Organization: Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Location: Trondheim, Norway
Duration: 3 years with possibility to get 1 additional year for working duties
Pay/Volunteer: remunerated in code 1017, at gross NOK 491 200,- per annum before tax. From the salary, 2% is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.
Deadline: 07 Jan 2022
Description: The position is part of the project; Combining skills to identify the “Sweet Spot” to solve marine plastic pollution in Norway and is one of five PhD positions connected to this project. This project is a newly established, interdisciplinary initiative led by NTNU Ålesund.
The objective of the project is to bring forward outstanding research to build on current activities at different departments at NTNU to investigate transformative solutions to the marine plastic problem through circular economy. The terminology “sweet spots” reflects the idea of using mutually complementing knowledge systems to build a holistic picture of marine plastic pollution in Norway and use this as a springboard for co-developing interventions that are eco-effective.
The PhD-position is linked to the work package two (WP2) of the five work packages. The WP2 aims at assessing the fates and occurrence of microplastics. Under this WP, the candidate will research the characteristics of the most littered items along the Norwegian coast by (1) Assessing degradation rates of macro litter items using Py-GC/MS analysis. The candidate will then (2) characterize and quantify the typical microplastic polymers across Norwegian waters to determine the source of pollution. Combined, these objectives allow for the research to uncover the extent of micro and macro littering and identify the most threating littered items along the Norwegian coast in terms of their potential to break-down into microplastic pollutants.
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