PhD position in the field of ‘Tire and Road Wear Particles in the Environment’

Eawag, the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology, is an internationally networked aquatic research institute within the ETH Domain (Swiss Federal Institutes of Technology). Eawag conducts research, education and expert consulting to achieve the dual goals of meeting direct human needs for water and maintaining the function and integrity of aquatic ecosystems. PhD position in the field of ‘Tire and Road Wear Particles in the Environment’ The Department of Process Engineering ( ENG ) has a vacancy for a Background: Tire and road wear particles (TRWP) are formed by the mechanical abrasion of the tire tread and contain incorporated road material.

With emissions estimated at about 1 kg per capita and year, TRWP substantially contribute to – if not dominate – the loads of synthetic polymers reaching the environment. Their distribution between environmental compartments is, however, only poorly established. The main reasons are analytical challenges: mass-based approaches (pyrolysis GC-MS) suffer from severe matrix interferences, while particle-based methods relying on vibrational spectroscopy (infrared or Raman) fail because of the interference by carbon black contained in tire tread.

At the same time, TRWP are essentially black and exhibit characteristic shapes and elemental compositions, which opens the door to alternative, particle-based detection strategies. The overall goal of this project is to develop and validate harmonized, particle-based analytical approaches for quantifying TRWP in key environmental matrices, and to compare the environmental distribution of TRWP with that of conventional microplastic particles (MP) determined in the same samples.

The following research topics will be addressed during this project:  Development and validation of a number-based method to identify and quantify TRWP in atmospheric (wet and dry) deposition samples, combining automated optical microscopy with artificial intelligence (AI)-supported image analysis, and using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for morphological and elemental fingerprinting at the single-particle level.

Stepwise extension of the analytical pipeline – including oxidative digestion, density separation and a rigorous QA/QC concept based on surrogate standards – to increasingly complex matrices. Possible examples are surface waters, wastewater treatment plant effluents and stormwater runoff, soils and sediments, or sewage sludge; the selection and prioritization of matrices will be made over the course of the project.

Quantification of TRWP and MP within a pilot monitoring study covering selected compartments, such as the atmosphere, soils, surface waters and wastewater systems. Based on the results, recommendations for a future long-term monitoring framework for TRWP and MP in Switzerland will be derived. We are looking for highly motivated candidates with a master’s degree in environmental sciences or engineering, (analytical) chemistry, process engineering, materials science or a related field.

Experience with microscopy, vibrational spectroscopy or the analysis of particles in complex environmental matrices is an asset, as is an affinity for image analysis and data processing (e.g., Python or R). Moreover, demonstrable communication skills in English (and ideally also German) and the willingness and ability to work in a team environment are essential. The project is carried out within a well-established consortium of Eawag, Empa, Agroscope and ETH Zurich, which has jointly developed methods for quantifying microplastics in atmospheric deposition, soils, suspended sediments and sewage sludge over the past five years.

The successful candidate will be supervised by Dr Ralf Kaegi (Eawag) and co-supervised by Dr Christoph Hüglin (Empa), Dr Thomas D. Bucheli (Agroscope) and Prof. Michael Sander (ETH Zurich) and will be hosted in the particle laboratory at Eawag, with access to state-of-the-art FT-IR microscopes as well as fully automated optical a