#NOVAID-B151: COMPETITION FOR GRANTING 1 RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP (BM)

8 Jan 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

NOVA.id.FCT- Associação para a Inovação de Desenvolvimento da FCT

Department

Department of Chemistry, of NOVA School of Science and Technology

Research Field

Chemistry » Biochemistry

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Portugal

Application Deadline

22 Jan 2024 - 17:00 (Europe/Lisbon)

Type of Contract

Other

Job Status

Full-time

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by an EU programme

Reference Number

#NOVAID-B151: 2022.06104.PTDC

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

A tender is open for the attribution of 1 Research Fellowship for MSc holder within the scope of the R&D project “Targeting a ‘toolbox’ of human microbiome O-Glycan-Selective proteins towards new approaches in cancer research” reference 2022.06104.PTDC, funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. /MCTES (PIDDAC), under the following conditions:

Work Plan: The researcher to be hired will be dedicated to the characterization of O-glycopeptidases from the human microbiome, which target mucins, highly O-glycosylated proteins from the human gastrointestinal mucosa. The characterization of these enzymes is needed to understand the bacteria-host interaction in the context of disease and the project aims at the application of these enzymes for the analysis of O-glycoproteins associated with cancer and which can serve as a diagnosis or prognosis markers, or as a therapeutic target. The work will involve (1) Assignment of fine specificity for O-glycans and O-glycopeptides of a library of O-glycopeptidases and auxiliary binding modules; (2) Identification of O-glycoproteins and O-glycopeptides as differential substrates of O-glycopeptidases (3) Integration of the identified specificity with structural biology data for site-directed mutagenesis of the enzymes/modules to modulate the specificity/catalysis for the substrate.

The selected candidate will integrate an interdisciplinary team of the project funded by FCT, which is led by the Functional Glycobiology and Macromolecule Crystallography groups at UCIBIO-NOVA, and which includes national partners, the (Bio)NMR group at UCIBIO-NOVA and the Cancer Glycobiology group at i3S-University of Porto, and international partners, the Glycosciences Laboratory at Imperial College London and the Chemical Glycobiology group at Umeå University, Sweden. Mobility with periods of stay in the laboratories of partner institutions is covered.

Workplace: The work will be carried out at the Functional Glycobiology – GlycoLab and Macromolecular Crystallography (Xtal) Laboratories of the UCIBIO Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, of NOVA School of Science and Technology, under the scientific guidance of Professor Maria Angelina de Sá Palma, Doctor Benedita Andrade Pinheiro and Doctor Ana Luísa Moreira de Carvalho. NOVA.id.FCT – Associação para a Inovação e Desenvolvimento da FCT will be the contracting Institution.

Fellowship duration: The scholarship will have a duration of 6 months, starting in February 2024, with the possibility of renewal up to the end of the project and under the provisions of Regulation of Research Fellowships from the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P (as stated and available at: http://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/regulamento.phtml.pt ).

Application deadline and form of submission: The competition is open from January 9 to 22, 2024.

•  Documents to be provided when applying: Applications must be formalized by sending the following documents: (1) Curriculum Vitae, (2) certificate of qualifications and other supporting documents considered relevant, namely proof of enrolment in a PhD or non-degree course as part of an educational project of a Higher Education Institution, (3) letter of motivation.
• How to submit applications: Applications must be sent by e-mail to Angelina Sá Palma ([email protected] ) with the subject line "BIM1 (#NOVAID-B151) - 2022.06104.PTDC".
• Documentation to be provided when the contract is signed: proof of enrolment on non-academic degree courses or in a doctoral study cycle.

Applicable legislation and regulations: Law No. 40/2004, of August 18, amended and republished by Decree-Law No. 202/2012 of August 27 (Statute of the Scientific Research Fellow) and amended by Decree-Law No. 233/2012 of October 29, by Law No. 12 /2013 of 29 January, by Decree-Law No. 89/2013, of 9 July and Decree-Law No. 123/2019, of 28 August; Regulation of Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. in force (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/regulamento.phtml.pt );

Requirements

Research Field

Chemistry » Biochemistry

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Recipients profile/category:

Mandatory requirements: The scholarship is for a researcher with a MSc degree in Biochemistry or related areas with final Bachelor’s and Master ́s grade equal to or greater than 16 points and the candidate must be enrolled in a PhD Degree or in a course that does not confer an academic degree but is part of an educational project of a Higher Education Institution. Documents proving this situation must be presented, at the latest, up to the stage of contracting the scholarship, and before that, they may be replaced by a declaration of honor. Candidates must have proven experience in the glycan microarray technology and its application to the study of glycan-protein interactions, as well as in molecular biology methods to produce recombinant proteins, site-directed mutagenesis and methods for structural and biophysical characterization of glycan-protein complexes. Preference will be given to candidates with additional experience in the crystallization and 3D structure solution of macromolecules by X- ray diffraction methods.

Additional Information
Benefits

Monthly maintenance allowance amount: The amount of the Scholarship corresponds to €1199,64, according to the table of values of grants awarded directly by FCT, I.P. in the Country (https://www.fct.pt/wp - content/uploads/2023/02/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM_2023.pdf), and the payment is made monthly by bank transfer.

Eligibility criteria

Selection criteria: The selection methods to be used will be as follows: Applications considered admissible will be scored on a scale from 1 to 20 according to their

Curriculum Evaluation with a percentage weighting of 30% and

Experience in the requested area with a percentage weighting 70%.

In case of a tie, an interview may be held. In this case, the valuation will be 30%, 30% and 40% for (1) CV, (2) experience in the requested area and (3) interview, respectively.

Selection process

Composition of the Selection Jury:

• President of the Jury: Maria Angelina de Sá Palma, PhD;
• Effective Jury Members: Benedita Andrade Pinheiro, PhD; Ana Luísa Moreira de Carvalho, PhD;
• Substitute Jury Members: Helena Maria Nobre Coelho, Filipa Margarida Barradas de Morais Marcelo

Form of advertising/notification of results: The evaluation results proposed by the juri will be notified, up to 90 days after the deadline for the submission of applications, by email, of the results proposed by the jury, with access to the minutes and the final ranking list. After notification, candidates will have 10 working days to comment on the draft decision (prior hearing of interested parties, under the terms of the Code of Administrative Procedure). The final decision will be taken after the expiry of the prior hearing period, again notified to all candidates by e-mail. Of this final decision the candidates can file a complaint within 15 working days (to the e-mail address used for the notification), or an hierarchical appeal, within 30 working days, addressed to NOVA.ID.FCT's Board through the address [email protected] .

Additional comments

Drafts: The drafts of: i) fellowship contract, ii) final report to be presented by the fellowship holder, iii) final report to be presented by the scientific advisor, and; iv) declaration on honor, can all be found on NOVA.id.FCT website.

Website for additional job details

https://www.novaidfct.pt/wp-content/calls/call/%23NOVAID-B151_Minuta-de-Aviso-d…

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

NOVA.ID.FCT

Country

Portugal

State/Province

Setubal

City

Caparica

Postal Code

2828-516

Street

FCT - UNL - CAMPUS DE CAPARICA

Geofield

Where to apply

E-mail

[email protected]

Contact

City

Caparica

Website

http://www.novaid.fct.unl.pt/

Street

NOVA.id.FCT, FCT-NOVA, campus Caparica

Postal Code

2829-516

E-Mail

[email protected]

STATUS: EXPIRED