Funded PhDs
NERC-funded PhD on The Geomicrobiology of Cementitious Nuclear Waste
A fully-funded PhD studentship is available to work on the collaborative project; “Biogeochemical Gradients and Radionuclide transport”. The research is funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and is a joint grant between the Universities of Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, Loughborough and end users including The National Nuclear Laboratory and BGS.
The UK Government will now dispose of high level and intermediate level radioactive wastes in a geological disposal facility (GDF) (DEFRA, 2008). A key characteristic of the UK GDF concept for intermediate level waste is the role of cementitious backfill, intended to maintain strongly alkaline groundwater conditions in the GDF environment. The biogeochemical gradients that will develop across the poorly understood interface between an alkaline, deep GDF and the geosphere (the Chemically Disturbed Zone; CDZ) will be critical controls on radionuclide behaviour and transport, and thus on the safety and environmental impact of a GDF. The objectives of the BigRAD consortium are to gain a holistic understanding of biogeochemical processes and their controls on radionuclide behaviour in the CDZ and to develop predictive modelling capability to describe radionuclide mobility in the CDZ. The interdisciplinary PhD studentship will be an integral part of this programme, and focus on mineral and radionuclide biotransformations in the CDZ.
The student will use well-defined alkaliphilic consortia and pure cultures to determine the impact of microbial biogeochemistry on model mineral phases and geological samples in the CDZ. Both batch and flow-through column experiments will be conducted, with (bio)mineralogical characterization using state of the art equipment within the Williamson Centre for Molecular Environmental Science and complementary techniques in collaborating institutions including synchrotron light facilities. Additional experiments will identify the mechanisms of microbe-radionuclide-mineral interactions within these novel experimental systems. The student will join a vibrant group within Manchester’s School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences and will benefit from close interactions with postdoctoral researchers and technicians across the BigRAD consortium. They will gain an excellent training in core areas required to work at the interface between biology and the physical sciences, including microbiology, molecular ecology, mineralogy, biogeochemistry and environmental radiochemistry. The extensive links across the research consortium will offer significant employment opportunities in academia and the nuclear sector for the student.
Applications, with a current CV to Michael Atherton, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Williamson Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PL
For more details on this project, please contact Professor Jon Lloyd.