MSCA-PF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology

Professor César Viseras, from the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Technology at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships (MSCA-PF) in 2021 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (more information about the 2020 call: http://sl.ugr.es/0aNV, the 2021 call is not yet open).

Brief description of the institution:

The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531, is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. With over 60.000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and 6.000 staff. UGR offers a total of 89 degrees, 110 master’s degrees and 28 doctoral programmes through its 123 departments and 27 centers. Consequently, the UGR offers one of the most extensive and diverse ranges of higher education programmes in Spain.

The UGR has 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. UGR is also a leading institution in research, located in the top 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 - Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) (http://sl.ugr.es/0bsW). The UGR is amongst the 201-300 first universities of the world, between 2nd-5th position of Spanish universities and number 1 in the Andalusian Region in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking. Specialties at UGR that stand out are Library & Information Science (position 32) and Food Science & Technology (position 36). Moreover, the UGR is also situated amongst the first 100 universities in Mining & Mineral Engineering between (76th-100th position), in Mathematics (between 76th-100th position) and in Hospitality & Tourism Management (between 76th-100th position). The edition of the ARWU places the UGR in 201-300th 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.

Additionally, the UGR has 8 researchers at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list in Computer Sciences & Engineering (position 101-150). It is also well recognized for its web presence (http://sl.ugr.es/0a6i), being positioned at 43th 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 67 projects, with total funding of 18.029 million euros, and for H2020, 118 projects with total funding around 29.115 million euros.

Brief description of the Centre/Research Group:

The applicant group is made up of researchers who are experts in mineralogy and pharmaceuticals, being an international benchmark in the use of nanoclays in health. The group houses an extensive experience in the study of nanoclays and biopolymers as raw industrial employment and more specifically in human health matters and is composed of pharmacists, geologists, chemists and engineers. The UGR has advanced facilities adequate for the work proposed, including those of the Department of Pharmaceutics, those of the IACT (UGR_CSIC) and those in the instrumentation center (CIC) of the UGR. For the achievement of the research project, the Pharmaceutical Technology Laboratory (UGR), the Development of Natural Resources Laboratory (IACT), both under the responsibility of the main researcher, and the CIC are available and include the equipment and infrastructures that will be used in the proposed project. The candidate will be integrated in the research group CTS-946 (Andalusian research group), that is a worldleading group on the use of polymer and clay minerals in pharmaceutics and one of the groups with greatest growth over the last years at UGR. He/she will be integrated into an ideal environment having regular scientific interchanges with the group units, participating in internal meetings and seminars, enjoying specific lab courses offered by the group, and being a local member in the conferences and social events organized by the host institution. As the host laboratory is comprised of scientists from many different nationalities and cultures, he/she will benefit from working in a multicultural international environment, which provides a platform for the secure exchange of ideas and discussion.

Project description:

The project focuses on the design of new medical devices for wound healing treatments based on nanoclays. The project aims to use specific techniques for the identification and characterization of inorganic materials, study their interactions with organics molecules with biological activity and formulate, design and develop medicinal products with these materials including the evaluation of their biopharmaceutical properties. The achievement of the project continues a line of research maintained by the research team applicant. The project might provide a new strategy to design advanced three-dimensional scaffolds based on (nanoclays/polymer/bioactives) resembling the extracellular matrix able to replace the damaged tissue, used as grafting to replace full-thickness lesions, avoiding infections and promoting cell proliferation.

Research Area

• Life Sciences (LIFE)

For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor César Viseras (cviseras@ugr.es):

• CV
• Letter of recommendation (optional)