Research Fellowship (BI) (Reference REQUIMTE 2021-44)

A Research Fellowship (BI) (Reference REQUIMTE 2021-44) on the project “cLabel+: Alimentos inovadores “clean label” naturais, nutritivos e orientados para o consumidor, POCI-01-0247-FEDER-046080, funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. /MCTES through national funds by FCT / MCTES, is available at REQUIMTE under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Exact and Natural Sciences-Biochemistry

Admission requirements: The candidate must have a master's degree in Biochemistry, Bioengineering, Agri-food Chemistry or related fields. Furthermore, candidate must be attending a doctoral program in the aforementioned scientific areas or he/she must be enrolled in courses integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution. Main admission requirements are experience in phenolic compounds. Knowledge in basic food analysis techniques (spectrophotometry and chromatography), proteins in food matrices (capillary electrophoresis and western blotting) will be valued, and experience in molecular interaction studies between different food components will also be a preferred factor.

Work plan: This fellowship is part of a research project whose objective is the development of innovative “clean label” natural, nutritious and consumer-oriented foods. With this project, it is intended to identify natural compounds, namely phenolic compounds, with high potential to replace and reduce the use of additives and potentially dangerous ingredients such as salt, fats and sugar. Hence, their physical, chemical and nutritional properties will be studied to provide appetizing and healthy experiences to the consumer. Main task will be the isolation, purification and characterization of phenolic compounds from different plant matrices, obtaining compounds from different families and structures. The identified compounds will be evaluated under several properties: technological (e.g. matrix stabilization), sensory (e.g. color and taste) and biological (e.g. immunomodulating and antioxidant effects).

Consequently, to assess the impact on all these properties, the candidate must carry out isolation and characterization tasks of the target compounds (phenolic compounds, proteins, carbohydrates) to subsequently carry out interaction studies, as well as use various biological models and cellular assays to assess the their biological effects.

Applicable Legislation: Law nº.40/2004, 18th August (Research Fellow Statute) amended and republished by Decreto-Lei n.º 123/2019, 28th August; FCT Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/regulamento.phtml.pt ).

Workplace: The work will be developed at the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto - Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry - Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry (QUINOA) of LAQV-REQUIMTE, under the scientific guidance of Professor Victor de Freitas

Duration of the scholarship(s): The scholarship will have a duration of 6 months, starting on January 2022. The scholarship contract may be renewed for equal periods up to a maximum of 32 months, but cannot exceed project end date (31/05/2023).

Monthly maintenance allowance: The amount of the scholarship corresponds to 1.104,64 Euros, according to the table of scholarships awarded directly by FCT, I.P. in the country (http://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores ), with the respective payment made monthly by bank transfer.

Selection methods: The selection methods will be described as follows: Selection will be based on an evaluation of the candidate's CV. The CV evaluation will focus on the Master's average (60%), experience in bioactive compounds analysis in foods, namely phenolic compounds (30%), and experience in analytical techniques and scientific articles (10%). If the jury deems necessary, the 3 best classified will be selected for the interview, which will have a weight of 30% for the final valuation of the interviewed candidates.

Composition of the Selection Jury:

President: Victor Armando Pereira de Freitas

Vowel 1: María Rosa Pérez Gregorio

Vowel 2: Susana Isabel Pinto Teixeira Pereira Soares

Substitute Vowel: Nuno Filipe da Cruz Batista Mateus

Notification of results: The results of the final evaluation will be posted on the Institution's, and the successful candidate will be notified by email.

Application:

The call for applications is open between from 12/11/2021 to 31/12/2021.

Applications presentation forms: Applications must be formalized, obligatorily, by sending an application letter accompanied by the following documents: Curriculum Vitae, certificate of qualifications, motivation letter, letter of recommendation and other documents deemed relevant.

Applications must be formalized by email sent to [email protected] , with the reference to which you are applying in the subject, under penalty of exclusion from the application.