FCT opens Call of Studentships for Maria de Sousa PhD Research

On the day that marks one year since the death of the researcher Maria de Sousa, April 14, the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), in collaboration with the Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation (AICIB), announces the opening of a Call for the attribution of Studentships for doctoral research named Maria de Sousa. The Call aims to award 50 Studentships research in the area of epidemiology and virology and applications will be open from June 1 to 30, 2021.

The goal of Call is to encourage the acquisition of new knowledge that will enable the creation of competencies for responses to epidemiological and virological phenomena, including pandemics, and that will translate into efficient prevention measures, better health care, and effective support to citizens. 

Applications will be considered in any scientific area, with projects that contribute to increasing knowledge in the following subjects:

•  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 diagnosing the disease;
• characterization of the mechanisms of viral infection;
• characterization of host cellular and serological immune 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;
• repercussions of viral infection on maternal and newborn health;
• psychological impact and behavioral changes associated with the pandemic.

More information at Call.

Maria de Sousa (1939-2020)
Photograph by Luísa Ferreira, in "Women in Science" - 1st edition

The title Maria de Sousa given to this Call of Studentships of Research for PhD is a tribute to the researcher, Professor emeritus of the University of Porto and researcher emeritus of the i3S Institute, and also full professor retired from the Institute of Biomedical Sciences Abel Salazar, internationally renowned for her studies in the immunological area and especially on the thymus-dependent area, or T-area. On the occasion of her death, the FCT published a vote of regret with Maria de Sousa's biography, available here.

Love letter in a viral pandemic

Bagpipes played in Scotland
Tenors sing from balconies in Italy
The dead will not hear them
And the living want to mourn their dead in silence
Who do you want to animate?
The children?
But children are also dying
In my circumstance
I can die
Wondering if I will see you again
But before I die
I want you to know
How much I like you
How much I care about you
How much I remember the moments shared and
dear ones
Moments then
Eternities now
Poetry
Laughter
The sunset
at sea
The pity that the seagull took to our table
Breakfast
Gold cufflinks
The magnolia
The hospital
Pajama socks and other cautionary things
All moments then
Eternities now
Because I can die and you will have to live
In your life the hope of my life

Maria de Sousa