Ente finanziatore: Horizon Europe (HORIZON) - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Doctoral Network (Project 101072777)
Budget: 2 489 724 €.
Partners: (Coordinator) Universite Lyon 1 Claude Bernard (Ucbl), France
(Beneficiaries)
Freie Universitaet Berlin (Fub), Germany,
Novamechanics Limited (Nova), Cyprus,
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen (Lmu), Germany,
Universita Di Pisa (Unipi), Italy,
Universidad De Lleida (Udl), Spain,
Prirodno Matematicki Fakultet (Uon), Serbia.
Durata: dicembre 2022 - novembre 2026
Recent evidence of increasing accumulation of micro- and nanoplastics (MnP) in soils and concerns by agricultural and water industries, food manufacturers, regulators, environmental interest groups and citizens.
Private and public sectors require detailed understanding of environmental and public health risks posed by MnP in soils and groundwater. The PlasticUnderground Doctoral Network creates supra-disciplinary intersectoral capacity for analysing the fate, transport and impacts of MnP in soils and groundwater to develop solutions for reducing their environmental and public health risks, supporting the EC’s circular plastic economy strategy. The central aim of the PlasticUnderground Doctoral Network is to deliver international scientific excellence through a holistic supradisciplinary
and inter-sectoral research and training network on solutions to the emerging crisis of MnP pollution in subsurface ecosystems in soils and groundwater, integrating knowledge across traditional discipline boundaries to benefit the public and private sectors. The supra-disciplinary research programme includes unique training opportunities for a cohort of 15 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) in environmental and social science, ecotoxicology, soil science and aquatic ecology, analytical chemistry, agronomy, data science and numerical modelling as well as responsible innovation, method standardization for use in regulatory decision making and risk assessment. The integrated training programme will prepare DCs with skill sets that are urgently required in agricultural, water, chemical, and manufacturing industries, environmental and regulatory agencies, academia, and the public sector and includes training provision by key stakeholders that will directly benefit from the training in this network.
Website: https://www.plasticunderground.org/