#NOVAID-B419 - COMPETITION FOR GRANTING 1 RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP

#NOVAID-B419 - COMPETITION FOR GRANTING 1 RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP
Setúbal
Setúbal, Setubal, Portugal

Organisation/Company NOVA. id. FCT- Associação para a Inovação de Desenvolvimento da FCT Department Department of Chemistry, from NOVA School of Science and Technology Research Field Chemistry » Structural chemistry Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Master Positions Country Portugal Application Deadline 2 Dec 2025 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon) Type of Contract Other Type of Contract Extra Information Research Scholarship Job Status Full-time Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number 2023. 18077. ICDT Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

A tender is open for the attribution of 1 Research Scholarship within the scope of the R&D AASENS– Deciphering the Enzymes that Detoxify Arsenic and Antimony for Application in Biosensors” with reference 2023. 18077. ICDT, funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I. P. /MCTES through national funds under the following conditions:

Work Plan: The work plan to develop includes the following tasks:

• Protein production – Arsenite Oxidase (Aio) from Rhizobium NT-26 and from A. faecalis will be expressed in E. coli BL21 cells, Shewanella ANA-3 Arsenate reductase (Arr) will be homologously expressed. Protein expression will be optimized, and purification will be done using affinity/size exclusion/ionic chromatography. Proteins will be characterized by biophysical methods.
• Protein crystallization and 3D structure
  - Macro-crystals will be produced for the two enzymes; the crystallization conditions are known for Aio while for Arr published conditions will be optimized. The crystals will be derivatized with As/Sb oxyanions in order to capture reaction intermediates. Diffraction data will be collected
  - house and at synchrotron labs as the ESRF (Portuguese BAG) and DESY and ALBA (single proposals). The 3D structures will be solved and interpreted.
• Generate and characterize variants of Aio/Arr :
  - mutations in key residues to assess enzymatic activity and determine the 3D structures for optimal As(III) and Sb(III) detection.

Workplace: The work will be developed at the Laboratory of Macromolecular Crystallography, of the UCIBIO Research Unit, Department of Chemistry, from NOVA School of Science and Technology under the scientific guidance of Professor Maria João Romão and Professor Cristiano Mota, with the contracting entity being NOVA. id. FCT – Association for Innovation and Development of FCT.

Fellowship duration: The fellowship will last for 6 months, scheduled to begin in December 2025, possibly renewable within the duration of the project.

Application deadline and form of application submission: The competition is open from 19th November to 2nd December 2025.

Documentation to be provided in the application: Applications must be formalized, mandatorily, by sending the following documents: i. Motivation letter; ii. Detailed Curriculum Vitae; iii. Documents attesting the academic degrees obtained and the respective final grades* (at the application stage, these may be replaced by a declaration of honor, as stated in point no. 2); iv. Declaration of honor confirming the commitment to enroll in a Doctoral program or in a nondegree course integrated into the educational project of a higher education institution, in case the candidate is selected for the scholarship and accepts its award, as well as any other supporting documents considered relevant for assessing experience.

Note 1: For academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, it is mandatory to present proof of recognition of the academic degree and the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese grading scale (process regulated by Decree-Law no. 341/2007 of October 12), or alternatively, to obtain equivalence/recognition of the academic degrees (process regulated by Decree
Law no. 283/83 of June 21).

Note 2: In the case of candidates enrolled in a
- degree course, the scholarship may have a maximum duration of one year.

• From of submission of applications: Applications must be sent, exclusively by
  - mail, mandatorily with the indication, in the subject of the
  - mail, of the reference #NOVAID-B419 -2023. 18077. ICDTBI_Mestre AASENS, to mjr@fct. unl. pt within the deadline for their submission. Applications submitted by other means will not be accepted.
• Documentation to be provided in terms of contractualization: Proof of academic degrees or their recognition/equivalence when awarded by foreign higher education institutions; proof of enrollment in a Ph
  D program or in a
  - degree course integrated into the educational project of a higher education institution.

Applicable legislation and regulations: Law No. 40/2004, of August 18, amended and republished by Decree-Law No. 202/2012 of August 27 (Statute of the Scientific Research Fellow) and amended by Decree-Law No. 233/2012 of October 29, by Law No. 12 /2013 of 29 January, by Decree-Law No. 89/2013, of 9 July and Decree-Law No. 123/2019, of 28 August; Regulation of Research Grants of NOVA. id. FCT – Association for Innovation and Development of FCT; Regulation of Research Grants of the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I. P. in force (https://former. fct. pt/apoios/bolsas/docs/Regulamento
Bolsas
FCT2019DR. pdf );

Where to apply

E-mail mjr@fct. unl. pt

Requirements

Research Field Chemistry » Structural chemistry Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Mandatory requirements: Candidates must:

• be enrolled on a doctorate’s degree or a
  - degree course;
• Master’s degree in Molecular Genetics and Biomedicine; Biochemistry or related fields, and enrollment in a Ph
  D program or a
  - degree course. Proof of this status must be presented no later than the fellowship contracting phase and may, prior to that, be replaced by a declaration of honor.
• Priority will be given to candidates with experience in the field of Structural and Molecular Biology, to those with research experience in the specific scientific area of the work plan, particularly in the determination of metalloprotein structures.
• not exceeded with the conclusion of this fellowship contract, the maximum duration of one year, when the fellowship has been awarded to bachelors or masters who are enrolled in
  - academic degree study programmes.
• be informed that the fellowship aims to consolidate their scientific training through the development of research work.
• present the documents proving this situation at the latest by the time the fellowship is contracted, before which time they may be replaced by a declaration of honour, which is attached.
• Master’s final grade equal to or higher than 16 (out of 20)

Preferred factors: Preference will be given to candidates with

• Experience in molecular biology, protein purification, and X-ray crystallography for the determination and analysis of 3D structures.
• The candidate must be able to work independently and as part of a team, write reports and scientific publications, and be fluent in English.

Selection criteria: The evaluation of the applications will focus on the merit of the candidate, applying the following criteria:

A. Curriculum Evaluation (0 to 20 points) – 40%

B. Research Experience (0 to 20 points) – 60%

All applications will be assessed on a scale from 0 to 20 points.

Candidates who do not achieve a minimum score of 15 points, based on the jury’s evaluation according to the selection criteria, will not be hired.

Selection process

Composition of the Selection Jury:

• 2nd Substitute Member – Benedita Pinheiro

Form of advertising/notification of results: The evaluation results proposed by the jury will be notified, up to 90 days after the deadline for the submission of applications, by email, of the results proposed by the jury, with access to the minutes and the final ranking list. After notification, candidates will have 10 working days to comment on the draft decision (prior hearing of interested parties, under the terms of the Code of Administrative Procedure). The final decision will be taken after the expiry of the prior hearing period, again notified to all candidates by
- mail. Of this final decision the candidates can file a complaint within 15 working days (to the
- mail address used for the notification), or a hierarchical appeal, within 30 working days, addressed to NOVA. ID. FCT's Board through the address coord1@novaidfct. pt.

Additional comments

Drafts: The drafts of: i) fellowship contract, ii) final report to be presented by the fellowship holder, iii) final report to be presented by the scientific advisor, and; iv) declaration on honor, can all be found on NOVA. id. FCT website.