7 Apr 2026
Hosting Information
- Offer Deadline: Wed, 9 Sep 2026 - 16:00
- EU Research Framework Programme: Horizon Europe - MSCA
- Country: Spain
- City: Granada
Organisation/Institute
- Organisation / Company: University of Granada
- Department: Microbiology
- Laboratory: Magnetic nanoparticles
- Is the Hosting related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No
Contact Information
- Organisation / Company Type: Higher Education Institution
- Website: http://www.ofpi.ugr.es, https://bionanomag.ugr.es/, https://microbiologia.ugr.es/
Description
MSCA-PF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Microbiology.
Professor CONCEPCION JIMENEZ LOPEZ, from the Department of Microbiology at the University of Granada, welcomes postdoctoral candidates interested in applying for a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA-PF) in 2026 at this University. Please note that applicants must comply with the Mobility Rule (for more information about the 2026 call, please consult this link).
Brief description of the institution:
The University of Granada (UGR), founded in 1531, is one of the largest and most important universities in Spain. With more than 57,000 undergraduate and postgraduate students and almost 7,000 members of staff, the UGR offers 97 undergraduate degrees, 157 master’s degrees (7 of which are double degrees) and 28 doctoral programmes via its 124 departments and nearly 50 centers. Accordingly, the UGR offers one of the most extensive and diverse ranges of higher education programmes in Spain.
The UGR has been awarded with the "Human Resources Excellence in Research (HRS4R)", which reflects the institution’s commitment to continuously improve its human resource policies in line with the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. The UGR is also internationally renowned for its excellence in diverse research fields and ranked among the top Spanish universities in a variety of ranking criteria, such as national R&D projects, fellowships awarded, publications, and international funding.
The UGR is one of the few Spanish Universities listed in the Shanghai Top 500 ranking - Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). The 2025 edition of the ARWU places the UGR in 301-400th position in the world and as the 3-8 highest ranked University in Spain, reaffirming its position as an institution at the forefront of national and international research. From the perspective of specialist areas in the ARWU rankings, the UGR is outstanding in Mathematics, Artificial Intelligence and Dentistry & Oral Sciences (ranked between 51th-75th position), Computer Science & Engineering, Education and Hospitality & Tourism Management (between 76-100th position), and in the areas of Food Science & Technology and Business Administration (between 101-150th position). A little lower in the ranking, the UGR also stands out in the areas of Earth Sciences, Law, Management, Nursing, Psychology and Statistics, in which the UGR is positioned in the 151-200th position.
Additionally, the UGR counts with 4 researchers at the top of the Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) list, most of them related to the Computer Science and Mathematics scientific areas. It is also well recognised for its presence in the top 200 Universities in Europe at 83th place.
Internationally, the University of Granada is firmly committed to its participation in the calls of the Framework Programme of the European Union. For the duration of the prevoius Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, the UGR obtained a total of 124 projectswith a total funding of more than €30 million. For the current Framework Programme, Horizon Europe, the UGR has obtained 136 projects, so far, with a total funding of more than €38 million.
Brief description of the Centre/Research Group:
The research topic carried out by the group led by Prof. Jimenez-Lopez is highly multidisciplinary and it is focused on bacterial biomineralization. In particular, we study the in vitro formation of magnetic nanoparticles mediated by magnetosome proteins from magnetotactic bacteria and their nanotechnological applications. In our laboratory we express those proteins as recombinant ones, we purify them and use them to produce biomimetic magnetic nanoparticles with specific properties. We characterize the nanoparticles and funcionalize them with different molecules with the goal of using them as smart nanotransporters for a targeted chemotherapy and immunotherapy, and for hyperthermia treatments. We also produce magnetoliposomes comprising these nanoparticles. We use as well these nanoparticles for ecological applications to detect specific molecules in the environment. These nanoparticles and their applications have been recently patented.
Our group has had a continuous financial support from the Spanish government. We have active collaborations with different universities in the USA and Italy as well as with many other researchers in Spain. We are now participating in a Horizon Staff Exchange program with the potential of secondments with different partners in many countries in academics and industry.
Project description:
The proposal is based on the use of new biomimetic magnetic nanoparticles (BMNPs), recently patented as a versatile platform with a huge market potential, as they can be used as drug nanocarriers, hyperthermia agents, biosensors and for enzyme recycling.
Learning from nature, we have developed novel magnetic nanoparticles that overcome the problems that most inorganically synthetized magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) have. BMNPs are larger (40 nm) than MNPs, which allow BMNPs to be superparamagnetic and to display a larger magnetic moment per particle than that displayed by MNPs, ensuring an enhanced magnetic response for guidance and/or concentration, while prevents BMNPs aggregation in the absence of a magnetic field. Other advantage of using BMNPs versus MNPs is related to the presence of MamC functional groups in BMNP surface, which allow functionalization by non-covalent bonding without the need of postproduction coatings. BMNPs are negatively charged at physiological pH, drug binding by electrostatic interaction, while drug release is triggered in acidic environments as BMNPs become uncharged. Furthermore, BMNPs are hyperthermia agents, able to locally raise the temperature to the hyperthermia therapeutic range, which, moreover, further increases drug release at the target. BMNPs are biocompatible, do not accumulate in organs when tested in mice model and can be magnetically concentrated at the target.
We have tested BMNP nanoassemblies in vitro and in vivo for the local treatment of breast cancer, colon cancer and bacterial infections like tuberculosis. Our project is to expand this technology for local treatments against cancer, microbial or parasite infections, for gene therapy and for biotechnological applications, such as biosensors for the detection of microbial pathogens. A family of patents are based on this technology and our group has a strong transfer results commitment.
Research Area:
- Chemistry (CHE)
- Life Sciences (LIFE)
For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor CONCEPCION JIMENEZ LOPEZ (cjl@ugr.es):
- CV
- Letter of recommendation (optional)
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