Project description
Sustainable nitrogen removal from wastewater
Nitrogen (N) pollution contributes to climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental pollution. While it is essential to remove nitrogen from wastewater, current technologies face challenges such as high energy consumption and nitrous oxide emissions. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the UniCoN project will use complete ammonia-oxidising (comammox) bacteria to achieve more sustainable and efficient nitrogen removal from wastewater. Specifically, the project will characterise these bacteria and investigate their interactions with other microorganisms in biofilm reactors. It will also develop biotechnologies aimed at complete nitrogen removal with zero nitrous oxide emissions, advancing understanding of comammox bacteria.
Objective
Nitrogen (N) pollution contributes to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. Sustainable nitrogen management is, therefore, urgently needed. To this end, nitrogen removal from wastewater plays a key role. Current N removal technologies suffer from high energy consumption and greenhouse gas (nitrous oxide) emissions, underscoring the need for more sustainable and efficient nitrogen removal technologies. The UniCoN project aims to unlock the potential of recently discovered complete ammonia oxidizing (comammox) bacteria for more sustainable and efficient N removal from wastewater. To achieve this, I will employ a multidisciplinary approach of integrating engineering principles with multi-omics analyses and advanced modeling techniques to 1) first provide a comprehensive physiological and kinetic characterization of diverse comammox bacteria; 2) foster their synergistic partnership with other microorganisms to develop a novel process in biofilm reactors; and 3) identify optimal system configurations and operational strategies to harness the potential of comammox bacteria in future and existing wastewater treatment plants. The anticipated results will 1) enable novel sustainable biotechnologies with the potential of complete N removal and zero nitrous oxide production, 2) improve existing engineered applications of biological nitrogen removal, and 3) deepen our understanding of the importance of comammox bacteria both in natural and engineered systems. This project’s interdisciplinary nature will also allow me to expand my expertise in molecular biology while combining my expertise in process engineering and mathematical modeling with the host.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering water treatment processes wastewater treatment processes
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences environmental sciences pollution
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
6525 XZ Nijmegen
Netherlands
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.