Sweden: PhD Fellowship in Neuroscience and Physiology, University of Gothenburg

Pharmaceuticals are thought to reach the aquatic environment primarily via sewage effluents, where for example estrogens can feminize fish. Low levels of antibiotics in normal treated sewage effluents are not believed affect microorganisms. However, we recently showed that treated effluent from 90 production sites in India contains extremely high, toxic levels of antibiotics, with ciprofloxacin up to 1 million times the levels normally found in sewage effluents. We will start to address the environmental impact of the release of pharmaceuticals at this centre for the global bulk-drug market. This will also include the impact on species diversity and resistance development of bacterial communities. The project will also address different possibilities of how the situation can be improved. We believe the project will provide new knowledge on antibiotic pollution and the subsequent development of resistance, of urgent importance for improving regulatory standards for production units world-wide. The project will be performed in collaboration with several other research groups, both in Sweden and India.

The project is part of the multidisciplinary graduate school Miljö och Hälsa (Environment and Health) coordinated by Centre for Environment and Sustainability at University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology. Terms of employment: two years of utbildningsbidrag and two years of doktorandanställning is guaranteed as PhD student.

Desired background: experience in molecular biology, physiology, microbiology and toxicology as well as documented laboratory skills.

Application
For more information about the project, please contact main supervisor Joakim Larsson, joakim.larsson[ at ]fysiologi.gu.se, tel +46 31 786 35 89;
website http://www.physiology.gu.se/endo/staff.JL.htm