmark or abroad

Within this framework, your work will focus on the development of sample preparation, hyphenated methodologies that combine HRMS with chromatographic separation and parallel detection techniques such as 19F NMR and CIC that allow for the detection, structure elucidation and semi-quantification of neutral PFAS. You will explore which neutral PFAS are relevant to search for in various matrices, which you will add to suspect screening databases. You will apply the methods and data extraction workflows to your samples. Furthermore, you will investigate the role of screening analysis in environmental monitoring and explore future implementations of these methods for enforcement/compliance testing and policymaking, including the proposed universal PFAS REACH restriction and environmental legislations. Part of your work will be to communicate your results to Danish policymakers and stakeholders, as well as to the scientific communities. Collaboration is foreseen with universities abroad, e.g. in Sweden or the Netherlands.

Who are we looking for?

We are looking for candidates within the field(s) of analytical chemistry, who is interested in working at the intersection between analysis and regulation. Applicants can have a background from chemistry, environmental sciences, or related fields, with practical experience from analytical chemistry, ideally in chromatography coupled to high resolution mass spectrometry and data workflows integrating multiple lines of evidence. A candidate with a strong background in chemistry is preferred. As the project spans several disciplinary fields, candidates are expected to be enjoy working in an interdisciplinary environment, be familiar with interdisciplinary research approaches and collaboration with researchers of diverse backgrounds.

Our group and research- and what do we offer?

The group is a part of the Section of Environmental Chemistry and Physics, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen. We are located in Copenhagen, at Campus Frederiksberg in central Copenhagen, and collaborate with DTU Chemistry, Lyngby, Denmark for 19F NMR analyses.

We offer creative and stimulating working conditions in dynamic and international research environment. Our research facilities include modern laboratories and you will be part of the dynamic Analytical Chemistry group of approximately 30 people working on various aspects of analytical chemistry, from targeted approaches to chemical fingerprinting of a wide range of sample matrices. Specifically you will work closely with two postdocs, working on PFAS in waste-air (PFAS centre) and PFAS in soil, water and biota (EU project ARAGORN), as well as other other post docs and researchers funded through the the Danish PFAS centre.

Principal supervisor is Associate Professor, Xenia Trier, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, xt@plen.ku.dk, 45 2424 1632. Co-supervisor in 19F NMR will be Associate Professor, Charlotte Held Gotfredsen, DTU-Chemistry, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark.

The PhD programme

A three year full-time study within the framework of the regular PhD programme (5 3 scheme), if you already have an education equivalent to a relevant Danish master’s degree.

Qualifications needed for the regular programme
To be eligible for the regular PhD programme, you must have completed a degree programme, equivalent to a Danish master’s degree (180 ECTS/3 FTE BSc 120 ECTS/2 FTE MSc) related to the subject area of the project, e.g. e.g. chemistry, analytical chemistry or environmental science. For information of eligibility of completed programmes, see General assessments for specific countries and Assessment database.

Terms of employment in the regular programme
Employment as PhD fellow is full time and for maximum 3 years.

Employment is conditional upon your successful enrolment as a PhD student at the PhD School at the Faculty of SCIENCE, University of Copenhagen. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant.

Terms of appointment and payment accord to the agreement between the Danish Ministry of Taxation and The Danish Confederation of Professional Associations on Academics in the State. The position is covered by the Protocol on Job Structure.

Responsibilities and tasks

• Carry through an independent research project under supervision

• Complete PhD courses corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS / ½ FTE
• Participate in active research environments, including a stay at another research institution, preferably abroad
• Teaching and knowledge dissemination activities, in Denmark and internationally
• Write scientific papers aimed at high-impact journals
• Write reports to the Danish PFAS Centre
• Write and defend a PhD thesis on the basis of your project

We are looking for the following qualifications:

• Professional qualifications relevant to the PhD project, preferably with a background in chemistry and preferably on PFAS and HRMS. Experience with GC and NMR is an advantage, but not critical
• Relevant publications
• Relevant work experience
• Other relevant professional activities
• Curious mind-set with a strong interest in theoretical understanding and practical experience in chemistry and analytical chemistry, and interest in making your methods applicable
• Good level of English proficiency (understood, spoken and written)
• Proactive attitude and team spirit contributing to a diverse team

Application and Assessment Procedure

Your application including all attachments must be in English and submitted electronically by clicking APPLY NOW below.

Please include:

Application deadline:

The deadline for applications is 17 May 2025, 23:59 GMT 2.

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process
After deadline, a number of applicants will be selected for academic assessment by an unbiased expert assessor. You are notified, whether you will be passed for assessment.

The assessor will assess the qualifications and experience of the shortlisted applicants with respect to the above mentioned research area, techniques, skills and other requirements. The assessor will conclude whether each applicant is qualified and, if so, for which of the two models. The assessed applicants will have the opportunity to comment on their assessment. You can read about the recruitment process at https://employment.ku.dk/faculty/recruitment-process/.

Interviews with selected candidates are expected to be held in the week of from 2 to 6 June 2025.

Questions
For specific information about the PhD fellowship, please contact the principal supervisor.

General information about PhD study at the Faculty of SCIENCE is available at the PhD School’s website: https://www.science.ku.dk/phd/.

The University of Copenhagen wishes to reflect the surrounding community and invites all regardless of personal background to apply for the position.

Københavns Universitet giver sine knap 10.000 medarbejdere muligheder for at udnytte deres talent fuldt ud i et ambitiøst, uformelt miljø. Vi sikrer traditionsrige og moderne rammer om uddannelser og fri forskning på højt internationalt niveau. Vi søger svar og løsninger på fælles problemer og gør ny viden tilgængelig og nyttig for andre.

Kontakt

Info