Research fellowship

i3s – Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (hereinafter i3S) is opening a call to award a grant for the development of R&D activities by Master's or Integrated Master's, or Bachelor's enrolled in non-academic degree courses integrated into the educational project of a higher education institution, within the project “Colloid aggregation activity of intrinsically disordered polypeptides that phase separate into neurotoxic condensates”- PTDC/QUI-COL/2444/2021, financed by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P/MCTES, PIDDAC.

Host Institution: i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Porto, Portugal.

Scientific Area: Biophysics, Biochemistry.

Project Title: “Colloid aggregation activity of intrinsically disordered polypeptides that phase separate into neurotoxic condensates”.

Workplan:

Phase separation is in the limelight of neurosciences research due to the identification of different biological condensates found to drive the pathogenesis of prevalent and rare neurodegenerative diseases. The main constituent of these condensates are disease-associated proteins and peptides generically denominated intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). Fundamental principles of colloid aggregation will be used to systematize the biochemical activity of IDPs as a measurable property liable to be pharmacologically modulated. Therefore, fundamental science will contribute to open the therapeutic possibility of directly targeting IDPs «before» these molecules self-organize into neurotoxic species. On the other hand, the quantitative method hereby proposed for characterizing the (changeable and usually unknown) chemical state of IDP samples will greatly contribute to increase the replicability and reproducibility in protein aggregation research. Experimental data of ataxin-3 aggregation will be measured and used to estimate the biochemical activity of this protein in the absence of protein modulation effects. By the end of this project, a web-tool nicknamed «AGGtivity» will be developed and made publicly available through Technology Transfer activities.

Admission Requirements:

Mandatory:

- Bachlelor’s degree in areas related to the project including but not restricted to Biology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, and Bioengineering, and an average classification of at least 15/20;

- Being enrolled in a Master’s degree study cycle in a field related to the project, at the time of the start of the contract, or a honor statement of capacity to enroll in the aforementioned study cycle; Or,

 - Bachelor's enrolled in non-academic degree courses integrated into the educational project of a higher education institution at the time of the start of the contract.

Preferential:

- Experienced with recombinant protein expression and purification;

- Knowledge in Bioinformatics;

- Knowledge in Structural Biology;

- Fluent in English language (spoken and written);

Legislation and other applicable regulations: Research Fellowship Holder Statute enacted by Law no. 40/2004 of August 18th, as amended; FCT Research Grants Regulation, approved by way of Regulation nr. 950/2019, published in the II Series of DR of December 16th, 2019; i3S Research Grants Regulation.

Place: The research activities will be hosted at i3S, under the scientific coordination of Doctor Pedro Miguel Martins.

Length time: The duration of the fellowship is 6 months. The expected starting date is April 16^th, 2024, upon availability of the financed funds.

Monthly maintenance stipend: €990,98, according to the values table of FCT, at Portugal (https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM_atualizacao-2024.pdf). The payments will be made by bank transference. Research grants may also include other components, as the voluntary social insurance, under the terms of the Research Fellowship Holder Statute, article 10.

Evaluation Criteria: The selection will be made by:

A) Detailed CV (70%) containing the information related to the admission criteria mentioned

Above:

A1 - Relevant laboratorial experience in the research area of the application (50%);

A2 - Scientific production, including oral/poster communications and publications (20%);

B) Motivation letter (30%):

B1- Interest and motivation for the research area framing the position to be hired (20%);

B2 -Proficiency in English and written communication (10%);

The candidates final classification will be given on a scale 0-100, followed by a ranking of candidates based on the score obtained in the criteria defined above. The top-ranked candidates in the curricular evaluation with a classification above 85% will be called for an interview. In this case, the curricular evaluation will have a weight of 90% and the interview 10%.

Evaluation Panel:

President – Pedro Miguel Martins; Members: Sandra Macedo-Ribeiroand Pedro José Barbosa Pereira;

Information and Publicity of Funding Granted: The results of the evaluation will be notified by email to all candidates. After notification, candidates have 10 working days to comment and, within that period, a complaint may be submitted by email to rh@i3s.up.pt.

Applications: The call will be open between march 13^th, 2024 and march 26^th, 2024.

The applications must be submitted electronically at:

https://dozer.i3s.up.pt/applicationmanagement/#/addapplications/152ade994a6ed29fef99277c996da4

The required documents composing the applications are: Curriculum Vitae, letter of motivation, proof of enrolment in Master's or Integrated Master's study cycle or non-academic degree courses integrated into the educational project of a higher education institution or a honor statement of capacity to enroll in the aforementioned study cycle or courses until the grant is contracted, and other documents considered relevant by the candidate.

Documents to be provided at the time of contracting: in addition to those mentioned in the previous point, it is necessary to present proof of enrollment in Master's or Integrated Master's study cycle or non-academic degree courses integrated into the educational project of a higher education institution.

Full announcement at: https://dozer.i3s.up.pt/fileupload/downloadfile/viewpdfnewtab/79f929b9e…