i3S – Institute for Research and Innovation in Health (hereinafter i3S) is opening a call to award a grant for the development of R&D activities by Master's or Integrated Master's, within the project “Innovative vaccine against Vibrio harveyi based on bioengineered OMVs”, ref. - 2024.14135.PEX, financed by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.

Host Institution: i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, Porto, Portugal.

Scientific Area: Microbiology, Immunology, Vaccinology, Molecular Biotechnology, Infectious Diseases.

Project Title: “Innovative vaccine against Vibrio harveyi based on bioengineered OMVs”.

Workplan: 

With the global demand for seafood rising, aquaculture has become vital for ensuring a sustainable supply of high-quality fish products. However, the intensification of production systems has increased the risk of infectious disease outbreaks, a challenge further exacerbated by climate change. The spread of bacterial, viral, and parasitic diseases not only threatens aquaculture productivity but also raises environmental and public health concerns, including antibiotic resistance and zoonotic infections. As current vaccines for key fish species remain largely ineffective, there is an urgent need to develop innovative and sustainable disease prevention strategies, with vaccination emerging as a promising alternative to antibiotic use. Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) produced by Gram-negative bacteria have gained attention in vaccinology as they incorporate virulence factors and present antigens in their native form, inducing strong immune responses without the need for adjuvants, which are often harmful. Additionally, the antigenic content of OMVs can be modified by removing immunosuppressive molecules and enriching them with protective autologous and/or heterologous antigens. Although these modifications could potentially enhance the baseline protective efficacy and broaden the spectrum of protection against various fish pathogens, their potential in OMV-based vaccines for fish has been underexplored. This project aims to help reduce this gap. Previously, we demonstrated that Photobacterium damselae subsp. piscicida (Phdp) fish pathogen secretes large amounts of OMVs. Optimized OMVs from a genetically modified wild-type strain conferred protective immunity against Phdp infection without the need for  adjuvants. These promising results have shown the potential of Phdp OMVs as a vaccine. In this project, we will test in vivo, in the seabass model, the protection and immune response induced by genetically optimized OMVs loaded with V. harveyi antigens, administered via intraperitoneal injection or orally, against V. harveyi, a pathogen for which there is currently no commercial vaccine available. This research is crucial due to the substantial impact of V. harveyi on aquaculture production. Validating this platform has the potential to revolutionize fish vaccine biotechnology, opening the door to the development of customized multivalent vaccines that incorporate antigens from different pathogens. If oral administration of OMVs proves effective, a future advantage will be the possibility of incorporating OMVs into feed pellets, providing a non-invasive and significantly more practical alternative to injectable vaccines.

Admission Requirements:

Mandatory:

• Bachelor’s degree in Biology, Biochemistry, or a related field, with a final grade of 14/20 or higher;
• Candidates must be enrolled in a Master's degree, preferably in Biochemistry, Applications in Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology, Cell and Molecular Biology or related fields, at a higher education institution; Or:
• An honor statement of capacity to enroll in the aforementioned study cycle until the grant is contracted;
• Ability to work effectively both independently and as part of a team;
• Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Preferential:

• Theoretical background in Microbiology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Bioinformatics;
• Previous research experience in Microbiology, Molecular Biology or Bioinformatics
• Fluency in English (spoken and written).

Legislation and other applicable regulations: Research Fellowship Holder Statute enacted by Law no. 40/2004 of August 18th, as amended; FCT Research Grants Regulation, approved by way of Regulation nr. 950/2019, published in the II Series of DR of December 16th, 2019; i3S Research Grants Regulation.

Place: The research activities will be hosted at i3S, under the scientific coordination of Doctor Inês Loureiro, of the Fish Immunology and Vaccinology group.

Length time: The duration of the fellowship is 3 months, eventually renewable, and the expected starting date is September 1st, 2026, upon availability of the financed funds.

Monthly maintenance stipend: €1.090,98, according to the values table of FCT, at Portugal (https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM-202…). The payments will be made by bank transference. 

Research grants may also include other components, as the voluntary social insurance, under the terms of the Research Fellowship Holder Statute, article 10. 

Evaluation Criteria: 

a) Curricular assessment, considering previous experience in the areas set out under the Admission Requirements (50%), 

b) Motivation Letter in English indicating interest and motivation for the area in which the application fits (25%); 

c) The evaluation panel will invite the most highly ranked candidates (up to 3) for an interview. The interview will weight 25%.

Candidates will be ordered based on the above criteria, on a 1 to 100 scale.

Evaluation Pannel: President – Doctor Inês Loureiro; Other members: Doctor Ana do Vale and Doctor Nuno Miguel dos Santos. Substitute Member – Doctor Inês Lua Freitas.

Information and Publicity of Funding Granted: The results of the evaluation will be notified by email to all candidates. After notification, candidates have 10 working days to comment and, within that period, a complaint may be submitted by email to rh.i3S@i3s.up.pt.

Applications: The call will be open between May 13th to May 26th, 2026. 

The applications must be submitted electronically at:

https://dozer.i3s.up.pt/applicationmanagement/#/addapplications/d898156cdda3e16a732d2cf88fc464d5

The required documents for the application are: Certificate of Qualifications, Curriculum Vitae, letter of motivation, proof of enrollment in a study cycle (proof of enrollment or a honor statement of capacity to enroll in the aforementioned study cycle until the grant is contracted), and other documents, considered as relevant by the candidate.

Documents to be provided at the time of contracting: in addition to those mentioned in the previous point, it is necessary to present proof of enrollment in study cycle.

Full announcement at: https://dozer.i3s.up.pt/fileupload/downloadfile/viewpdfnewtab/5ec74724c…