Target population
The BIOTECnico program aims to attract top national and international highly motivated and talented students. The ideal target student has a solid background (2nd cycle level) in Molecular Biosciences, Bio/engineering or related areas, the motivation to address cutting-edge scientific and technological problems in those fields, and high availability to accept the mobility requirements of the program. The selection committee may consider accepting candidates with other backgrounds based on the academic, scientific or professional CV of the candidate.
Call Announcement
The call announcement can be found “here“.
Admission Criteria
The BIOTECnico PhD program is open to individuals (Portuguese or foreign citizens who have permanent residence in Portugal) holding, at the time of application, an MSc diploma (or equivalent, accepted by IST-ULisboa) in Life Sciences, Bio/Engineering or related areas (upon decision of the Scientific Committee of the program). A strong academic background in biosciences or engineering and technology will be required. The selection of PhD candidates has to comply with the IST-ULisboa doctorate regulations, in particular concerning pre-required skills and competences. A requirement will be that the degree of the candidate allows him/her to follow the BIOTECnico program, also depending on the field/topic of choice for dissertation. For academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, the presentation of the recognition of the degree register academic and final classification conversion to the Portuguese scale (process regulated by Decree-Law n.º 341/2007 of 12th of October), or, as an alternative, obtaining equivalence/recognition of degrees (process regulated by Decree-Law n.º 283/83 of 21st of June) is mandatory. For more information the candidates should consult the website www.ulisboa.pt/en/info/foreign-qualifications-0.
As a general rule, minimum admission grades of 14/20 (for the undergraduate degree) and of 16/20 for the MSc degree are required, although exceptional students with proven research experience (e.g., publications) but lower grades may be successful during the selection procedure.
Applicants need to be fluent in written and spoken English and, unless native speakers, should demonstrate their proficiency in English.
For foreign candidates, a document demonstrating permanent and habitual residence in Portugal is required.
Candidates need to submit an application which includes:
- Application form with personal data;
- Motivation letter describing the applicant’s motivation to apply;
- References from at least two supervisors or professors well acquainted with the student, to be sent directly to the program selection committee;
- Curriculum Vitae, including information on education & degrees obtained (with marks), research experience and, if applicable, list of publications formatted according to the program template available HERE, in which the student may choose one of two profiles (Bioengineering or Biosciences);
- Copy of BSc and MSc degree diploma (or equivalent). Also include transcripts of academic records. An official translation is required if the documents are not in Portuguese, English, French, German, Italian or Spanish.
- Copy of a valid ID document with photo (passport or other);
- Proof of English language proficiency, which is most commonly established through an internationally recognized test (IELTS or TOEFL);
- For foreign candidates, a document demonstrating permanent and habitual residence in Portugal.
An ideal application should demonstrate that the applicant is highly motivated, enjoys working in an international stimulating research environment and has potential to develop into an independent researcher through this four-year PhD training program.
After the reception of the applications which will be electronically sent to a dedicated email address, a pre-assessment will be made by the IST PhD academic office to check whether each application conforms to the eligibility taking into account the admission criteria. The Directive Board of the doctoral program assisted by the Scientific Board will then evaluate the fulfillment of these admission criteria and produce a list of admitted candidates.
According to the FCT regulations, individuals who may not carry out the plan of work under the regime of exclusive dedication, namely civil service workers, regardless of the legal relationship of public employment, cannot apply to the program, except when they present proof of being granted the status of leave without pay or equivalence to fellow without stipend.