FCT opens Call of Studentships research for PhD "DOCTORATES 4 COVID-19

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), in collaboration with the Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation (AICIB), opens tomorrow (April 8) the applications to Call "DOCTORATES 4 COVID-19", for the allocation of 50 Studentships doctoral research grants. This Call is opened in the context of the new SARS coronavirus CoV2 and the Covid-19 disease and is oriented to obtain new knowledge to build skills for responses to this and future pandemics and that translate into efficient prevention measures, better health care and effective support to citizens.

FCT thus encourages the development of R&D projects and activities that contribute to increasing the capabilities of Portuguese science in the areas of virology and epidemiology. Applications will be considered in any scientific area with projects that contribute to increasing knowledge in the following topics:

- epidemiology and risk factors for virus infection and severe disease;
- human-animal interaction, mechanisms of resistance and interspecies transmission of the virus, and the risk of pandemics;
- strategies for prevention and preparedness for new epidemics, including vaccines;
- innovative approaches, including new methods and new technologies, for diagnosis of the disease;
- characterization of the mechanisms of viral infection;
- characterization of the host immune cellular and serological response to virus infection, impact of age and comorbidities;
- development of new therapies and new therapeutic approaches, including life-support and personal protective equipment to combat the disease;
- impact of viral infection on maternal and newborn health;
- psychological impact and behavioral changes associated with the pandemic.

Applications to Call will run from April 8 to May 14, 2020 (5pm Lisbon time), and must be submitted on the MyFCT portal.

The Call is intended for all candidates who meet the conditions for enrollment, or who are enrolled, in a study cycle for obtaining the academic degree of doctor. The duration of Studentships is annual and renewable up to a maximum of 48 months. Research activities can be carried out in any environment that promotes scientific activities, namely higher education institutions, R&D units, Associate Laboratories, Collaborative Laboratories, Technological Interface Centers, State Laboratories and other public research institutions, hospitals and health care units, other Public Administration entities, private non-profit institutions or in companies recognized as being of scientific interest.

This Call is in addition to several measures and activities launched by FCT within the scope of the fight against Covid-19, namely: the Call "RESEARCH 4 COVID-19", the Call for R&D projects AI 4 COVID-19: Data Science and Artificial Intelligence in Public Administration, the "Science 4 COVID-19" portal, the increased capacity of the RCTS - Science, Technology and Society Network, which supports the internet connections of the education and research community, the reinforcement of the capacity of the services that ensure distance learning and teleworking in the academic and scientific community (Colibri, NAU, Educast, Videocast) and also the creation of a page on the FCT website that gathers all the information that is being issued, directly or indirectly related to this pandemic situation.

More information is available at Call "DOCTORATES 4 COVID-19".