DFG Research Training Group 1829 "Integrated Hydrosystem Modelling”: Limitations of Pollutant Transformations in Top Soils

This PhD study aims at capturing key aspects of bacterial and fungal metabolism involved in the degradation of environmental chemicals in lab and open field experiments. One of the biggest challenges is to bridge the gap between the vast small- or even micro-scale information gathered in lab experiments, in many cases by use of advanced molecular and isotopic techniques, and experiments and observations in the field, from plot to field scale. We believe that this challenge can only be met by combining measurements and simulations. The PhD study will focus on the modeling part and build up on a bio-physicochemical model developed by our working group in the last years (PECCAD).