Professor Paloma Cariñanos, from the Department of Botany at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) in 2023 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (for more information about the 2023 call, please consult:(http://sl.ugr.es/0d7F)

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR) was founded in 1531 and is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. With over 51,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and almost 3,000 members of staff, the UGR offers over 90 undergraduate degrees, 160 master’s degrees (8 of which are international double degrees) and 28 doctoral programmes via its 124 departments and nearly 50 centers. Accordingly, the UGR offers one of the most extensive and diverse ranges of higher education programmes in Spain.

The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflects the institution’s commitment to continuously improving its human resource policies in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The UGR is also internationally renowned for its excellence in diverse research fields and ranked among the top Spanish universities in a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, and international funding.

The UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking - Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The 2022 edition of the ARWU places the UGR in 201-300th position in the world and as the 2-5 highest ranked universities in Spain (http://sl.ugr.es/0d7D), reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research. The UGR stands out in the specialties of Library & Information Science (position 38); Food Science & Technology (30) and Hospitality & Tourism Management (51-75), according to the latest edition of this prestigious ranking by specialties (http://sl.ugr.es/0bSp). A little lower in the ranking, the UGR also stands out in Mathematics (76-100).

Additionally, the UGR has 9 researchers who are at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list (http://sl.ugr.es/0d7E), most of these related to the area of Computer Science. It is also well recognized for its web presence (http://sl.ugr.es/0a6i), being positioned at 42th place in the top 200 Universities in Europe.

Internationally, the University of Granada is firmly committed to its participation in the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union. For the duration of the last Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, the UGR obtained a total 120 projects with a total funding of around 29,4 million euros.  For the current Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, the UGR has obtained 38 projects, so far, with total funding around 11 € million.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group:

The project would be developed in the RNM-170 Flora, Vegetation and Ethnobotanical research group, for which the project supervisor is responsible. This research group has as research lines the study of natural flora and vegetation, Ethnobotany, Aerobiology, Atmospheric Bioaerosols, Ornamental Flora, Urban Forests and Green Infrastructure as main lines of work, and counts among its members Researchers, University Professors , Laboratory Technicians, Technical Administration Staff and various PhD students. The group is headquartered in the Botany Department of the University of Granada, which has two branches: one in the Faculty of Sciences and the other in the Faculty of Pharmacy. Both sites have research laboratories fully equipped with optical microscopy equipment, material for processing bioaerosol samples, seed conservation, pressing and determination of plants, as well as more specific equipment to carry out other lines of work such as conservation. of plants, molecular biology or pollen extraction of sediments. The group has several atmospheric pollen samplers, both traditional (Hirst-type) and automatic in real time (E-Rapid, PollenSense). It is also possible to access databases of atmospheric pollutants and meteorological variables to perform temporal analysis.

Project description:

The applicant for the MSCA PF would be incorporated into the research line of Atmospheric Bioaerosols-Diservices of Urban Green Zones. The emission of allergenic pollen during the flowering period of plants is considered one of the main disservices of urban vegetation that forms the elements of urban green infrastructure, causing a great impact on the health of the population. This problem can be approached from different perspectives. Experimentally, the concentrations of allergenic bioaerosol present in the atmosphere can be measured with Hirst-type volumetric suction samplers, whose subsequent optical microscopy analysis will reveal the qualitative-quantitative concentrations of the different types of pollen. New bioaerosol identification techniques have recently been developed using automatic equipment in real time using different methodologies, from fluorescence emission to image analysis using artificial intelligence. However, these automatic methods still need to be calibrated and compared with traditional mechanisms. On the other hand, the risk that the allergen emissions carried out by the plant species of a certain green area can also be addressed theoretically, through the use of a series of indices and parameters that consider the specific allergenic attributes of each one of them. the plant species. The fellowship applicant will work in this line of research in which the study and analysis of pollen bioaerosol will be addressed from all its approaches: emission sources, biological pollutant of the atmosphere, atmospheric behavior, indicator of climate change, environmental impact and on health, among others.

Research Area:

☒ Environment and Geosciences (ENV)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Paloma Cariñanos (palomacg@ugr.es):

• CV
• Letter of recommendation (optional)