What is required for doing a PhD at iMM?

by Domingos Henrique (iMM Training Hub – Director of Studies)

That’s a question that several students are now asking, after learning that a new Call for PhD students has been launched by our PhD program, LisbonBioMed.

I usually answer that the most important “requirement” is to have an immense curiosity about the world and how it works. And I mean not only the world of biology and the immensity of living beings that exist in this planet, but everything around us that makes our world such an exciting place to live in. If you are tickled by curiosity, you certainly enjoy asking questions about the world, and this is what we all do at iMM: chasing questions. You’ll be therefore very welcome at our LisbonBioMed PhD program!

The LisbonBioMed program was launched in 2014, funded initially by FCT, and aims to provide all PhD students at iMM with the best conditions for their development as a scientist. We want to help students in chasing their own questions, in learning how to design experiments to address these questions, in communicating with other scientists to discuss their work, in finding the best opportunities to develop their career and, finally, in preparing their publications and PhD dissertations.

Since 2014, LisbonBioMed has supported more than 150 students, of which more than 40 have already concluded their work and obtained a PhD. Currently, LisbonBioMed includes around 130 PhD students developing their work across iMM’s 34 research labs.

Starting a PhD at LisbonBioMed involves active participation at our 8-week course “Towards a Creative and Critical Mind”, during which students are integrated in the iMM community and exposed to the various research themes and questions pursued at different iMM research labs. During these 8 weeks, students develop several activities, including participation at research seminars and discussion with speakers, meeting “inspiring figures” of science, attending “bridging seminars” with our medical faculty to discuss clinical questions, and debating “hot topics” of science in an lively “Friday debate”. The aim is to sharpen students’ critical thinking, and to promote an healthy scientific culture based on open and informed discussion throughout their PhD.

These are the seeds to an intense period of ~4 years, during which students will not only design and perform experiments, but also continue to enrich their experience with various activities, like organizing their annual PhD meeting, attending courses to develop complementary skills, and visiting labs abroad for collaborative experiments. Students are actually encouraged to organize their training according to their evolving needs, in conjunction with supervisors and tutors. And, every year, a committee of PhD students launches a survey to all PhD students to identify common training needs, after which they organize various targeted courses with renowned specialists to address these needs. Life of a PhD student at iMM is thus very active, challenging and exciting.

We want our PhD students to be fearless and ambitious, capable of choosing and chasing the most stimulating scientific questions, and motivated to find their path through the misty days that always emerge during their PhD. And we’ll do our best to support them during this adventure.

We will recruit 6 new students to start in 2022 and will choose candidates that demonstrate scientific curiosity, determination to tackle intellectual challenges, motivation to acquire new skills and to develop innovative ways towards understanding human health and disease.

And what do we offer?

• A scholarship in biomedical sciences (full tuition and stipend for 4 years), regardless nationality.
• Tailor-made curricular offer and a personalized career development plan.
• The opportunity to choose the PhD research project and supervisor at iMM.
• Possibility to spend between 3 and 12 months outside Portugal in a top-level research institution to develop the research project.

Are you up to the challenge? Do you know other curiosity-driven students that would like this challenge? Tell them.

We shall be very grateful if you can spread this opportunity to do a PhD at iMM through your online and outline circles.

We look forward to hearing from all curiosity-driven students that would like to join iMM and enjoy working in a stimulating environment and living in a lovely city (see for instance beportugal.com/living-in-lisbon).