Recruitment of a Lab Technician at IPO Porto Reference - EpImmunePCa/LAB3/TecSup

Recruitment of a Lab Technician at IPO Porto

Reference - EpImmunePCa/LAB3/TecSup

The Board of Directors of the Portuguese Institute of Oncology of Porto Francisco Gentil, EPE (IPO Porto) is opening a call for a lab technician (“Técnico Superior”) with a master's degree, under the terms of the Applicable Regulation, under an individual fixed-term employment contract uncertain, for a period of 24 months, or until the end of the project, financed through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) by the project “On the crossroads of Immuno-Epigenetics for targeting advanced Prostate Cancer”- 2022.04809.PTDC. The position will be integrated in LAB 3 of the Research Center of IPO Porto (CI-IPOP, headquartered at IPO Porto)

1. Candidate profile:  

Any national, foreign or stateless candidate who meets the following requirements may apply:

Obligatory:

• Master's Degree in Oncology or Biomedical Sciences/Cancer Biology or Biochemistry, completed less than 5 years ago;

• Documented experience in Tumor Immunology;

• Proven expertise in various molecular biology methods, including immunohistochemistry (IHC) methods, nucleic acid extraction, primer design, Real-time-qPCR, etc;

 • Proven cell culture experience, including isolation and co-culture of different cell types;

 • Sample preparation (intra and extracelular staining) for flow cytometry;

 • Proficiency in English (oral and written).

Preferential:

•  Knowledge in Flow Cytometry acquisition and analysis;

 •  Background knowledge in Epigenetics, including methylation analysis, primer design and qMSP;

 •  Knowledge in Bioinformatics (including R) and biostatistical analysis;

• Experience in vector design, cloning, transduction and transfection methods (including CRISPR/Cas);

• Cell treatments with drugs and cytotoxicity assessment (IC50);

• Isolation of immune cells by gradient separation and magnetic isolation of cell subtypes;

• Immune cell-mediated cytotoxicity assays and evaluation of effector functions;

• Cell preparation and intra and extracellular labeling with antibodies for Flow Cytometry;

• At least a first-author publication in indexed peer-reviewed journals;

• Motivation to work in an interactive and collaborative environment;

• Ability to organize, prioritize and meet deadlines;

• Drive to meet goals and achieve objectives.

Note: If the master's degree was conferred by a foreign higher education institution, the degree must comply with the provisions of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 18, and all formalities established therein must be fulfilled the application deadline.

1. Regulation:

- Portuguese Labor Law, approved by Law n.º 7/2009, of 12 February.

1. Jury members:

The jury is composed by the following members: Doctor Margareta Correia, PhD (president); Prof. Dr. Rui Henrique (1st member), PhD; Prof. Dr. Carmen Jerónimo, PhD (2nd Member)

Supplemental: Doctor Vera Miranda-Gonçalves, PhD and Doctor Nair Lopes, PhD

1. Start date and Workplace:

The contract is expected to start as soon as possible, with a duration of twenty-four months or until the expected completion date of the project. Activities will be developed mainly at IPO-Porto (LAB3).

1. Monthly remuneration:

Gross monthly remuneration is 1.385,35€.

1. Application process: 

The application is opened from March 11th to March 28th, 2024, and all the required documents (listed below) must be sent by email (to: margareta.correia@ipoporto.min-saude.pt and candidaturas.ci-ipop@ipoporto.min-saude.pt), in PDF format, indicating the position reference (EpImmunePCa/LAB3/TecSup).

a) Motivation letter in English;

b) Detailed CV in English;

c) Master's Certificate;

d) Other documents that the candidate considers relevant to prove the academic path.

Note: Failure to comply with these requirements will determine the immediate rejection of the application.

1. Evaluation criteria:

The accepted applications will be evaluated accordingly to the academic or professional qualifications of the candidates, the professional path, the relevance of professional experience and academic training, and the type of functions carried out in accordance with the profile described above. The selection process will be completed through the realization of an interview conducted in English with the top five candidates according to the curriculum evaluation. In case there is no interview, the final classification will be equal only to the classification obtained in the curriculum evaluation.

Stage 1: The curriculum evaluation aims to analyze the qualifications of the candidates, including their habilitations, academic or professional background, professional trajectory, relevance of acquired experience and completed training and the type of functions performed.

The jury will analyze the application documents according to the following criteria:

A. Curriculum evaluation (60%):

1. Research experience in the areas and methods indicated above (35%).

2. Research projects in which the candidate was involved (15%);

3. Scientific publications (published or submitted) and respective impact factor (10%);

B. Motivation letter (40%):

1. Interest and motivation in research areas relevant to the position (25%);

2. Fluency in English (5%);

3. Experience in scientific writing (10%).

Stage 2: The jury will subsequently evaluate the top five candidates through an interview in English, which will be assessed on a scale of 0 to 100.

The final classification will result from the formula: 0.9 * score in Stage 1 + 0.1 * score in Stage 2, and will be displayed on a percentage scale from 0 to 100%. Only candidates with a final score equal to or greater than 70% will be considered for this position. Each admitted candidate will be individually ranked by each member of the jury, with the final ranking obtained by averaging the rankings of each member. In case of a tie, the decision will be made by the president of the jury.

After evaluating all the accepted applications, the jury will draft minutes of the meeting with the entire recruitment, evaluation and selection process, including the ordered list of approved candidates and the final decision of the jury. The jury's final decision will be validated by the Head of the Institution, who is also responsible for deciding on hiring.

1. Results:

The list of admitted and excluded candidates and the final classification list will be communicated to all candidates by email.

1. Preliminary hearing and deadline for final decision:

Under the terms of article 121 of the Code of Administrative Procedure, after notification, all candidates have 10 working days to respond. The jury's final decisions are issued within a period of 90 days, counting from the application deadline.