Do you want to develop your research in a leading water research institute?

Are you an expert in water related topics looking forward to joining a research institute leading in wastewater treatment, nature-based solutions, membrane technologies, bioelectrochemical technologies, water reuse, water quality, economic and institutional analysis, ecotoxicology, antibiotic resistance, algae and mcyanobacteria identification and monitoring, cyanotoxin bioremediation or microbial ecology?

IMDEA Water Institute is looking for a leading researcher of recognized international prestige. The candidate selected in this process will have the opportunity to be presented as a further candidate for the call of the new National ATRAE Programme of Spain.

The ATRAE program will fund the salary and the costs associated to the research activity for 3-4 years.

A leading researcher of recognized international prestige is considered to be a professional who meets criteria such as being in the top 10% of researchers in his/her area of specialization at a global level, being a researcher responsible for an European Research Council (ERC) project, or having directed an ERC project, hold the highest level of academic/research career in the country of origin, or have participated as PI in a significant number of research projects in competitive calls (specially European ones). Requested skills and experiences developed in his/her career must have resulted into contributions of great relevance and impact in his/her area of specialization.

The candidate must have obtained the doctorate degree prior to January 1st, 2019, and he/her must have been professionally linked to foreign research organizations (i.e., other than Spanish Institutions) for at least 5 years in the period between January 1st, 2020, and the starting date of the application period.

In addition, the candidate must also meet the following requirements:

• Not belong to any of the public university teaching staff bodies, nor be a career civil servant researcher in the service of the Public Research Bodies of the General State Administration, nor be employed in a Spanish public university as a contracted doctoral lecturer or permanent lecturer (or under equivalent figures of autonomous regional agencies). This requirement must be fulfilled throughout the application process, from the moment the application is submitted until its resolution.
• Not having passed a selection process or having been proposed in a competition for admission or access to any of the bodies, scales or posts listed in the previous section. This requirement must be met throughout the entire process, from the time the application is submitted until its resolution.

IMDEA Water Institute works in a multidisciplinary environment in the following areas:

• Sustainable management of water resources
• Water quality and pollution
• Water treatment and reuse
• Economic and institutional analysis

IMDEA Water Institute is equipped with high-tech infrastructures:

• Chemical analysis lab:
  • Micronanoplastics unit (e.g., Pyrolysis system coupled to Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry – Py-GC-MS; FT-IR Microscopic based imaging system coupled to Raman – μFTIR-Raman; field-flow fractionation system coupled to ultraviolet/refractive index detector with dynamic light scattering – CF3-UV/IR-MALS)
  • Chromatography unit (e.g., High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled to Ultraviolet detector – HLPC-UV, ion chromatography)
  • Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry Unit (e.g., ICP-MS) Mass spectrometry unit (e.g. Bidimensional Gas Chromatography/MS – GCxGC/TOF; Gas Chromatography/Triple Quadrupole – GC-MS/MS(QqQ); Liquid Chromatography/Triple TOF – LCQTOF; Liquid Chromatography/MS – LC-TOF; Liquid Chromatography/Triple Quadrupole – LCMS/ MS(QqQ); Liquid Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry with a Triple Quadrupole
    analyzer – LC-MS/MS(QqQ)).
• Soils lab:
  • Sand box and pressures plates for water retention curve
  • Microwave/Oven for digestion and extraction
  • Smart greenhouse with climate control system designed to withstand the demanding condition of outstanding research.
• Biology and microbiology lab:
  • Microscopy unit (e.g., ligh and stereo microscopes)
  • Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxin unit (e.g., incubators; rotary evaporator; solid phase extraction equipment)
  • Molecular Biology unit (e.g., electrophoresis systems, gels documentation system; PCR and Realtime PCR, Nano-photometer; homogenizer for DNA extraction, Nanopore sequencer MinION)
  • Ecotoxicology unit (e.g., incubators; bathtubs with automatic temperature and light regulation; equipment for microcosm and standard tests),
• Geomatic lab with Geographical Information System (GIS) software; statistical and geostatistical software among others.
• Pilot plants:
  • Outdoor mesocosms (e.g., artificial ponds and channels; biodiversity lagoon)
  • Land application systems (2×50 m2 vegetated plots)
  • Membrane technologies (e.g., hollow fiber filtration system; lab-scale cross flow for flat membrane of 25 and 300 L; spiral wound ultrafiltration pilot plant)
  • Microbial electrochemical technologies (e.g., gradostat; lab-scale microbial electrochemical reactor; electrocoagulation reactor; pre-industrial microbial desalination stack)

Additionally, IMDEA Water Institute offers a unique opportunity to carry out outbreaking research in the field of wastewater treatment and reuse due to its brand-new infrastructure that provide real wastewater and groundwater from the nearby campus to the experimental pilot plants. Researchers that will join IMDEA Water Institute will have the chance to implement their knowledge and widen their expertise conducting research under real scenarios.

What do you have to send us now?

If you are a leading researcher and develop your research activity in any of the areas of interest of IMDEA Water, please submit your CV and a brief project outline to empleo.agua@imdea.org, indicating “2026 ATRAE expression of interest” in the subject of the email.

DEADLINE to submit your expression of interest: May 7, 2026.