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This March, Wetsus opened 14 PhD positions across a remarkably diverse range of research topics, reflecting the breadth of innovation needed to tackle today’s water, circular economy, and sustainable agriculture challenges. In the last week of May and the first week of June, we are entering the final selection phase, welcoming shortlisted candidates to Wetsus for our Recruitment Challenge. During this intensive selection process, candidates present their MSc research, complete a proposal writing exercise, and participate in live interviews with university supervisors and Wetsus staff.
The 2026 PhD portfolio tells a compelling story about the future of sustainable technology. It begins with one of society’s most fundamental needs: safe and resilient water systems. Two projects focus on ensuring drinking water quality in an increasingly complex world, from understanding how temperature and water sources affect biological stability in distribution networks, to improving aquifer management by studying microbial diversity and the formation of transformation products. Together, these projects address the growing need to keep drinking water systems robust under changing environmental conditions.
A second cluster of three projects tackles some of the most urgent contamination challenges of our time. Emerging pollutants such as pharmaceutical residues, micropollutants, and PFAS continue to raise concerns worldwide. Our PhD researchers will explore advanced treatment concepts ranging from plasma based water purification to novel molecular capture systems capable of removing and destroying persistent PFAS compounds. Complementing this, another PhD student will work on a sustainable membrane cleaning strategies will help make advanced treatment technologies both more effective and more environmentally responsible.
Beyond cleaning water, the program increasingly focuses on rethinking waste as a resource. Five projects aim to unlock circular solutions within wastewater treatment itself: preventing mineral scaling in blackwater systems, recovering and reusing iron, engineering bio based flocculants from wastewater streams, and establishing the scientific and regulatory foundations for safe circular biopolymers derived from waste. Together, these projects illustrate a clear shift from end of pipe treatment toward resource recovery and circular material innovation.
That circular perspective naturally extends into agriculture and soil systems. Four PhD projects will investigate how microbial communities can improve crop and food quality, how engineered microbial consortia can support greenhouse cultivation, and how AI driven soil intelligence can enable more precise and sustainable agricultural management. These projects combine biotechnology, digital innovation, and ecological understanding to support the future of food production. Finally, as circular nutrient and waste reuse becomes more relevant, understanding the fate of pharmaceutical residues entering soils through human derived resource streams becomes essential.
We now look forward to welcoming the talented researchers who will turn these challenges into breakthroughs. Once again, we are both happy and grateful for the large number and diversity of applicants, and we are confident that we will be able to select excellent candidates for each of these exciting positions.
Abstract
The realisation of a circular economy has thus far unfolded under the assumption that it would fit within existing economic arrangements. In practice, we witness many circular initiatives struggling to give shape to their ambitions, let alone develop to maturity. These past months, various material recycling organisations terminated their activities, seeing virgin alternatives from other parts of the world flooding the market at prices against they cannot compete. If the transition towards a circular economy (i.e. an economy of value preservation) is to be taken seriously, a new perspective on value in our economic system seems unavoidable, as the rewriting of the rules of the economic game. At this moment, current perceptions of value stand in the way of this transition both at micro as well as macro levels. Several contours for a collective exploration of new directions of value and economic configuration that foster circular transition will be addressed.
Abstract
In his key note he will conclude after a life of innovations that it is impossible that humanity will stay within the save planetary boundaries with innovation only. We should be more critical about the behaviour of the rich population in the world and more critical about new innovations that prove to be dangerous, like the PFAS crisis shows at this moment. In his keynote he will investigate how to look at the world that can stay within the save planetary boundaries, how should we change ourselves? It is clear if we only talk about the words of science and systems we miss the essential words of how we should cooperate and change ourselves. And his search for coherent save innovations. Which innovations will be save and will lead to a fair and sustainable world? And will lead to a world we want to live in.
Abstract
There is a growing number of new sustainable, inclusive, cohesive, participatory, just and humane economic models. A possible next step in the discourse about them is the comparative analysis in order to find out key commonalities, potential synergies, and “requirements” for a future-fit economic model. The author and initiator of the Economy for the Common Good provides an overview of these „new sustainable economic models“ and compares them according to underlying values, principles, and practical ways of implementation. The keynote addresses the cooperative spirit of the conference and prepares the ground for its public highlight on the eve of June 3rd, the round table with representatives of diverse future-fit economic models.
Abstract
The scientific debate on whether economies should always continue to grow increasingly becomes a political and societal debate. On the one hand further growth for the most affluent countries seems neither possible nor valuable, but on the other hand there is still lack of understanding and knowledge what a non-growing economy should look like and could best be governed. In this lecture we discuss various policy measures that can be realistically implemented, take into account government finances and aim at a higher quality of life despite a non-growing economy.
Abstract
Democracy is under pressure, and less and less able to stir the economy into a sustainable direction. Therefore, to stabilize democracy and to make possible the socio-ecological transformation of the economy, democratic principles need to be implemented directly in the economy. This is not only a matter of morality, but also has practical advantages. Democratizing the economy can increase legitimacy and take advantage of the “knowledge of the many” to accelerate the transformation. Democratic practices, especially deliberation, allow bringing together different forms of knowledge, which is crucial for the local implementation of principles of social and ecological sustainability. This talk explores what this idea means in more concrete terms, from democratic participation in the workplace to the democratization of time.
Abstract
Over the past decades, markets have conventionally been seen as the best instrument to stimulate economic growth and enhance prosperity and well-being. The automatic link between markets and economic growth is increasingly questioned, however, as well as the automatic link between economic growth and enhancement of well-being. This has led to attempts to capture well-being development more directly than through GDP per capita figures and has produced a more variegated picture of well-being growth. Also, this has led to a shift of focus to other coordination systems than the market, as primarily the state but increasingly also the association. Analyses of the historical record suggest that especially the latter could be a vital component in future well-being.