The Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) opens one (01) Doctoral Fellowship (Bolsa de Doutoramento), for applicants of any nationality, including stateless candidates, and holders of political refugee status, in the scientific field of Biological Sciences, within the research project: BreedFlat - “New approaches on the dietary-effects in broodfish: the role of nutrition on sustainable production of flatfish” Ref. EEA.BG.CALL4.019.2020/ PT-INNOVATION-0080 and funded through “Mecanismo Financeiro do Espaço Económico Europeu (MFEEE 2014-2021), no âmbito da Área Programática Desenvolvimento de Negócios, Inovação e PME’s do Programa Crescimento Azul” under the following conditions:

Host and Contracting Institution: CCMAR

This fellowship is intended for R&D activities carried out by students enrolled in a doctoral program, at the beginning of the fellowship, with a view to consolidating their scientific training through the development of research work leading to the award of a doctoral degree.

Work Plan, Tasks to perform and objectives:

The BreedFlat project is focused on studying the role of nutrition in flatfish’s gamete quality.

The selected fellowship holder will be involved in the following tasks and objectives:

1. Involvement in laboratory analysis predicted within the project, particularly in situ hybridization of previously collected samples of Senegalese sole gonads.
2. Analysis of mass sequencing results conducted on S. sole testes and the respective confirmation of gene expression through qPCR.
3. Statistical analysis of project results and assistance in the preparation of the final report.
4. Support for other activities ongoing in the project or within the Aquaculture Research Group at CCMAR.

Workplace:

The workplace is CCMAR (Gambelas Campus of the Algarve University, Faro, Portugal), University of Algarve, Ramalhete Station and other places necessary for the completion of the work plan.

Requirements for the application:

Applicants must meet the following conditions stated below:

• Master´s degree in Marine Sciences, Biological Sciences, or similar areas.
• Expertise in fish reproduction and gamete quality analysis.
• Relevant experience in sperm cryopreservation.
• Good knowledge of English (oral and written).

Non-compliance justifies exclusion from the procedure.

Evaluation criteria:

Through the analysis of the application documents the evaluation criteria for the applications and their relative weight for ranking are as follows:

1. Master´s degree final grade (25%).
2. Demonstrated expertise in fish reproduction (25%).
3. Experience in gametes quality analysis and cryopreservation techniques (25%)
4. English level (25%)

Fellowship conditions:

The fellowship will have a duration of 3 months, expected to start from February 2024, eventually renewed for additional periods up to the end of the research project or the maximum of 4 years. The fellowship must be carried out full-time (exclusive regime), according to the FCT Fellowship Rules (RBI) and the CCMAR fellowship rules (see here), which are based on the Portuguese law 40/2004, of 18 of August (Scientific Research Fellowship holder statutes) amended by the Decree-Law 123/2019 of 28 of August. A maintenance allowance of €1,199.64 will be paid monthly, through bank transfer, and will be updated as stipulated by the Foundation for Science and Technology (see here https://bit.ly/2ZcxUGJ).

Closing Date: December 13, 2023 at 23:59 (Lisbon time, Portugal)

Learn more about this opportunity and how to apply.