European and national projects support an extraordinary international call for up to 20 doctoral fellowships

On 27 November, 2020, the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB Barcelona) is opening an extraordinary international call offering up to 20 x 4-year fellowships for predoctoral researchers. Specialised in investigation into cancer and metastasis, aging, metabolism and the mechanisms of disease, IRB Barcelona is a multidisciplinary research centre that pursues innovative solutions to unmet medical needs.

Candidates for the fellowships on offer should hold degrees in Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry or other scientific disciplines. Applicants will be selected on the basis of their academic record, previous laboratory experience, recommendation letters and motivation.

The fellowship call will be open for 2 months (ending on 29 January 2021) and successful candidates are expected to join the laboratories in August/September 2021.

IRB_Dream, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND Programme

Five of the doctoral places offered are part of the European project called IRB_Dream, in the framework of the Marie Sklodowska-Curie COFUND Programme. Aimed at international predoctoral researchers who have not spent more than 12 months in Spain in the last 3 years, these fellowships promote the mobility of young scientists.

COFUND (co-financing of regional, national and international programmes)  provides organisations with financial support to foster researcher training and career development plans.

EVOMET, training metastasis researchers

Within the framework of the Evomet project, awarded in the European Commission's Innovative Training Networks of the Marie Sksodowska-Curie Actions call, IRB Barcelona is offering 2 places to train future metastasis researchers. The objective is to foster the application of the knowledge generated in fundamental research to the search for therapeutic solutions. These 2 places are assigned to the Growth Control and Cancer Metastasis laboratory, led by Roger Gomis, who coordinates the project.

Supported by €4 M over four years, the Evomet consortium consists of 13 international institutions, among them several of the best academic, clinical and industrial entities working in cancer and metastasis research in Europe.

ENABLECARES, a 360º training programme

Coordinated by IRB Barcelona, the European ENABLECARES project will provide training in Open Science, entrepreneurship and innovation management to young scientists joining IRB Barcelona through this call and others. This training initiative is based on empowering these researchers and giving them the tools necessary to excel in their professional careers.

The ENABLECARES consortium consists of four European scientific institutions:  the Radboud Institute for Molecular Life Sciences (RIMLS); the University of Copenhagen - Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (CPR); the European School of Molecular Medicine (SEMM); and IRB Barcelona. All four have been working together to train young scientists since 2016, when the ENABLE project was launched.

The ENABLECARES project will last 2 years, but it will optimise the training of young researchers at IRB Barcelona well beyond as it follows a "training trainers" system. This approach allows a well-orchestrated transfer of knowledge from experienced staff to reference trainers, thereby retaining expertise at the Institute and benefiting future generations.

Severo Ochoa, a commitment to excellence

Four of the doctoral places offered are under the Centre of Excellence "Severo Ochoa" Award held by IRB Barcelona. Given by the Spanish State Research Agency,  this accreditation seeks to finance and recognise public research centres and units working in any scientific field that demonstrate impact and scientific leadership at the international level and actively collaborate with their social and business environment.

This year IRB Barcelona has renewed its accreditation for the third consecutive time, thanks to its ambitious scientific and institutional project based on strengthening research fields devoted to immuno-oncology, chemical  biology, and senescence, among others,  with a special focus on cancer and metastasis.

FPI fellowships funded by the National Research Plan

Up to 8 PhD places will be covered by the FPI (Research Staff Training) fellowships awarded by the Ministry of Science and Innovations to successful grant applications made to the National Research Plan by PIs. The FPI programme offers funding to support the scientific training of university graduates who wish to carry out a doctoral thesis in any field of knowledge.

Research into the last common ancestor of eukaryotes funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

A final doctoral place will be funded by the research project "Relative Timing and Modularity in The Path to the Last Eukaryotic Common Ancestor", which the American Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation has awarded to Toni Gabaldón, ICREA researcher at IRB Barcelona and the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and head of the Comparative Genomics laboratory.

The projects participating in this call are funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme under Marie Skodowska-Curie grant agreements No: 955951, 945352 and 101006361.