wastewater treatment

 

 

Partners

 

 

Universidade Federal de Vicosa (UFV) is a federal university in the city of Viçosa, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. Viçosa is a technical university and offers courses in engineering, agronomy, veterinary medicine, animal husbandry, and other areas related to science. 

 

Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP) was established in August 21, 1969 from the merger of two century-old higher education institutions: the School Pharmacy of Ouro Preto, founded in 1839, and School of Mines of Ouro Preto founded in 1876, both located in Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais. Today is one of the most important universities of Minas Gerais and also Brazil. The university is taken as a reference throughout the country by the School of Pharmacy and Engineering.

 

Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC Minas) offers private education to around 60,000 students, divided over the different campuses in the Minas Gerais area. Most of the education is concentrated around the Belo Horizonte campus, divided in two university centers and three units. The education at PUC Minas is divided into separate research lines; Management, Religious Science, Social Sciences, Social Communication, Law, Education, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Teaching Science and Mathematics, Geography, Computer Sciences, Portuguese Language and Literature, Dentistry, Psychology, International Relations and Zoologie.

 

Universidade Fedral de Minas Gerais (UFMG) offers public education on the two main campus areas and several off-side units, all found in the city of Belo Horizonte. The university offers undergraduate, master and PhD programs. Its programs covers all main education areas: social-, human- and basic sciences, among others.

 

 

Topic for internships

 

Research topics for internships vary by period as they are aligned with the ongoing research at that time. Below are some examples of previous internships to get a feel of what's possible within the subject of Wastwater Treatment.

 

 

Universidade Federal de Vicosa (UFV)

Professor Ann Honour Mounteer

Combination of physical, chemical, and biological processes for improved wastewater treatment and management (e.g., reuse of waste and effluents, decentralized sewage systems, environmental quality, advanced wastewater treatment, ecotoxicology).

See example assignment descriptions:

Removal of bioactive substances during wastewater treatment (40)

 

Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto (UFOP) 

Professor Sérgio Francisco de Aquino

 

Sludge treatment for biosolids production and micro-contaminants removal.

Previous projects:

  • Treatment of wastes and wastewaters for removing micropollutants and/or recovering energy. The project involves the use of an anaerobic digestion process on its own or coupled to thermal treatment processes to recover energy from waste (e.g., STP sludge, urban solid waste) and wastewater (e.g. sanitary sewage) and removal of emerging contaminants (e.g. antibiotics, perfluorinated compounds). The student will help in physical-chemical characterization of samples, operation, and monitoring of bioreactors, as well as interpreting experimental data and preparing reports.
  • Water treatment technologies for pesticide removal.This project investigates the efficiency of water treatment techniques for removing Brazilian priority pesticides. Conventional (coagulation/flocculation/settling) and unconventional (adsorption, advanced oxidation processes) techniques will be tested on a bench scale to remove acephate and methamidophos from contaminated water.
  • Development of chemical and biological processes for the treatment of wastes and Wastewater aiming removal of organic micropollutants. Carry out laboratory experiments which may include monitoring of biological reactors, performing treatability tests (e.g. ozonation, adsorption), as well as run chemical analysis for characterizing waste and effluents, including chromatographic and spectrometric techniques

 

Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Minas Gerais (PUC Minas)

Professor Bárbara Caroline Ricci Nunes 

 

Treatment of effluent using membrane distillation. Wastewater treatment; water reuse; membrane separation process; membrane distillation; physico-chemical analysis

 

Professor Laura Hamdan de Andrade

 

Treatment of industrial effluents using a physicochemical process.

Membrane separation process (micro, ultra, nanofiltration, reverse osmosis, electrodialysis) and advanced oxidation process.

 

Water reuse

Examples of previous internships:

  • Evaluation of nanofiltration and advanced oxidation process for textile wastewater treatment.
  • Electrodialysis for gold mining wastewater treatment.

 

Universidade Fedral de Minas Gerais (UFMG)

Professor Camilla Costa Amorim

The research group is part of the Departamento de Engenharia Sanitária e Ambiental (DESA). GruPOA is involved in research of advanced treatment oxidation processes for water and wastewater treatment and environmental impact assessment studies. Prof. Camila Amorim has supervised studies for the treatment of various hazardous pollutants in water and industrial wastewaters through the application of different AOPs.

 

Examples of (previous) internships:
  • Life cycle assessment (LCA) of different oxidation processes applied in the treatment of water and wastewater (29)

  • Removal of contaminants from different residues (from the dye and mining industries) using chemical oxidation.

    Environmental restauration in combination with possible resource recovery, looking at water quality using drones, continuous monitoring, GIS.
  • Management and restoration of aqutic ecossytems (Water Quality Assessment; Ecosystem Metabolism Assessment; Natural Remediation Capability; Nutrient Loading; Macrophyte Control and Remediation; Sediment Dynamics)

 

Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora (UFJF)

Professor Edgard Dias

 

Urban and rural, mechanized and natural treatment techniques for domestic wastewater and sewage sludge.

Biosolids and wastewater application in agriculture and degraded areas.

Health-related water microbiology and microbial risk assessment.

 

Professor Renata de Oliveira Pereira

 

Urban and rural water treatment techniques

Reuse of waste from water treatment (sludge and filter wash water).

Water quality - Endocrine disruptors, pesticides, hormones, and other micropollutants. Chemical risk assessment.

 

Qualifications

 

Examples of suitable academies

  • Environmental engineering
  • Chemistry
  • Chemical Engineering

additional information

 

Possible internship periods 

September 2025 - January 2026

  

Working language

English

(preferably) Portuguese