MSCA-PF: Joint application at the University of Granada. Department of Nursing.
Professor Rafael A. Caparros-Gonzalez, from the Department of Nursing 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 projects with 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:
Research group focusing on health care with a special interest on:
- Interventions and outcomes in health care.
- Objective: Generate interventions and treatments to increase the health outcomes of vulnerable populations. a) Develop a nutritional intervention for overweight hospitalized people; b) Generate an intervention to increase the medical and psychological health of pregnant women and their newborns; c) Implement a program for care and assistance in grief and at the end of life.
- Biopsychosocial and cultural factors in health organization and transfer of knowledge to clinical practice.
- Objective: Generation and development of data to improve the health of people at risk. a) Nutritional, medical and psychological evaluation of the health of hospitalized people through the use of Tanita, cortisol and interview; b) Analyze the level of the biomarker cortisol in hair and maternal psychopathology in the perinatal stage and its impact on neonatal development (infant development scale and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis); c) Production of new knowledge in helping people in situations of dependency and end of life.
- Health promotion and disease prevention.
- Objective: Protect health as a universal good. a) Implementation of predictive measures for overweight in the hospitalized population; b) Development of strategic measures to promote optimal fetal and neonatal development through the protection of maternal health; c) Development of an instrument to measure the population's knowledge of family and health care in the context of palliative care.
Project description:
Evidence shows that high levels of stress during pregnancy can have detrimental effects on the fetus. However, there is insufficient evidence to explain the processes involved (biological, psychological, social) or to identify which women have a high risk of having a neonate with a maternal stress-related health and disease condition. Exposure to a stressful situation boosts the production of cortisol in humans. Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone that is released through arousal of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis as a response to stress. Cortisol regulates a wide range of physiological processes (e.g. metabolism, immunity, inflammation, memory, blood pressure) and facilitates adjustment to environmental changes. Cortisol is a key hormone that helps the organism to cope with stressors by coordinating the brain and rest of the organism. Cortisol increases energy availability by enhancing glucose levels, muscle strength and the pain threshold, helping the individual to face a stressful stimulus. When cortisol levels remain high over a period of time, health problems may arise (e.g. high blood pressure, obesity). Consistently elevated cortisol levels during pregnancy can have detrimental consequences for the fetus.
Sources of maternal stress during pregnancy that can have a detrimental effect on the fetus include the death of a relative, terrorism, violent conflicts, natural disasters, intimate partner violence, nuclear accidents, life events stress, famines, work and financial stress, assisted reproductive techniques and exposure to a pandemic.
Research Area:
- Social Sciences and Humanities (SOC)
- Life Sciences (LIFE)
For a correct evaluation of your candidature, please send the documents below to Professor Rafael A. Caparros-Gonzalez (rcg477@ugr.es):
- CV
- Letter of recommendation (optional)
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