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 PhD students or by Master´s enrolled in non-academic degree courses integrated into the educational project of a higher education institution, within the project “Neutrophil-based ImmunoEngineering for Tissue Regeneration”, ref. COMPETE2030-FEDER-00796700, Operation No. 16784, funded by COMPETE2030 and national funds (FCT) under Notice no. MPr-2023-12.

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

Scientific Area: Bioengineering.

Project Title: “Neutrophil-based ImmunoEngineering for Tissue Regeneration”.

Workplan: 

The successful progression of wound healing typically involves 3 consecutive phases: inflammatory, proliferative, and remodeling. When this natural process is disrupted, chronic wounds (CW) develop. CW fail to proceed through the defined sequence of healing phases and become trapped in the inflammatory stage. 

The aim of this research project is to develop a multifunctional hydrogel with immunomodulatory and pro-angiogenic properties, to induce a pro-regenerative microenvironment to enhance the healing of CW.

Admission Requirements:

Mandatory:

• Master in Bioengineering, Biotechnology or related areas (with a minimum grade of 15 (0-20) in the integrated master's degree or average between the Bachelor's and Master's degrees);
• Candidates must be enrolled in a non-academic degree course integrated into the educational project of a higher education institution, or an honor statement of capacity to enroll in the aforementioned course until the grant is contracted; Or:
• Candidates must be enrolled in a PhD Program, preferentially in scientific areas related to this project, until the grant is contracted.

Preferential:

• Commitment to enroll in a PhD Program in the scientific area in the future;
• Experience with biomaterials development, namely hydrogels;
• Experience with mammalian cell culture;
• Experience with flow cytometry and advanced microscopy techniques;
• Fluent (writing and speaking) in English.

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 Judite Novais Barbosa.

Length time: The duration of the fellowship is 6 months, eventually renewable and the expected starting date is September 1st, 2025, upon availability of the financed funds.

Monthly maintenance stipend: €1.309,64, according to the values table of FCT, at Portugal (https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Tabela_valores_SMM_2025.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. 

The host Institution may also assume the payment of a monthly allowance, relating to academic fees associated with obtaining an academic degree.

Evaluation Criteria: 

The candidate selection will be performed taking into account the Admission Requirements (described above), based on the evaluation of the curriculum vitae (70%), motivation letter (10%) and interview (20%). Candidates will be ranked taking into account the full evaluation (in a scale from 1 to 100). Up to 5 candidates with top evaluation of curriculum vitae and motivation letter will be invited to an interview.

Evaluation Pannel: President – Doctor Judite Novais Barbosa; Other members: Doctor Cristina Barrias and Doctor Sílvia Ferreira.

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@i3s.up.pt.

Applications: The call will be open between July 7th to July 23th, 2025. 

The applications must be submitted electronically at:

https://dozer.i3s.up.pt/applicationmanagement/#/addapplications/0e13ca4bf4fb81454733c6b51c1e5f

 The required documents for the application are: Certificate of Qualifications, Curriculum Vitae, letter of motivation, proof of enrolment in a cycle of studies or in a course that does not confer an academic degree (proof of enrollment or a honor statement of capacity to enroll in the aforementioned cycle of studies or course until the grant is contracted), and other documents, considered as 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 a cycle of studies or in a non-academic degree course integrated into the educational project of a higher education institution.

Full announcement at: https://dozer.i3s.up.pt/fileupload/downloadfile/viewpdfnewtab/f8f5eee19…