Professor Luis Miguel de Pablos Torró, from the Department of Parasitology at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (MSCA-IF) in 2020 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (more information: http://sl.ugr.es/0aNV).

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531, is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflects the UGR’s commitment to continuously improve its human resource policies in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The UGR is also a leading institution in research, located in the top 5/10 of Spanish universities by a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, or international funding.

UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking (http://sl.ugr.es/0aw0). The Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) places the UGR in 268th position in the world and as the 4th highest ranked University in Spain, reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research. From the perspective of specialist areas in the ARWU rankings, the UGR is outstanding in Documentation (ranked in the 36th in the world) or Food science technology (ranked 37th in the world), Mathematics and Computer Science (ranked among the top 76-100 in the world).

The UGR has 4 researchers at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list in the Computer Science area. With regard to broader subject fields, the UGR is ranked in 45th position in the universities worldwide in the discipline of Engineering. It is also well recognized for its web presence (http://sl.ugr.es/0a6i) taking 36th place in the top 200 Universities in Europe. Internationally, we bet decidedly by our participation in the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union. For the duration of the last two Framework Programmes, the UGR has obtained a total of 66 projects, with total funding of 18.02 million euros, and for H2020, 80 projects with total funding around 20.6 million euros.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group

The IP belongs to the research group Biochemistry and Molecular Parasitology (CTS183) from the University of Granada. The group includes researchers from the Departments of Parasitology and Biochemistry and belongs to the Institute of Biotechnology of the University of Granada.

The group is interested in studying the virulence factors and the mechanisms used by microorganisms to colonise their hosts at molecular level. To do so, the group and the center counts with excellent technology facilities (http://cic.ugr.es/) with an excellent research atmosphere and collaborative thinking.

Project description

Apis mellifera or European honeybees are insects belonging to the hemiptera phylum and the most important pollinators globally. In the last decade the populations of honeybee has experienced a dramatic decline worldwide. Rather than a unique cause, these global-losses are driven by multiple interacting factors such as man-made stressors (i.e. pesticides, habitat destruction), environmental stresses and diseases caused by viruses, bacteria or parasites. Protozoan parasites belonging to the Order Kinetoplastida have been found in up to 20-40% of the Spanish apiaries. However, the pathogenesis of these infections has not been explored in depth and little is known about the severity of the damage produced in bees and the environmental and economic repercussions that this may entail. Therefore, there is a scientific gap and an urgent need for understanding the biology and causes of the disease as well as for the development of novel control strategies. The project aims for the understanding of the molecular pathways used by these parasites to survive into the honeybee host. Moreover, the project will study in vivo and in real time the pathogenesis caused by this infectious agent through the use of fluorescent cell lines inn experimental infections of bees and finally, through a screening of different natural products, to find a treatment that can be used in hives to treat / control this parasitaemia.

Research Area

Life Sciences (LIFE)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Luis Miguel de Pablos Torró (lpablos@ugr.es):

• CV
• Letter of recommendation (optional)