“Micropollutants in the water cycle” first course to be developed with SENSE course funding

The course “Micropollutants in the water cycle” is the first course to be developed with funding of the new SENSE fund for the development of PhD courses.

Fund for SENSE course development

The new fund was established in 2020 and will run from 2021-2026. Annually there is €20,000 available to support PhD course development, with a maximum of €4,500 per course. Funding can be allocated to cover the costs of developing the course, including personnel costs. Proposals for funding can be submitted throughout the year and will be reviewed bi-annually.

Micropollutants in the water cycle

The 5-day course “Micropollutants in the water cycle” offers a comprehensive overview of the threats to water quality posed by micropollutants, and a multidisciplinary approach to solving this environmental problem. By combining lectures, workshops, group assignments and field visits, provided by renowned specialists, this course will address: 1) the origin, fate and impact of micropollutants in the water cycle; 2) the most recent developments on targeted and non-targeted analytical methods to detect micropollutants and their transformation products and 3) the state-of-the-art treatments technologies to remove micropollutants from water. Finally, these three topics will be brought together in a broad discussion about water governance and how current regulations can and should be modified to mitigate environmental issues with micropollutants. After participating in this course, participants will be able to identify the risks and challenges of water contamination with micropollutants and will be able to apply this knowledge in their own PhD research.

The course is developed by: Dr. Alette Langenhoff (Environmental Technology, Wageningen University), Dr. Nora Sutton (Environmental Technology, Wageningen University) and Prof. Dr. Jan Hendriks (Environmental Science, Radboud University). They hope to have the course operational by sping/summer 2022.

The SENSE directorate congratulates the first recipients of the course funding! We strongly encourage SENSE members to co-design new PhD courses and to submit their course proposals to the Financial support for SENSE Course Development committee. For more information, see Financial support for SENSE Course Development 2021-2026. In case of questions, please contact Marleen de Ruiter at m.c.de.ruiter@vu.nl.