1. Student Catalogue
  2. H2O Pollution: holistic approach & nature based solutions

H2O Pollution: holistic approach & nature based solutions

The course will comprise two phases of virtual teaching activities:  A. Before mobility from 5 to 9 June 2023.  B. After mobility from 19 to 30 June 2023   A. Before mobility, virtual activities will be held in order to:
 · Describe the structure of the summer school, its main objectives and the groups, including students and professors presentation;
 · Describe the general issues of water pollution and sustainable energy production, with a focus on human and ecosystem health and climate change;
 · Evaluate the students’ background on basic topics and concepts and discuss the students’ motivation letter contents. Students will undergo a preliminary online questionnaire
 · Establish the transnational and transdisciplinary teams (students + coordinating professors+stakeholders) that will operate during the 5-days mobility.
 · Provide a common transdisciplinary background on which it will be consolidated both theoretical and practical knowledge during the 5-day mobility on innovative approaches for effective detection and removal of pollutants in sustainable water management. · Accomplish introductory lectures, which will include:  - Introductory class held by prof. Michelle Bloor, University of Glasgow, a Sherpa to the High Level Roundtable for the CSS for SETAC Europe. - Chemical Policy (Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability).
 - Chemicals and sustainability  - 2/3-hour online lecture held by prof. Delia Popescu, University of Bucharest
 -Water Quality Standards & Legislation   B. After mobility online meetings will be held in order to finalise and discuss the projects to be evaluated in a conclusive online meeting. Regardless of your experience, join this hands-on international course to learn, strengthen or extend your knowledge and understanding of new approaches to detect pollutants, environmental risk evaluation, and nature-based solutions.
Application Deadline
Virtual Part starting date 2023-06-05
Virtual Part closing date 2023-06-30
Total student workload 90
Specific field of studies Biology, Ecology, Environmental Science, Biotechnology, Chemistry and Biochemistry
Pre-requisite for selection CV Motivation Letter
Academic pre-requisites for applicants This course is open to Master's, and PhD students at CIVIS member universities, with background-related fields in biology, ecology, environmental sciences, microbiology, chemistry, biotechnology.
Physical Part starting date 2023-06-12
Physical Part Description The course involves physical mobility to Sapienza University in Rome from 12 to 16 June 2023. During the 5-day mobility the BIP will include:
 · A couple of 2-3 hour lectures a day · Workshops and practical classes on research design · Students’ group-work
 · Stakeholder seminars (and visits)
 · Fieldwork   Lectures and applications · New ecological approaches to assess water quality - Isotope fingerprints to track pollution sources and environmental changes over space and time - Detection of Microcystin-producing cyanobacteria and naturally-occurring biodegrading bacterial community using qPCR. - Ecotoxicology testing adapted for detection of Microcystins - Identification of antibiotic resistant bacteria and genes - Ecotoxicology testing with macro-invertebrates - Behavioural studies with organisms - Non-animal alternatives (NAMS etc) - Identification of microbiological indicators of depollution by molecular methods - Ecotoxicological tests in water mixtures to support chemical analysis - Degradation tests under anaerobic conditions   · New chemical approaches to assess water quality - Sources, occurrence and health impacts of emerging contaminants and methods for their identification - Sensors to monitor water quality  - Digital PCR for monitoring using molecular markers - Non-target screening and targeted analysis   · Green and nature-based solutions for pollution remediation including bioenergy production - Green chemistry solutions for water pollution problems - Bioelectrochemical applications for energy production and waste treatment - Bioelectrochemical characterization of microorganisms for biocathode and bioanode applications - Nature based solutions for pollution remediation - Bioremediation of emergening contaminants, phyto-assisted bioremediation - Energetic valorisation of human activities’ residual products including pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants - Bioelectrochemical systems (BES), microbial fuel cells (MFCs), microbial electrolysis cells and anaerobic digestion in bioremediation, wastewater treatment, biofuel and biochemical production   Contamination lab - Students’ group-work
 Students with different backgrounds and nationalities (European and African) will be divided in small multidisciplinary groups (for simulating team working) to develop a project focusing on one of the specific issues addressed during the course and to propose practical activities/solutions for sustainable water management.
Physical Part closing date 2023-06-16
Language level required B2
Field of studies related to the course Medicine and Health Engineering and Technology Environment and Agriculture Environmental Sciences Urbanism and Geography
Course location Rome, Italy
Course language English