Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), commonly referred to as “forever chemicals”, are highly persistent compounds that are easily dispersed in the environment and bioaccumulate along the food chain, posing major environmental and public health challenges worldwide. In Switzerland, the recent discovery of PFAS contamination in agricultural areas raises growing public concern and highlights the urgent need to better understand exposure pathways, transfer within livestock systems, and mitigation options to protect food safety.
Within this context, the PhD candidate will contribute to the research project “PFArmS – Assessment and mitigation of the transfer of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in ruminants”. Positioned at the interface of environmental and animal sciences, toxicokinetics, and food safety, the project aims to elucidate and reduce PFAS exposure and transfer in ruminant husbandry systems. The PhD candidate will focus on PFAS toxicokinetics in cattle and sheep, combining controlled animal experiments with strategies to enhance PFAS depuration and physiologically based toxicokinetic (PBTK) modeling, to support evidence-based mitigation measures along the feed-to-food chain.
You have a background in animal or veterinary science, pharmacology, toxicology, biology, bioinformatics or a related interdisciplinary field, with a strong interest in applied research and chemical food safety. You are interested in animal nutrition, physiology, and in how contaminants like PFAS behave within biological systems. You are interested in combining practical experimental methods with computational methods. You have very good computer skills and some experience in handling data and models, as well as scientific writing skills, along with motivation to further develop these skills.
PFArmS is conducted within a strong research network involving Agroscope, Empa (Dübendorf, Switzerland), and the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR, Berlin), offering an interdisciplinary and applied research environment at the interface of environmental science, animal science, and food safety.
