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Results from Call from Studentships Maria de Sousa 2022

Maria de Sousa

FCT has announced the provisional results of the Call de Studentships de Investigação para Doutoramento Maria de Sousa 2022, opened in collaboration with the Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation (AICIB). 10 Studentships will be funded, corresponding to an investment of about 773 thousand euros.

This Call aimed to fund Studentships doctoral research oriented to obtaining new knowledge to create skills for responses to virological phenomena, including pandemics, and that translate into efficient prevention measures, better health care and effective support to citizens.

For this edition of Call 42 applications were submitted, of which 37 met the requirements for evaluation. The 10 Studentships to be awarded correspond to a success rate of 27% of the applications evaluated. The provisional results of the evaluation show that 60% of the selected applicants are women, 20% of the applicants are of foreign nationality and 30% of the work plans are carried out in articulation with foreign researchers and institutions.

The Studentships to be awarded contributes to the following objectives defined in the Call notice:

1. epidemiology and risk factors for virus infection and severe illness;
2. Human-animal interaction, mechanisms of resistance and interspecies transmission of viruses, and risk of pandemics;
3. Strategies for prevention and preparedness for new epidemics of virological origin, including vaccines;
4. Innovative approaches, including new methods and new technologies, for the diagnosis of virological diseases;
5. Characterization of viral infection mechanisms;
6. Characterization of the host response, cellular immunological and serological, to virus infection, impact of age and comorbidities;
7. Development of new therapies and new therapeutic approaches, including life support and personal protective equipment to combat virological diseases;
9. Psychological impact and behavioral changes associated with epidemics or pandemics of virological origin.

The framing of the work plans of the funded applications in the Call mirrored objectives shows a higher incidence in objective 3, with a total of 4 Studentships (22%), followed by objectives 5 and 7, with a total of 3 Studentships each (17%).

The applications were evaluated by a scientific panel using a peer review system, with three evaluation criteria: merit of the candidate, merit of the work plan, and merit of the hosting conditions. In this evaluation panel participated 11 experts from the scientific community, of which 6 (55%) are women.

The title Maria de Sousa given to this Call of Studentships research for doctoral studies, which had its first edition in 2021, is a tribute to the researcher, Professor emeritus of the University of Porto and researcher emeritus of the i3S Institute, and also full professor jubilate of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, internationally renowned for their studies in immunology and especially on the thymus-dependent area, or T-area.