PhD Opportunity School of Food & Nutritional Sciences -UCC 

Mapping the prevalence and partition of PFA’s from farm to fork – Dairy based case study  
Background 

While the presence of PFAs in milk and dairy products across different regions, including Europe are 
typically at low to sub-parts per billion levels, given their frequent consumption, they can act as a significant source of PFAs exposure (Pham et al. 2024). Indeed, EFSA have highlighted that milk and dairy products are significant PFAs chronic exposure pathways to vulnerable populations such as toddlers (Sunderland et al. 2019).

PFAs contamination in milk and dairy products can originate from processing and packaging of the 
final products, but most likely comes from transfer of PFAs from feed to cow. Studies conducted to date on the origin and levels of PFAs in milk and dairy products are fragmented and incomplete and often measure only the legacy MaPFA aims to track the transfer of all PFA’s from feed, across the ruminant digestive system and into milk and from milk into milk-based products.

The MaPFA project, funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture,  will also determine the level of PFAs in ruminant serum and faeces. MaPFA will leverage an existing DAFM funded grant ‘PastureNue’ which offers a unique sample set consisting of pasture-based feed, various portions of the ruminant cow's digestive system namely rumen and omasum, as well as faeces, blood and milk from the cow.

The following research objectives will be employed:

i) determine the occurrence of PFAs in pasture-based feed (in conjunction  with task 2);

ii) determine the fate of PFAs through the digestion system of ruminants;

iii) determine the transfer of PFAs into ruminant serum, faeces and milk;

IV)  determine the persistence of milk PFAs during processing and the partitioning of PFAs across varying milk commodities.  

In alignment with EU recommendations (EU 2022/1431) this task will collect valuable, comprehensive and novel information on the transition of PFA’s from farm to fork, from raw to processed food products; using dairy as a case study. 

Requirements  
Applications are invited from graduates holding or expecting a First Class Honours or Second Class Honours Grade One degree in Food Science, Nutritional Sciences, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Science or a related discipline.

Applicants with a relevant Masters degree are also eligible to apply. The successful candidate 
should be highly self-motivated and work well as part of a wider research team. Laboratory and new product development experience is desirable, but not essential. For applicants whose first language is not English, the English language requirements are available at https://www.ucc.ie/en/study/comparison/english/postgraduate/.

A minimum International English Language Testing System (IELTS) score of 6.5 overall and 6.0 for individual skills (or equivalent) is required. 

This PhD is expected to started on or before September 2026.  

Award  
The scholarship Funding is €25,000 per annum plus University fees of up to a maximum of €5,750per annum and is tenable for 4 years. There will be a requirement and opportunities throughout the programme for professional development training and international conference attendance.

The successful candidate will be primarily based at the School of Food and Nutritional Sciences,  UCC, with the Food Chemistry and Production Research Group, under the supervision of Dr Tom O’Callaghan, Dr Eileen Ryan and Dr Aine Hennessy, but will work in collaboration with broader team of researchers and principal investigators in Teagasc.

This project is funded by the Irish Department of Agriculture. 

For further information contact Dr Tom O’Callaghan – tom_ocallaghan@ucc.ie and Dr Eileen Ryan 
Eileen.ryan@ucc.ie