IRNASA-CSIC is seeking candidates to apply for Juan de la Cierva contracts

The Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Salamanca (IRNASA-CSIC) is seeking candidates to apply for the Juan de la Cierva grants offered by the Spanish State Research Agency: https://www.aei.gob.es/convocatorias/buscador-convocatorias/ayudas-contratos-juan-cierva-2024.

The Juan de la Cierva grants are intended to encourage the incorporation of young researchers with a doctoral degree to complete their postdoctoral research training in Spanish R&D centres, with two-year contracts. Candidates must hold a doctoral degree and have obtained it between 1 January 2023 and 31 December 2024 for the general access category. They must apply to join an R&D centre other than the one where they did their pre-doctoral training.

IRNASA-CSIC offers a potential incorporation as a Juan de la Cierva in the following groups/laboratories:

Project and/or research line in which the candidate will work: The candidate will work on the purification of water contaminated with toxic elements. Specifically, their research activity will focus on developing composite materials based on modified clays and metal oxides for the purification and valorization of water contaminated with antimony (a priority pollutant and a critical raw material in Europe).

Candidate requirements: Ph.D. holders in Chemistry or related fields who obtained their doctoral degree in 2023-2024 (with exceptions specified in the call) and are interested in developing their postdoctoral research in the area of Environmental Sciences and Technologies. The candidate should have several high-impact scientific publications, some of them as the first author.

What we offer: The candidate will join a group with extensive experience in the field of environmental contamination by toxic elements (diagnosis and control techniques). Multidisciplinary training will be offered, covering environment, chemistry, and geochemistry. The candidate will conduct their research within the framework of a State Plan project, which will allow them to enhance their knowledge in geomaterial synthesis techniques, material characterization techniques, adsorption/desorption processes, and their application to water purification and raw material recovery.

Candidates should send their CV to: Esther Álvarez Ayuso (e-mail: esther.alvarez@irnasa.csic.es).

Deadline for contact: January 15, 2025.

Project and/or line of research the candidate will work on: The selected person will work within the research lines and projects currently carried out by the group (https://www.irnasa.csic.es/grupo-de-contaminacion-de-suelos-y-aguas/):

  • Pesticide/Emerging contaminants dynamics in agricultural soils, modelling and prediction of soil and water contamination under sustainable management practices and more environmentally friendly farming systems.
  • Evaluation of the impact of organic amendments on soil health and pesticide dynamics in soils in laboratory, greenhouse and field trials.
  • Study of the effect of pesticides and organic amendments/different soil management on soil microbial communities.

Candidate requirements: Young PhDs in Science (Chemistry, Pharmacy, Biotechnology, Biology, Agricultural Science or similar) interested in applying for a Juan de la Cierva Training contract to develop their postdoctoral stage in the area of agricultural soil contamination and with appropriate merits for the call. (https://www.aei.gob.es/convocatorias/buscador-convocatorias/ayudas-contratos-juan-cierva-2024). Candidates must have at least 5-6 publications in high impact journals, being first author in most of them and have carried out an international stay or have participated in an international project.

Our offer: The selected candidate would join the Group of Soil and Water Contamination by Pesticides and Emerging Pollutants at the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Salamanca (IRNASA-CSIC) for his/her active participation in national and international projects and research lines developed in the group at laboratory, greenhouse and field scale (https://www.irnasa.csic.es/grupo-de-contaminacion-de-suelos-y-aguas/). High quality scientific training related to soil conservation and the dynamics and modelling of pesticide/emerging contaminants behaviour in soils under different agricultural management is offered.

The group is characterised by being very active and dynamic and has trained a good number of pre- and post-doctoral researchers with a high commitment and success rate in the continuity of the scientific career of all researchers in training, currently becoming consolidated researchers.

If you are interested, please send your CV to: msonia.rodriguez@irnasa.csic.es; jesusm.marin@irnasa.csic.es; lucia.santos@irnasa.csic.es

Maximum contact date: 10 January 2025

Laboratory/group that the candidate will join: Biogeoscience and Climate Change.
PI: Blanca Ausín.
Project and/or line of research in which he/she will work: ERC project PASSAGE (https://passage.csic.es/ @PassageERC)
Candidate requirements: Ph.D. holders in Earth Science, Marine Science, Chemistry or related fields.
What we offer:  Flexible project topic within the frame of project PASSAGE, additional sources of funding and opportunities.
Interested applicants should send their CV to: blanca.ausin@irnasa.csic.es
Deadline: Januay 15th 2025.