CoLAB BIOREF can be a host institution for Ph.D. holders under the Scientific Employment Stimulus for new doctorates (in the terms of Decree-Law no. 57/2016 of 29 August – under which a new contract regime for doctorates was adopted to stimulate scientific and technological employment in all scientific areas). This welcoming occurs within the 4th edition of the Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus now open by FCT (click here for further information - in Portuguese).

Under the terms of FCT's Scientific Employment Regulation, as a collaborative laboratory, CoLAB BIOREF is eligible as a host institution with the direct support for hiring Ph.D. researchers conceded through a programme contract signed between FCT and CoLAB BIOREF, with the candidate responsible for submitting a support declaration issued by CoLAB BIOREF.

·        The call is open: from 29 January 2021 until 26 February 2021 at 5 p.m (Lisbon time, GMT);

·        Period for the association of the host institution of each application: from 01 March until 19 March 2021 at 5 p.m (Lisbon time, GMT).

Considering the domain areas of CoLAB BIOREF, the collaborative laboratory will support candidates whose work plan proposals focus on the following thematic areas:

Bioenergy domain

i) Metabolic engineering of yeasts for producing lipids derived from sugars;

ii) Metabolic engineering of syngas-fermenting (CO and/or CO₂) bacteria into acetate and/or alcohols;

iii) Metabolic engineering of yeasts for pentose hexose fermentation;

iv) In silico simulation for the optimization of metabolic pathways in microorganisms;

v) Catalytic conversion of bio-oils in aliphatic hydrocarbons for aviation biofuels;

vi) HTL technology development applied to residual biomass, including MSW.

Renewable gases domain

i)  Scale-up of adsorption-reaction processes for CO₂ conversion in e-methane;

ii)  Development and optimization of novel laboratory-scale methanation reactors;

iii)  Studies on bio-syngas fuel cells;

iv)  Integration of gasification reactors with chemical and biological conversion processes for producing advanced biofuels;

v) Environmental, socio-economical and life-cycle assessment of biorefineries for bioenergy.

Bioeconomy domain

i)  Catalytic conversion of aquatic biomass (algae) into added-value products;  

ii)  Separation and extraction of high added-value compounds derived from macro and microalgae;

iii)  Production scale-up of bioactive compounds derived from forestry biomass;

iv) Environmental, socio-economical and life-cycle assessment of biorefineries for bioproducts.