Application for a Master Fellowship within the IOVPOC_2023_17
Applications are invited for a Master Fellowship in the scope of the project entitled NOVADopaStream: Accelerating Precise Dopamine Fermentation with the Ref. IOVPOC_2023_17, funded by InnoValley Proof-of-Concept Fund 3rd edition 2023-2024.
Scientific Area: Biological Sciences.
Academic degree: Candidates with a Bachelor's and Master's degree in Biotechnology, Biological Engineering, Biochemistry, or related fields will be considered. The Bachelor's degree average must be equal to or greater than 14 (out of 20), and the Master's degree average must be equal to or greater than 17 (out of 20).
Other requisites:
* Good capacity to perform laboratory work;
* Good knowledge of spoken and written English;
* Experience in handling microbial strains, particularly Escherichia coli, is highly desirable;
* Preference will be given to candidates with previous experience in experimental synthetic biology using state of the art molecular biology techniques.
* Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a multidisciplinary research environment;
* Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to troubleshoot and optimize experimental protocols;
* Familiarity with metabolic engineering and bioprocess development will be considered a plus;
Working Plan: The selected candidate will design, optimize, and scale up a novel dopamine production pathway in E. coli. Responsibilities include cloning, pathway evaluation against benchmark strains, and enzyme expression refinement. Dopamine levels will be measured via HPLC to guide model refinement and identify improved targets. The candidate will also perform cultivation experiments, starting with shake-flask trials to optimize media and parameters, followed by lab-scale bioreactor runs to characterize engineered strains. Key metrics such as titers, yields, and productivities will be assessed to ensure a sustainable dopamine titer suitable for scale-up.
Working Place: The work will be carried out in the Systems and Synthetic Biology Lab at ITQB NOVA, under supervision of Doctor Sofia Ferreira.
Duration of the fellowship: The fellowship will have the duration of 6 months, eventually renewed, expected to start in February 2025, on a full-time basis, according to Fellowship Regulations of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P.
Stipend amount: 1259.64 €, according to the table of values of grants awarded directly by the FCT, I.P. in the Country.
Selection procedure: The evaluation procedures will be based on the analysis of the candidates' CV and if needed an interview for the selected candidates may take place. In such cases, the CV assessment will carry a weight of 70%, while the interview will account for the remaining 30%.
Application documents: The application should be formalized in a cover letter indicating the corresponding fellowship reference together with the following documents: detailed Curriculum Vitae, motivation letter, degree(s) certificate(s) and two references. All documents should be preferably sent by email in a single pdf file.
Notification of candidates: All the candidates will be informed of the final result by e-mail.
Application period: From January 10 to January 23, 2025.
Applications should be sent to: sofiaferreira@itqb.unl.pt
Ref. 006/BI/2025
ITQB NOVA, OEIRAS
#J-18808-Ljbffr