037/BI/2021 - Fellowship - Master

Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier
Application for a Master Fellowship within the UIDP/04612/2020 - MOSTMICRO

Applications are invited for a Master Fellowship in the scope of the project MOSTMICRO with the Ref. UIDP/04612/2020 – MOSTMICRO funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia/MCTES.

Scientific Area: Chemistry, Biochemistry, Biotechnology

Academic degree: Candidates with a master’s degree in Biotechnology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Biological Engineering, or related fields with bachelor's degree classification of 14 (or higher) and a master’s degree classification of 16 (or higher).

Other requisites:
Preference will be given to candidates with at least one of the following requisites:
• Experience in peptide engineering techniques (e.g., Phage display, solid-phase peptide synthesis)
• Experience in purification of peptides by analytical & preparative HPLC and related techniques
• Experience in analytical methodologies including Circular dichroism, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Fluorescence spectroscopy
• Highly motivated candidate with interest to enroll in a PhD
• Critical thinking, good organizational and communication skills, and ability to work as a part of a team
• Good interpersonal skills
• Good command of the English language (both written and oral communication)

The requirement below is mandatory.
- Being enrolled in a PhD, or in a non-academic degree course, in accordance with number 2 of the Article 6th of “Regulamento da Formação Avançada e Qualificação de Recursos Humanos da FCT”, law in force.

Working Plan: Oligopeptides are involved in many functions of biological relevance (e.g., self-assembly, molecular recognition and catalysis), which can be used to design components for molecular biotechnology and biomimetic materials research. The fellow will work on project focused on the use of state-of-art peptide engineering methodologies (e.g., phage display, peptide chemistry) to develop functional peptide scaffolds (e.g., organization of the triple-helix of the collagen) to incorporate function (e.g., phosphate ester hydrolysis), leading to functional biomaterials. Valuable insights will be drawn from the knowledge of how these peptide scaffolds can evolve leading to create of next generation of adaptive materials, such as micro- and nanosized compartments.

More info at:https://www.itqb.unl.pt/research/chemistry/bioinspired-peptide-systems

Applicable Law and Regulations: Status of Scientific Research Fellow, approved by Law number 40/2004, of August 18th, changed and republished by Ordinance 202/2012 of August 27th and changed by Ordinance 233/2012 of October 29th and by Law 12/2013 of January 29th and by Ordinance 89/2013 of July 9th and by the Ordinance 123/2019 of August 28th;
Regulations for Research Fellowships from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in force (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/docs/RegulamentoBolsasFCT2019.pdf ).

Working Place: The work will be carried out in the Bioinspired Peptide Systems laboratory at ITQB NOVA, under supervision of Doctor Ana Sofia Pina.

Duration of the fellowship: The fellowship will have the duration of 6 months, eventually renewable up to 12 months, expected to start in February 2022, on a full-time basis, according to according to Fellowship Regulations of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P.

Stipend amount: €1104.64, according to the table of values of grants awarded directly by the FCT, I.P. in the Country (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/docs/Tabela_Valores_SMM_LOE_2021.pdf ) and payment will be made, monthly, through bank transfer.

Selection procedure: The evaluation procedures will be based on the analysis of the candidates´ academic curriculum vitae, scientific experience, and motivation letter. The best ranked candidates selected in the first series will be asked to conduct an interview, and then classified with a weighting of 50% (first ranking) and 50% (interview ranking).

Juri composition: Doctor Ana Sofia Pina (president), Doctor Beatriz Royo (efective member), Doctor Diana Lousa (efective member) and Doctor Pedro Pereira (substitute member).

Application documents: The application should be formalized in a cover letter indicating the corresponding fellowship reference together with the following documents: detailed Curriculum Vitae (including the classification of the academic degrees obtained; motivation letter (must include the scientific experience, the motivation for the position, and future perspectives of the candidate); degree certificate; Name and contact of one or two references. All documents should be preferably sent by email in a single pdf file.
If the degree has been conferred by a non-Portuguese higher education institution, the selected candidate must obtain the certificate of the degree recognition, issued by the Portuguese Directorate General for Higher Education or by a Portuguese Public Higher Education Institution, until the signature of the contract. Regarding this issue, please consult the website of the Portuguese Directorate General for Higher Education: https://www.dges.gov.pt/en .

Notification of candidates: All the candidates will be informed of the final result by e-mail.

Deadlines and procedures for complaints and appeals: If the result is not favorable, the candidates have a period of 10 working days, after the disclosure of the results, to comment, if desired, in a prior hearing of interested parties, in the terms provided for in the Code of Administrative Procedure.

Application period: From December 3 to January 7, 2022.

Applications should be sent to:
Doctor Ana Sofia Pina
[email protected]
Ref. 037/BI/2021
ITQB NOVA
OEIRAS