MSCA-PF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Applied Physics

Professor Guillermo Iglesias Salto and Ángel Delgado Mora, from the Department of Applied Physics at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) in 2023 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (for more information about the 2023 call, please consult:(http://sl.ugr.es/0d7F).

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR) was founded in 1531 and is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. With over 51,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and almost 3,000 members of staff, the UGR offers over 90 undergraduate degrees, 160 master’s degrees (8 of which are international double degrees) and 28 doctoral programmes via its 124 departments and nearly 50 centers. Accordingly, the UGR offers one of the most extensive and diverse ranges of higher education programmes in Spain.

The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflects the institution’s commitment to continuously improving 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 internationally renowned for its excellence in diverse research fields and ranked among the top Spanish universities in a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, and international funding.

The UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking - Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The 2022 edition of the ARWU places the UGR in 201-300th position in the world and as the 2-5 highest ranked universities in Spain (http://sl.ugr.es/0d7D), reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research. The UGR stands out in the specialties of Library & Information Science (position 38); Food Science & Technology (30) and Hospitality & Tourism Management (51-75), according to the latest edition of this prestigious ranking by specialties (http://sl.ugr.es/0bSp). A little lower in the ranking, the UGR also stands out in Mathematics (76-100).

Additionally, the UGR has 9 researchers who are at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list (http://sl.ugr.es/0d7E), most of these related to the area of Computer Science. It is also well recognized for its web presence (http://sl.ugr.es/0a6i), being positioned at 42th place in the top 200 Universities in Europe.

Internationally, the University of Granada is firmly committed to its participation in the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union. For the duration of the last Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, the UGR obtained a total 120 projects with a total funding of around 29,4 million euros.  For the current Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, the UGR has obtained 38 projects, so far, with total funding around 11 € million.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group:

 The research activities of the group have focused on different lines, always related to the physical properties of the solid/liquid interface and their implications on the characteristics of dispersed systems and their engineering applications.

Our efforts have been devoted to the synthesis of nanoparticles of different chemical compositions, but always with controllable size, shape, and surface functionalities. In addition, the group has also sought to transfer its knowledge to industrial partners.

Our main focus has been on two different lines regarding with the project “New technologies based on nanoparticles systems”, and “Biomedical Applications”. Specifically in two aspects:

1. Design and evaluation of nanoparticle-based drug delivery vehicles, in which the inclusion of one or more magnetic cores allows control of the particle's location and approach to a specific target. A biodegradable polymer coating is added to load and release the transported drugs.

2. Secondly, our interest has focused on the design of applicators and devices for generating magnetic fields and photothermal devices to generate heating of nanoparticles. These techniques are called magnetic hyperthermia and photothermia and have great application in the biomedical area.

Project description:

The analysis, characterisation and manipulation of nanoparticles (NPs) is undoubtedly the first step towards the generation of new materials with a wide range of applications in areas such as medicine (diagnosis or treatment), biotechnology, electronics, energy storage, etc. Until now, most applications have been limited to the use of spherical particle suspensions, which have been extensively studied theoretically and experimentally. However, in many situations, the geometry of NPs is critical to improve these properties.

The scientific fields in which geometry, and often non-sphericity, is controlled are of interest to grow as we advance our knowledge of the materials and their synthesis techniques. There are even situations where the whole phenomenology is based on non-sphericity: one need only think of electro-orientation phenomena such as birefringence or the formation of liquid crystal phases, etc. This is especially true in the field of so-called biomaterials, i.e. in the development of controlled drug delivery systems, tissue engineering and medical diagnostics. There is also another scientific field in which the use of magnetic nanoparticles has recently found an important therapeutic application.

This is hyperthermia, which consists of local heating induced by the particles when subjected to an oscillating magnetic field. Depending on the size and shape, this heating is produced by friction of the particles with the fluid, or by magnetic hysteresis, or even by the Néel effect (in the case of superparamagnetic particles, therefore without hysteresis). It is sufficient to raise the temperature to about 45°C for 30 minutes to kill the tumour cells. As a result, there is a heating of the particles even close to their melting temperature.

Research Area:

☒ Information Science and Engineering (ENG)

☒ Life Sciences (LIFE)

☒ Physics (PHY)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Guillermo Iglesias Salto and Ángel Delgado Mora, email: iglesias@ugr.es, adelgado@ugr.es

• CV
• Letter of recommendation (optional)