IQS, a founding member of Universitat Ramon Llull, is made up of two university faculties: IQS School of Engineering and IQS School of Management; IQS Executive Education which offers specialized training to professionals and companies; the IQS Tech Transfer division which carries out research, innovation and technology transfer for industry and companies; and by IQS Tech Factory which promotes entrepreneurship and supports the creation of new scientific-technological companies.

With more than 100 years of teaching experience, IQS is a benchmark university center, committed to responding to the continuous challenges that the social, economic, technological and industrial context poses.

Our vocation and commitment is the comprehensive training of people with attitudes, knowledge and skills that drive them towards their personal and professional development.

We promote scientific and technological knowledge, business transformation and the progress of society.

At IQS we are looking for professionals committed to these values.

The PhD student will work on the project “Developing a clinically implantable diagnosis method of tumors based on ICP-MS methodologies for the analysis of tumor-derived extracellular vesicles in blood ”.

Extracellular vesicles are nanosized vesicles released by any type of cells of our organism. They are loaded and composed of typical molecules, characteristic of the cells they come from. Thus, they can be used as biomarkers of disease, advantageous among other biomarkers based on macromolecules in terms of prolonged stability, and presence in the blood. Specifically in the field of oncology, they could become the game changer technology for the easy detection of metastatic tumors, which are commonly underdetected. However, extracellular vesicles analytical techniques are not accurate, neither extrapolable to a clinical environment. In this context, the development of clinically translatable techniques that allow a fine characterization of pathological extracellular vesicles is of utmost importance.

Taking into account that they are loaded with different metals, such as iron and that in a few previous publications, it was described a differential content of metal ions in pathological vesicles as compared to the healthy ones, inductively coupled plasma - mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) could be an appropriate technique, although it has not yet been developed.

Therefore, the current project aims to the development of ICP-MS for its further use in a clinical diagnosis of tumors by liquid biopsies analysis.

The successful candidate will be based at IQS-School of Engineering, an internationally renowned research Institution in the field of Chemistry and Biosciences. The project is transdisciplinary, including knowledge on nanomedicine, and in analytical chemistry and it will be developed between the bioengineering and analytical chemistry departments.

Required:

• Candidates should hold a good undergraduate degree, and a Master in a relevant engineering/science subject, such as Chemistry, Nanotechnology, Bioengineering, Biotechnology, Biomedicine or related disciplines

• Good knowledge of the current state of the art related to extracellular vesicles or ICP-MS is mandatory.

• Good level of English – Applicants whose first language is not English will be required to demonstrate proficiency in the English language (B2 Common European Framework of Reference).

Desired:

Previous laboratory or field experience. In addition, knowledge of chromatographic, spectroscopid and nanotechnology techniques would be desirable, but is not essential.

Conditions:

• Full-time (38,5 h/week)

• Incorporation as soon as possible

• Length of the contract 3 years

How to apply: Applicants should submit a full Curriculum Vitae and a cover letter.