SmartManure - Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research EN Toggle navigation Home UFZ Research Infrastructures Transfer Media & Press Events Career & Jobs Imprint Data Privacy Direct Links Leipziger KUBUS Organisation structure Library Graduate School HIGRADE International Office Family Support Office sick note notification UFZ Teaching Lab Imprint Data Privacy Direct Links Leipziger KUBUS Organisation structure Library Graduate School HIGRADE International Office Family Support Office sick note notification UFZ Teaching Lab EN Home UFZ Mission Executive Management Sustainability at UFZ Organisation structure Management & Administration Boards & Commissioners Library Alumni*ae Facts & Figures UFZ-Chronicle Locations/Directions Overview contacts Research Research program Helmholtz Research Program 2021 - 2027 Research Units & Departments Ecosystems of the Future Water Resources and Environment Chemicals in the Environment Sustainable Ecotechnologies Smart Models / Monitoring Environment and Society Cross-sectional topics Climate Research Energy research Bioeconomy Microplastics PFAS Competence Cluster Infrastructures Environmental observatories & mobile platforms Experimental platforms Environmental (bio)analytics instrumentation Technology-oriented infrastructure Daten & Visualisierung / Research Data Management Transfer Team Technology Transfer Knowledge Transfer Citizen Science Environmental Education Teaching lab UFZ Data Apps UFZ Journals Transfer News Media & Press Contact Press releases In focus Newsletter Media centre Interviews & Viewpoints Expert database Publications Events Calendar Leipziger KUBUS Popular scientific events Scientific events Settlement guests Career & Jobs Job offers The UFZ as employer Research at UFZ Doctorate at UFZ Administration & Services at UFZ Apprenticeships & Studies at UFZ Research program Helmholtz Research Program 2021 - 2027 Research Units & Departments Ecosystems of the Future Water Resources and Environment Chemicals in the Environment Sustainable Ecotechnologies Applied Microbial Ecology Solar Materials Biotechnology Microbial Biotechnology Molecular Environmental Biotechnology Systemic Environmental Biotechnology Technical Biogeochemistry Integration Platform Tapping Nature's Potential PhD Colleges PhD college FATE PhD college CLEANER SmartManure Smart Models / Monitoring Environment and Society Cross-sectional topics Climate Research Energy research Bioeconomy Microplastics PFAS Competence Cluster Research Sustainable Ecotechnologies SmartManure Current State of on Farm Manure Utilization and Associated Problems Manure is a low cost, circular resource in agriculture providing nurients, enhanging soil structure and water management, and empowering a balanced and effective microbiome. An estimated 120 million tons of cattle and pig liquid manure are annually produced in Germany, of which only one-third is transported off-site for energy and nutrient recovery in incinerators or anaerobic digesters, while two-thirds remain untreated on farms before being applied to arable land and grassland to provide nutrients essential for plant growth. On-farm managed liquid manure is neither used for heat and electricity generation, nor are its contaminants removed. The most common liquid manure-based contaminants nitrate, antibiotics, heavy metals, and antibiotic-resistant bacteria enter liquid manure through animal husbandry, concentrate or are even formed during on-farm storage. In addition, fermentative processes during liquid manure storage result in significant emissions of greenhouse gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, and nitrous oxide. Thus, on-farm liquid manure management currently contributes to several environmental hazards, including contamination of groundwater and eutrophication of soil (e.g. nitrate), acceleration of climate change (i.e. by greenhouse gas emissions), accumulation of contaminants in the food chain (e.g. heavy metals and antibiotics), and the spread of antibiotic resistance. Ongoing intensification of livestock farming worldwide will increase the amount of liquid manure and exacerbate the associated environmental problems. SmartManure Approach and Novelty SmartManure develops solutions for on-farm liquid manure management as an essential path to sustainable agriculture. Although there are technological concepts for recovery of nutrients and energy production through incineration or anaerobic digestion, they largely exist for off-site liquid manure management. Still, these are energy- and cost-intensive and do not include the removal of inorganic (e.g., heavy metals) and organic contaminants (e.g., antibiotics), nor the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. SmartManure will combine advanced technologies with ecosystem engineering to transform on-farm liquid manure into an environmentally friendly economic resource, while promoting sustainable agriculture by establishing more resilient ecosystems. Normal 0 false false false EN-US ZH-CN X-NONE SmartManure Research SmartManure will provide a technical concept within two PhD projects for the economic use of liquid manure during on-farm storage providing three products simultaneously: methanol and heavy metals for sale to industry, and safe fertiliser low in antibiotics for direct use on farm. The two doctoral researchers will closely collaborate to integrate their technical concepts into one single process with the potential for on-farm implementation. Two further doctoral researchers will assess impacts of liquid manure application on crop performance, microbial agroecology and soil health. They will complementarily provide solutions to minimize harmful impacts of liquid manure fertilization after soil application by growing cover crops in between seasons and simultaneously to the cash crop. Benefits of manure treatment for agriculture will be assess in a joint field trial. SmartManure will integrate and be advised by farmers, electrode industries and agencies. Besides the four core PhD students, all projects will be supported by associated doctoral researchers and postdocs. All doctoral researchers will be participate in the UFZ graduate school HIGRADE. The following goals will be addressed by the four core SmartManure doctoral researchers: PhD 1: Converting liquid manure-emitted greenhouse gases to methanol PhD1 will establish a process for efficient and sustainable electrochemical conversion, hence reduction, of greenhouse gases into valuable chemicals during liquid manure storage. Goals to be achieved: 1. Can copper-based materials be used for the selective electrochemical reduction of CO2 to methanol? 2. Can the system be scaled up to increase its future applicability? 3. Can CO2 reduction to methanol be coupled with liquid manure treatment in an integrated reactor design? PhD student: Mansi Saich July 2024 to May 2027 Thesis title: Converting liquid manure-emitted greenhouse gases to methanol My name is Mansi and I am from India. I pursued an integrated bachelor's and master's program at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), where I conducted my master’s thesis in Environmental Biotechnology. During the project, I analyzed the scale-up potential of a microbial electrochemical system by optimizing its parameters for enhanced efficiencies and identifying its key limitations for practical applications. I found my purpose in solving pressing environmental concerns through application-based research and my prior research experience has further fueled this dedication, which makes it exciting for me to join the SmartManure consortium. Personally, I enjoy solitude and exploring diverse cultures and natural environments that broaden my perspective on life. Supervising team:  Dr. Paniz Izadi (MIBITECH)  Prof. Dr. Alberto Bezama (BEN)  Steffi Hunger (UBZ)  Prof. Dr. Falk Harnisch (MIBITECH) PhD 2: Integrated liquid manure treatment for improved hazard management PhD2 will use electrosorption to remove antibiotics and heavy metals during liquid manure storage producing safe fertiliser and to (bio)electrochemically recover heavy metals. Key questions to be solved: 1. Can electrosorption be used to simultaneously reduce both organic antibiotics and inorganic heavy metal contaminants from an artificial matrix? 2. Can the concept from WP1 be applied for the treatment of real liquid manure? 3. To which efficiency can the process developed in WP2 be integrated and optimized in a dual reactor design with the CO2-to-methanol system devised by PhD1? PhD student: Florian Fischer June 2024 to May 2027 Thesis title: Developing a bioelectrochemical process for degrading antibiotics and recovering heavy metals from manure I am Flo from a rural area in Hessen, Germany. I studied biochemistry at University of Heidelberg and Leipzig University. My master‘s program focused on environmental biochemistry and biotechnology. For my masters thesis I studied activity dynamics within electroactive biofilms with scanning electrochemical microscopy. Besides university, I have been working with bacterial nano-cellulose and biogas reactors. I spend my free time gaming, biking or at the lakes around Leipzig. As a volunteer for “QueerTausch” I take care of LGBTQ* students on international exchange programs. Supervisors: Dr. Qiuguo Fu (ANA) Dr. Benjamin Korth (MIBITECH) Dr. Navid Saeidi (MIBITECH) Prof. Dr. Thorsten Reemtsma (ANA) PhD 3: Cover crops for resilient soil microbiomes and improved nutrient retention PhD3 will increase soil microbiome resilience towards manure-based hazards and simultaneously retain manure-based nutrients in the soil by growing cover crops during intermittent seasons. Key questions to be solved: 1. Which cover crops condition the soil microbiome to higher diversity and beneficial composition? 2. Do these cover crop-mediated microbiome shifts promote the resilience of the soil microbiome to liquid manure-related hazards? 3. Do cover crops also enhance the retention of nutrients from liquid manure in the soil? PhD student: Lieke Lipsch June 2024 to May 2027 Thesis title: Cover crops for resilient soil microbiomes and improved nutrient retention I am from the South of the Netherlands and I have studied at Wageningen University & Research. I did a bachelor in Environmental Science with a focus on environmental quality and systems analysis, and a master in Environmental Science during which I specialised in soil biology. The topic of my master thesis was 'The biodegradation of 1,4-dioxane in soil and groundwater'. Additionally, I did an internship at the UFZ in the CLEANER project covering the set up of the experiments used for researching the 'Plant-microbe interplay influencing urban pollutant transformation in percolation systems'. Now I am very happy to join the SmartManure consortium at the UFZ as a PhD student, where I will be researching 'Cover crops for resilient soil microbiomes and improved nutrient retention. Supervisors: Dr. Anja Worrich (AME) Dr. Sara König (BOSYS) Dr. Luis Daniel Prada Salcedo (BOOEK) Ass.-Prof. Dr. Marie Muehe (AME) PhD 4: Intercropping for mitigating manure-based hazards to corn production PhD4 will minimize contaminant impacts on cash crops by intercropping in liquid manure-based agriculture, providing high-quality, abundant food and intercrop-based bioenergy. Key questions to be solved: 1. Can sunflower/clover remove considerable amounts of heavy metals from liquid manured soils? 2. Can sunflower/clover enhance the microbial degradation of antibiotics and reduce ARG spread and abundance? 3. Does intercropping corn with sunflower/clover stimulate root development and thus nutrition? PhD student: Lena Mellin July 2024 to May 2027 Thesis title: Intercropping for mitigating manure-based hazards to corn production I'm Lena and I studied biology and biomedical sciences, where I was involved in research on environmentally relevant topics and learned various molecular laboratory techniques. My interest in unraveling problems and finding solutions targeting the safety of future food production has led me to work on an alternative to glyphosate during my master's thesis and is the motivation for the upcoming project. To tackle these issues, I believe they should be considered holistically and not individually. The approach of intercropping as a possible solution for pollutants in agricultural soils is therefore very exciting, as intercropping brings benefits for field properties that are not only related to contaminants. Supervising team:Dr. Thomas Reitz (BOOEK) Ass.-Prof. Dr. Marie Muehe (AME) Dr. Martin Herzberg (ANA)   Contact Speakers: Prof. Dr. Marie Muehe Department Applied Microbial Ecology marie.muehe@ufz.de Dr. Qiuguo Fu Department Environmental Analytical Chemistry qiuguo.fu@ufz.de News October 2025:  We deeply thank Qiuguo for serving as co-lead in the second year of SmartManure and now warmly welcome Thomas to join as a new co-lead of SmartManure for 2025/26. Summer 2025: Congratulations to Anja Worrich! She accepted a tenure track assistant professor position at the BTU Cottbus/Senftenberg, Germany. She will start her position in Fall but we are glad to say that Anja will stay part of SmartManure. August 2025: Another Smartmanure publication is out: Sharma and muehe, 2025 Metal-tained soils: a hidden threat to agriculture and health Trends in Plant Sciences July 2025: SmartManure biannual meeting discussing the fantastic progress of our four PhD candidates, with stimulating discussions with guests Rohini Kumar and Lydia Woiterski from the UFZ technology transfer team. Mansi also showed us her bioreactors. Florian presenting his PhD-project progress. March 2025: The first SmartManure publication is out: Sharma et al., 2025 Going beyond improving soil health: cover plants as contaminant removers in agriculture Trends in Plant Sciences January 2025: Congratulations to Thomas Reitz. He started his new, permanent position as head scientific lead of the crop research unit at Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg. Thomas will also stay associated with SmartManure. Thomas, enjoy your new position! December 2024: We congratulate Qiuguo on being confirmed for the Helmholtz W2 professorship programm. December 2024: SmartManure had its end of year biannual meeting including a tour to a farming cooperation, a stimulating talk by collaborating farmer Christine Mittermeyer and intruiging updates by our 4 PhD students. Biannual SmartManure Meeting October 2024: We deeply thank Paniz for serving as a co-lead in the first year of SmartManure and now warmly welcome Qiuguo to join as a new co-lead of SmartManure for 2024/25. SmartManure Kickoff July 2024 Discussing SmartManure scientists. Our SmartManure PhD students. July 2024: We warmly welcome our second batch of PhD students: Mansi Saich (PhD 1) and Lena Mellin (PhD 4) June 2024: We warmly welcome our first PhD students: Lieke Lipsch (PhD 3) and Florian Fischer (PhD 2) Hits: 19108 modified: 28.04.2026 Resp.: Jun.-Prof. Dr. rer. nat. 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