Details
Deadline
30 July 2024Research Field
Natural sciencesFunding Type
Funding
Mobility Incoming
Mobility Outgoing
Travel Grants
AllCareer Stage
First Stage Researcher (R1) (Up to the point of PhD)
Recognised Researcher (R2) (PhD holders or equivalent who are not yet fully independent)European Research Programme
HE / MSCA
About
The current Expression of Interest is intended for searching post-doctoral candidates with interest in applying for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie GLOBAL Postdoctoral Fellowship 2024 (HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-GF) at AO Research Institute Davos (ARI, Switzerland) as Host Institution for the outgoing phase (12-24 months), followed by a mandatory 12-month return phase to a host institution based in an EU Member state / Associated Country.
NOTE: Being Switzerland currently classified as “not associated third country”, it is NOT possible to apply for MSCA European Postdoctoral Fellowships with a Swiss host. It is only possible to apply for GLOBAL Fellowship with the Swiss host in the outgoing phase.
Call deadline is 11 September 2024.
Potential candidates must comply with the following eligibility criteria of the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship call
Horizon Europe MSCA – How to apply – European Commission (europa.eu)
- To be National or long-term resident (5 consecutive years spent in an EU Member state / Associated Country),
- To be in possession of the PhD at the call deadline,
- To have a maximum of 8 years of research experience at the call deadline (few exceptions are possible),
- To comply with the mobility rule: do not have resided or carried out the main activity (work or studies) in the country of the Host Institute during the outgoing phase (Switzerland) for more than 12 months in the 3 years before the call deadline.
- In case of resubmission, to have not received in the previous application a lower score than 70%.
Description of the host organization and research group
The AO Foundation is a medically guided, not-for-profit organization, a global network of surgeons, and the premier education, innovation, and research organization for the surgical treatment of trauma and musculoskeletal disorders.
AO Research Institute Davos (ARI) is the research arm of AO Foundation; its mission is promoting excellence in patient care and outcomes in trauma and musculoskeletal disorders. ARI’s scientific activities are multidisciplinary and with a very strong approach to basic and translational research, focused on clinical applications and realized through a cooperation network with many industrial partners. ARI has a vast experience in managing and supervising research projects with a portfolio of international (H2020, Horizon Europe) and national (SNSF) competitive projects. In addition, ARI is at the forefront of high-quality international conferences, such as EORS 2010, TERMIS 2017, ESB 2023, and the next EORS 2025. ARI’s commitment in fulfilling the highest standards in research is demonstrated by international standard accreditations. The entire ARI is certified according to ISO 9001:2015. The accreditation includes ARI’s preclinical facility, which can perform GLP-like studies. Additionally, the Biomechanical Services and Concept Development are certified as medical device manufacturer according to ISO 13485:2016. Also, ARI’s preclinical facility fulfils the highest standard of care for animals (AAALAC accreditation).
ARI comprises of 3 Research Programmes:
- Regenerative Orthopaedics (RO) is a multidisciplinary team focusing on a holistic approach to tissue engineering for repair and regeneration of the musculoskeletal system. RO Program has established research activities in the field of bone, cartilage, and intervertebral disc, with a major focus on regenerative medicine, 3D printing, cell and gene therapy and fracture-related infections.
The RO comprises of 5 focus areas:
- Disc & Cartilage Biology area has tissue-specific bioreactors, namely for intervertebral disc and articular joints, that are instrumental for in vitro testing and for investigating the effect of mechano-regulation on cell behaviour.
- Bone Biology area aims to study the cellular mechanisms involved in the different phases of bone healing and their interplay for a better understanding and further monitoring of the process.
- Biomedical Materials area develops responsive materials for orthopaedic regeneration with a strong expertise on biopolymers and nanocomposites. Additive manufacturing technologies are used for both basic understanding of biomaterials and cells interaction, and for translational research in the orthopaedic field.
- Progenitor Biology & Mechanoregulation area investigates the role of multiple stimuli, such as mechanical stimulation, growth factors and gene therapy in the progression of stem cell differentiation.
- Infection Biology area performs research into clinically relevant preclinical models of fracture related infection including both in vitro and in vivo models, which are used to investigate novel anti-infective interventions such as implant coatings, novel antimicrobials and provide improved understanding of host-pathogen interactions.
- Sound Guided Tissue Regeneration activities are articulated around the translation of innovative biofabrication technologies for the repair of musculoskeletal disorders and development of cutting-edge 3D in vitro models for drug screening and personalized medicine. The team use sound wave-based approach and other external fields (e.g. light, magnetic, electric) for contactless cell assembly and stimulation. ARI supported the startup Mimix Biotherapeutics which launched the first acoustic bioprinter in 2021.
- Biomedical Development (BD) offers extensive know-how, expertise, and experience in the fields of biomechanical testing and computational analyses to advance patient care.
- Preclinical Service (PCF) offers strong expertise and applies animal models to answer questions from academic researchers, clinicians and industrial partners to improve fracture fixation devices, investigate new (bio)-materials and technologies as well as and surgical procedures. Detailed analysis, both from in vitro and in vivo studies is also provided by the Tissue Morphology facility, which is the institutes’ core facility for histology and microscopy.