FCT signs agreement with EMBL for technological internships

The FCT and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory ( EMBL ) have signed an Agreement that aims to promote expressions of interest for Studentships of technological internships for young Portuguese graduates from EMBL. The selected candidates will acquire on-the-job training in the areas of expertise of that international scientific organization of which the FCT is a member.

Eligible candidates must have an undergraduate degree or higher and the areas of training to be studied will be those that correspond to the domains of the EMBL programs, namely: cellular and molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, biophysics, bioinformatics, genomics, optical and electron microscopy, synchrotron radiation technology and technological workshops.

EMBL was created with the aim of promoting molecular biology throughout Europe and has materialized into a research center of excellence for young researchers in molecular biology. It is an intergovernmental organization, created in 1974, which currently represents 23 member states, two associates and three candidates. It consists of six laboratories, located in Heidelberg (Germany), Barcelona (Spain), Grenoble (France), Hamburg (Germany), Hinxton (United Kingdom) and Rome (Italy).

This Agreement reinforces the FCT's objective of supporting and monitoring the participation of the scientific and technological community in international organizations of which Portugal is a member. The benefits that arise for the scientific community include access for national teams to international scientific infrastructures, increased industry competitiveness, access to training and capacity building programs and Calls for scientific or managerial positions in different organizations.

The internships at EMBL will enrich the FCT Technological Internships Programme , which already includes Agreements with CERN , ESA and ESO , where every year young Portuguese graduates have the opportunity to acquire training for up to 2 years. This year the FCT also held the first Call to Studentships Research Internships at NASA . The application process for these internships is expected to begin later this year.