MSCA-IF-2019. Host Offer at the University of Alicante. Materials Science Institute of Alicante (IUMA)

Professor Antonio Canals Hernández, from Materials Science Institute of Alicante (IUMA), welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (MSCA-IF) at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the MSCA Mobility Rule.

The University of Alicante (UA) was created in 1979. Today it educates and trains more than 20.000 national and 3.000 international students and offers 43 undergraduate and 80 postgraduate programmes: consequently it is proportionally one of the fastest growing universities in Spain. Thus, the UA employs over 3.500 researchers and management staff (44%women), which involves an annual budget of 200 million Euros. Currently, UA is investing near to 34M Euros for boosting frontier research and technology transfer processes via spin off, licensing and international promotion mainly.

UA is a young and dynamic university with vast experience in implementing EU funded projects in different programmes and areas, with presence in more than 60 countries worldwide. In the last 10 years, UA has successfully acted as coordinator of many Tempus, Alfa, Edulink projects involving Third Countries and Erasmus+ and Research Framework Programmes.

UA is in process of obtaining the EC HR Excellence in Research Award, by aligning its human resources policies to the 40 principles of the Charter & Code, based on a customized action plan/HR strategy.

Brief description of Hosting Group:

INVESTIGATION LINES

Atomic Spectroscopy

Development and characterization of systems of generation and transport of aerosols:

- Characterisation of aerosols generated with commercial nebulizers

- Characterisation and development of new and more efficient (micro)nebulizers

- Development of new multinebulizers

- Characterisation and study of spray chambers

- Elemental trace analysis in liquid samples

Sample treatment

Development of faster and enviromentally respectful sample preparation methodologies

1. Miniaturisation:

Microextracción

- Solid phase microextraction

- Liquid phase microextraction

2. Extraction-digestion:

Microwaves and/or ultrasounds

- Assisted by microwaves

- Assisted by ultrasounds

- Assisted by microwaves-ultrasounds

http://web.ua.es/en/qace/presentation.html

Project description:

In recent years, there has been increasing concern about the state of the environment. On this new concept of chemical activities, the analytical labs pay a key point for controlling products and chemical processes. This is because many analytical procedures require hazardous chemicals as part of sample preservation, preparation, quality control, calibration, and equipment cleaning, effectively creating wastes in large quantities and with greater toxicity than that of the original analyzed sample. For all of these reasons, Green Analytical Chemistry (GAC) is becoming a new and important subarea of Green Chemistry. The goal of GAC is to develop and use analytical procedures that generate less hazardous wastes and that are safer to use and more benign to the environment. One of the most challenging steps on chemical analysis is the sample preparation, and among them extraction techniques. Our research group has been working the last ten years on developing new microextraction methodologies with the main goal focused on the reduction of the environmental impact. The project aims to assess the applicability of new and/or advanced materials on new extraction approaches for chemical analysis. These materials will be used to preconconcentrate both elements and organic analytes previously to detect and quantify by means of spectrochemical, chromatographic and electrochemical systems, respectively. From our knowledge these materials have never been used before for sample preparation purposes associated with spectrochemical, chromatographic and/or electrochemical detectors. Therefore, new scientific problems and challenges should be studied,solved and answered. This research project shows a high level of innovation, scientific value and potential applicability in many scientific and technological fields.

Applications CV and a letter of motivation will be welcome before 15/07/2019