MSCA COFUND Doctoral Fellowships “Ecotoxicological Profiling of Prioritized Plastics Additives in Freshwater and Soil”

This PhD topic is part of the INNOCHEMBIO Doctoral Programme, which is funded through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND action. The main objective of INNOCHEMBIO is to train future experts of sustainable chemistry and biotechnology, helping Europe to take the next steps in the green transition. This project aims to carry out ecotoxicological profiling of plastics additives by multi-level hazard evaluation with terrestrial and aquatic biota. This PhD position will be hosted at National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics with main supervisor Dr. Margit Heinlaan and will contain a secondment to co-supervisor Prof. Anita Jemec-Kokalj at University of Ljubljana (SL).

Research field:	Chemistry and biotechnology
Supervisor:	Margit Heinlaan
Availability:	This position is available.
Offered by:	National Institute Of Chemical Physics And Biophysics
Application deadline:	Applications are accepted between July 01, 2025 00:00 and August 31, 2025 23:59 (Europe/Zurich)

1. General description of programme and host

The PhD fellowship is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND doctoral programme INNOCHEMBIO (https://taltech.ee/en/innochembio), which is co-funded by the European Union (Grant agreement 101217295). The main objective of INNOCHEMBIO is to train future experts to help Europe take the next steps in the green transition. The solutions and trained experts can reduce the environmental impact of the chemical and agricultural industries, offer eco-friendly analytical techniques, and assess the safety of new materials. INNOCHEMBIO funding will co-finance 15 PhD positions, for which the application process in the first call will start on the 1st of July in 2025.
For 12 PhD positions the hosting institution will be Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology (DCB) at Tallinn University of Technology (TalTech) which combines three divisions – Chemistry, Gene Technology and Biomedicine, and Food and Biotechnology. DCB is developing solutions to the great challenges of the 21st century – climate change, environmental protection, carbon neutrality, renewable energy, and biodiversity conservation. DCB hosts the second biggest PhD programme in TalTech with nearly a hundred enrolled students.

For 3 PhD positions the hosting institution will be the implementing partner – National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics (NICPB). NICPB is a public research institution that conducts both fundamental and applied research, developing novel directions in fields ranging from material sciences to informatics. NICPB houses the Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology and several laboratories focused on fundamental research in NMR technologies with expertise dating back decades. The PhD training activities conducted by NICPB are funded through TalTech.

Importantly, each PhD project has one co-supervisor from another European country, which is detailed under the specific offer (see under supervisors' section). In total, INNOCHEMBIO has 19 associate partners from 11 European countries.

2. Description of specific PhD project

Sustainability of plastics cannot be achieved without evidence-based knowledge on potential hazards regarding both the chemical makeup of the material as well as physical effects of plastic particles (nano/microplastics). By the current knowledge, over 16 000 chemicals have been associated with plastics. Monitoring studies have shown ubiquitous presence of microplastics and the largest group of plastics functional additives - plasticizers.

The ESR project is about environmental hazard analysis of selected plastic additives (and nano/microplastic) in environmentally relevant exposure settings. The aim is to mimic potential exposure scenarios but also to analyse the potential toxicity drivers/mechanisms. Due to the number of open questions in plastic hazard research, the hypotheses can be formulated jointly by the supervisors and the ESR, depending on his/her background.

For instance, whether to focus on aquatic or terrestrial biota; on plastic additives or micro/nanoplastics. Also, the polymer types will be selected together in the final planning phase. The number of plastics additives is high and compared to microplastics, it is a considerably understudied field. As the biological effects of nanoplastics is another potential research avenue, experience in nano(eco)toxicology or hazard evaluation of particulate contaminants is beneficial.

Link to the project:  https://taltech.ee/en/innochembio/heinlaan

3. Supervisory team

• National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics (main supervisor): Dr. Margit Heinlaan
• University of Ljubljana (Slovenia): Prof. Anita Jemec-Kokalj (The PhD student will stay 6-16 months at the co-supervisor's lab as mutually agreed upon).
• National Institute of Chemical Physics and Biophysics: Dr. Irina Blinova

4. Requirements

• Excellent command of written and spoken English.
• MSc degree or equivalent in chemistry or biotechnology, or equivalent.
• Compliance with the rules of INNOCHEMBIO (e.g. eligibility, adhering to MSCA mobility rules, etc.).
• The primary workplace will be in Estonia. Therefore, candidates from outside the EU must be eligible to obtain a visa. The position is expected to start in the first half of 2026.
• Successful candidate has clear interest in environmental issues.
• Successful candidate has preferably: i) experience in plastic/polymer-related research and/or hazard research of particulate chemicals (e.g. nanoparticles); ii) one peer-reviewed research article in Q1 journal.
• Strong background in one/several fields: environmental toxicology, ecological risk assessment, environmental chemistry, aquatic biology, soil ecology.
• Hard skills (preferably at least 3): ecotoxicological assays (aquatic and/or terrestrial); AOP (advanced outcome pathway) concept; analytical techniques (e.g. FTIR, GC-MS, DLS, microscopy); data management, scientific writing.
• Soft skills (preferably all the listed): motivation; critical thinking, time-management, independence, perseverance.

5. Duties and Responsibilities

• Undertake postgraduate research for specific doctoral research project at TalTech or NICPB, respectively.
• Present and publish research in both academic and non-academic audiences. Attend and participate in academic and non-academic conferences, events and seminars.
• Attend and participate in all training events and supervisory meetings.
• Be seconded to the associated partner as necessary to fulfil the grant obligations.
• Prepare progress reports and similar documents on research for funding bodies, as required.
• Actively contribute to the public engagement and outreach activities of the project.
• The above job descriptions are not exhaustive, the PhD candidate may be required to undertake other tasks, which are broadly in line with the above duties and responsibilities.
• Full-time employment (40 hours per week), temporary contract for 4 years.

6. Eligibility requirements

• The applicant must be a doctoral candidate (i.e. not already in possession of a doctoral degree at the date of the recruitment).
• At the time of recruitment, the researcher must not have resided or carried out their main activity (work, studies, etc.) in Estonia for more than 12 months in the three years immediately prior to the recruitment date. Compulsory national service and/or short stays such as holidays are not taken into account.

7. Benefits

• Competitive funding scheme, with a minimum gross monthly salary of EUR 2500. Topped by additional mobility allowances as well as optional family allowances (if applicable).
• Covered tuition costs, research costs and funding for short term mobility (i.e. conference attendance).
• Interdisciplinary and international research projects.
• Early-stage researcher position, with corresponding social and medical benefits in Estonia.
• Becoming a Marie Skłodowska-Curie PhD fellow.

8. How to Apply

All applications must be sent through TalTech’s official application platform Glowbase and only applications submitted here will be considered for the programme. We ask the candidates not to contact the supervisors directly, in case of questions please write at innochembio@taltech.ee. Each application must include the following material: CV, 1-page motivation letter, copies of BSc and MSc study records and diplomas, scanned copy of valid photo ID, 2 reference letters, eligibility statement. NB! Details on the exact nature of these documents and how to insert them in Glowbase can be found at our official INNOCHEMBIO website: https://taltech.ee/en/innochembio/application-process

9. Selection Process

The selection and recruitment process will be in accordance with the European Charter and Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The recruitment process will be open, transparent, impartial, equitable, and merit-based. There will be no overt/covert discrimination based on race, gender, sexual orientation, religion or belief, disability or age. To this end, the following selection criteria will be considered.

The application deadline is 31 August 2025. The application process will be carried out in 3 steps. In short, first an eligibility check is performed. All eligible candidates will proceed to stage 1, where they will be evaluated by independent evaluators based on the application documents. Lastly, shortlisted candidates from stage 1 will proceed to stage 2, where they will be interviewed via teleconference, which will be used to determine a candidate to whom an offer will be made. All candidates will be informed about the progress in due course after each step of the process. The selection process is described on the guide for applicants available here: https://taltech.ee/en/innochembio/application-process.

10. Disclaimer

By applying for this position, the applicants

1. give their consent to circulate their application and personal data within the INNOCHEMBIO consortium and with the evaluators;
2. confirm that the data provided is valid and accurate;
3. confirm compliance with the eligibility requirements;
4. commit to undertaking the planned secondment at the co-supervisor’s institution.