Open Positions
We welcome applications for prospective Postdoctoral fellows, PhD students, Master students, Undergraduate students and Visiting Scholars.
If you want to become a member of our laboratory, please contact directly Prof. Cecília Roque (cecilia.roque(at)fct.unl.pt) enclosing a CV highlighting your education background, interests, achievements (publications, awards), names of at least 3 references and a short description of the research you would like to conduct at our laboratory.
For prospective Undergraduate, Master and PhD students: Please check the courses offered at the FCT-UNL website. You can also consult the following website http://www.fct.pt/emfoco/concursos2012/ for deadlines and conditions to apply for PhD and postdoctoral fellowships.
At the Biomolecular Engineering Lab there are members from different nationalities, therefore foreign applicants do not have to fear that inability to speak in Portuguese is an impediment.
RESEARCH PROPOSALS
1. "CHImeriX - Designing new enzymes through computational synthetic biology"
In this project, we envisage the “de novo” design of a specific enzyme to substitute an important chemical reaction used in pharmaceutical industries. The integration of extensive structural and molecular dynamics (MD) analysis on the biocatalyst design, as a predictive indicator of enzyme activity and selectivity that results into a restricted library-based screening, constitutes the innovation of this project. The candidate will be trained in computational biochemistry and bio-informatics tools. The candidate will also have close contact with protein engineering and synthetic biology.
2. "MAGic Bullets: Design of magnetic nanomaterials decorated with affinity receptors for nanomedicine"
This project will focus on the development of affinity receptors to coat magnetic nanoparticles turning
them specific for nanomedicine applications. In particular, we are interested in targeting the
mammalian cell surface and the surface of viruses. Our group has wide expertise in the development
of affinity receptors and more recently on the preparation of ultra-small magnetic nanoparticles
suitable for medical applications.
3. "Smart Responsive Structures for the purification of Biopharmaceuticals"
This project will use clean processes for the preparation of low cost monoliths with stimuli-responsive
properties for the capture and gentle recovery of biopharmaceuticals, including fusion proteins,
antibodies and virus-like particles (VLPs). The team has recently developed smart-responsive monoliths
incorporating nanomaterials (e.g. responsive to magnetic field) for IgG purification and will extend this
know-how to other antibody-molecules, fusion proteins and viruses. On the other hand, we have also
developed new affinity ligands, extremely robust and cheap, for the specific targeting of antibodies and fusion proteins.
4. "Microbial E-Nose - An electronic nose for microbial detection"
Electronic noses are sensors able to detect volatile compounds with great sensitivity and to reproduce
the human senses. It is possible to take advantage of the distinctive properties of the gas molecules
emitted by biological cultures to detect different microbial species by smell. These molecules are produced by the metabolisms of the biological cultures, and are species-specific.