About the Project

This project is being advertised as part of the Engineering Biology for Environmental Applications Doctoral Focal Award, led by Cranfield University. The project carries a UKRI TechExpert enhanced annual stipend of £31,805 available to students with Home fee status.

Microplastic pollution and heavy metal contamination represent two of the most urgent and persistent threats to global water quality. This project will develop an innovative biofilm-based solution that will be capable of simultaneously targeting microplastics and heavy metals, removing these contaminants from wastewater and drinking water systems. The aim is not just to efficiently remove these contaminants but also provide a platform where these contaminants can be salvaged after capture and potentially be revalorised.

Objective 1: Biofilm Engineering to Enhance Microplastic Capture and Degradation

• 1.1: Evaluate efficacy of a tunable biofilm chassis to trap different microplastics types under static, shaking and flow conditions.
• 1.2: Incorporate different plastic degrading enzymes in enhanced biofilm chassis and evaluate efficacy with support from AI company Kuano.
• 1.3: Collate data to facilitate additional DBTL cycles.

Objective 2: Biofilm Engineering for Heavy Metal Removal

• 2.1: Engineering chassis to produce non-native metal binding proteins/peptides.
• 2.2: Evaluate impact on heavy metal levels under static, shaking and flow conditions.
• 2.3: Recover biofilms and determine resource recovery rates.

Objective 3: Evaluation of Drinking and Wastewater Processing systems

• 3.1: Test bi-functional biofilms in benchtop annular drinking water reactors. Resilience overtime will be evaluated.
• 3.2: Biofilms efficacy will be evaluated in bench-scale wastewater reactor.

Entry requirements

You must have a UK 2:1 honours degree or higher in a relevant subject. English language: IELTS 6.5 overall, with a minimum of 6.0 in all components.