Applications are invited for a fully-funded 3-year PhD starting in October 2026, on Assessment of the sources, transport and fate of PFAS in soil, sediment, surface and groundwater and biota in England, with a focus on the River Thames catchment.
The PhD will be based in the Faculty of Science and Health at the University of Portsmouth, and will be supervised by Dr Kabari Sam, Professor Gary Fones and Dr Mo Hoque.
The project may involve:
- Collaborating with the Environment Agency (EA), Rivers Trust and water utility companies (e.g. Thames Water) to assemble all available PFAS (including PFOS and PFOA) concentration data in various matrices in England for assessment and use in modelling objective.
- Investigating PFAS behaviour in water, sediment and biota in River Thames catchment to unravel the sources, pathways and mechanisms driving PFAS transport within different environmental matrices in the catchment.
- Sourcing apportionment and modelling of the fate and migration of PFAS under various environmental conditions
- Developing and utilising a multi-criteria PFAS risk ranking tool that consider other parameters beyond concentrations
For more details on the project and how to apply, see here.