CALL FOR A RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP FOR A MASTER DEGREE, UNDER THE "MIXING-TOX – INGESTED NANOMATERIALS AND METAL MIXTURES IN FOOD: DEVELOPING INTEGRATED STRATEGIES TO SUPPORT HUMAN HEALTH RISK ASSESSMENT AND REGULATORY FRAMEWORKS" PROJECT (2022.03491.PTDC)

Organisation/Company

Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto

Research Field

Other

Researcher Profile

Other Profession

Positions

Master Positions

Country

Portugal

Application Deadline

7 Nov 2025 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

Not funded by a EU programme

Reference Number

2022.03491.PTDC

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

There is an open call for applications for a research scholarship for a master degree in the scope of the project “MixIng-Tox – Ingested nanomaterials and metal mixtures in food: developing integrated strategies to support human health risk assessment and regulatory frameworks”, reference 2022.03491.PTDC, at the Institute of Public Health of the University of Porto, financed by national funds through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the following conditions:

Application deadline: October 27th, to November 07th, 2025

1. Scientific area: Environmental Health; Public Health; Toxicology

2. Applicable legislation and regulations

Statute of Scientific Research Grant Holder, approved by Law no. 40/2004, of 18 of August, as amended by Decree-Law no. 123/2019, of 28 of August; Regulation no. 950/2019, of 29 of November, published in Diário da República, no. 241, Series 2, of 16 of December (Regulation of Research Grants of FCT, I. P.); Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of 16 August (Legal regime for recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of higher education awarded by foreign higher education institutions); Administrative Procedure Code (CPA), approved by Decree-Law no. 4/2015, of 7 January.

3. Admission requirements:

To apply for the scholarship, applicants must comply with the following requirements, for which documentary evidence must be provided:

a)Degree in the areas of Environmental Health, Public Health or related areas, with final score equal or greater than 14 values;

b)Master in Toxicology or related areas, with final score equal or greater than 16 values;

c) Be enrolled in a Master/Doctoral program in area of Environmental Health, or Public Health, or Toxicology , requirement to be proven before the hiring act;

or

Be enrolled in a non-academic degree course integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution, developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units, a requirement to be duly proven at the time of hiring.

Note: In the case of graduates or masters who are enrolled in courses that do not confer an academic degree, the scholarship can only be awarded to those who do not exceed, with the conclusion of the scholarship contract in question, including possible renewals, an accumulated period of two years in this type of exchange, followed or interpolated.

If the degree has been awarded by a foreign higher education institution, it must be recognized by a Portuguese higher education institution, in accordance with the provisions of article 25 of Decree-Law no.  66/2018 of 16 August, which approves the legal regime for the recognition of academic degrees and higher education diplomas awarded by foreign higher education institutions and Article 4 (2) (e) of Decree-Law no. 60/2018 of 3 August, and any formalities established therein be fulfilled up to the date of the contracting act. 

4. Preferred requirements:

a) Practical / laboratory experience in the field of toxicology of, at least, 1 year:

b) Experience in the maintenance of cell cultures;

c) Experience in in vitro exposures and genotoxicity techniques, namely in the assessment of genetic damage using the comet assay (primary and oxidative), and of histone H2AX phosphorylation by flow cytometry;

d) Proficiency in the use of the Comet Assay IV (Instem) software;

e) Good command of tools for database construction and data analysis (e.g. SPSS, Excel);

f) Previous integration in multidisciplinary teams, with relevance to the scientific areas covered by this call;

g) Good command of the English language.

5. Work Plan:

The main tasks to be performed under the scholarship will be: 

a) Maintenance of cell cultures;

b) In vitro assays, involving exposure to nanomaterials and other chemical compounds, and toxicity testing, with particular focus on the assessment of the genotoxicity of these contaminants, using the assays described in point 4c;

c) Statistical analysis and interpretation of the data resulting from point 5b.

6. Workplace and supervision

The work plan will be developed at the Department of Environmental Health of the National Health Institute, I.P. Address: Rua Alexandre Herculano, 321, 4000-055, Porto, Portugal, under the supervision of Doctor Ana Teresa Lemos Pereira Saúde Reis.

7. Duration of the scholarship

The scholarship will have a duration of 4 months, on an exclusive basis, possibly renewable, but not exceeding the project's conclusion date.

The eventual renewal of the scholarship will be carried out as determined in article 6 of the Research Grants Regulation of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P.

8. Amount of the monthly maintenance allowance

The allowance amount is 1309,64€ (one thousand three hundred and nine euros and sixty-four cents), per the table of values of the scholarships awarded directly by FCT, I.P. in Portugal.

9. Evaluation methods

The selection will be made based on curriculum evaluation (CE) and, if deemed necessary by the jury, a selection interview (I) with the top 3 candidates whose score in the curriculum evaluation is equal to or greater than ten points. The final score will be calculated using the following formula: 0,6 x CE + 0,4 x I, on a scale of 0 to 20 points. If there is no interview, the final classification will be equal to the same as the CE score.

Failure of candidates to attend the possible interview phase of the selection process is equivalent to withdrawing from the competition, leading to the exclusion from the procedure.

If none of the candidates demonstrates having the profile indicated for carrying out the work plan, the Selection Panel reserves the right not to allocate the vacancy in the competition.

The criteria for curricular evaluation (CE) are (0 to 20 points):

a) Academic background (0-7 points);

b) Professional experience relevant to the project (0-9 points);

c) Scientific activity (0-3 points);

d) Knowledge of the English language (0-1 points).

The evaluation factors of the selection interview (I), if it takes place, will be (0 to 20 points):

a) Professional knowledge and skills to carry out the work plan (0-10 points);

b) Motivation to conduct the research project (0-4 points);

c) Communication skills (0-3 points);

d) Professional attitude (0-3 points).

10. Selection panel

President – Doctor Ana Teresa Reis

1st Effective member – Doctor Sónia Fraga

2nd Effective member – Doctor Carla Costa

1st Alternate member – Doctor Solange Costa

2nd Alternate member – Doctor Joana Madureira

11. Form of presentation of applications and deadline for applications:

11.1 The Call for Applications is open until 07th November 2025.

11.2 The applications should be formalized, obligatorily, through email to the address candidaturas@ispup.up.pt , with the refª "BI – Mestre | MixIng-Tox” in the subject, accompanied by the following documents, of mandatory presentation:

a) Letter of Motivation;

b) Curriculum Vitae;

c) Documents proving that the applicant meets the conditions required for the type of scholarship to which he is applying, namely certificate(s) of qualification(s), with the final classification obtained and the respective academic degree recognition by a Portuguese higher education institution (if applicable) and proof of enrolment in a cycle of studies leading to a degree or in a non-degree course*.

The degree recognition must be duly proven until the act of hiring. If the recognition of the degree is under review, should be send proof of the request;

d)Other documents deemed relevant by the candidate.

* Proof of enrolment in a cycle of studies leading to a degree or in a non-degree course may be waived at the application stage and replaced by a declaration of honour of the applicant, only in the contract phase of the scholarship. However, the grant will be conditional on the delivery of these documents.

11.3 Failure to submit the documents identified above in the application will result in the administrative exclusion of the candidates.

12. Disclosure of the results:

a. The results of the evaluation will be made public through the sending of minutes via the email provided at the time of application.

b. Candidates have a period of 10 working days, counting from the day after the notification, to comment, if they wish, in a prior hearing.

13. In case of withdrawal of the candidate ranked first, the highest body of the Institute reserves the right to call the next candidate and so on until the vacancy is filled.

14. ISPUP is free to fill the position or not and may suspend or terminate the process at any time, informing all candidates.

15. Policy of non-discrimination and equal access 

ISPUP actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, whereby no candidate may be privileged, benefited, prejudiced or deprived of any right or exempted from any duty on the basis of ancestry, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs or affiliation with a professional union.

16. Data protection and privacy policy

ISPUP is committed to comply with the personal data protection legislation in order to protect the data and privacy of employees, students and partners. As the controller, ISPUP commits to process all data collected during the application process according to the procedures defined in the data protection legislation and in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

E-mail

candidaturas@ispup.up.pt

Research Field

Other

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Department of Environmental Health of the National Health Institute, I.P

Country

Portugal

City

Porto

Postal Code

4000-055

Street

Rua Alexandre Herculano, 321

Geofield

State/Province

Porto

City

Porto

Website

http://ispup.up.pt/about/

Street

Rua das Taipas

Postal Code

4050-600 Porto

E-Mail

secretaria@ispup.up.pt

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