Hovione is an international company with over 60 years of experience in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing operations. As a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) it has a fully integrated offering of services for drug substances, drug product intermediates and drug products. The company has four FDA inspected sites in the USA, Portugal, Ireland and China and development laboratories in Lisbon, Portugal and New Jersey, USA. Hovione provides pharmaceutical customers services for the development and compliant manufacture of innovative drugs, including highly potent compounds, and customized product solutions across the entire drug life cycle. In the inhalation area, Hovione offers a complete range of services, from API, formulation development and manufacturing, capsule filling and devices. Hovione's culture is based on innovation, quality and dependability. Hovione is a member of Rx-360, EFCG and participates actively in industry quality improvement initiatives to lead new global industry standards.

As an integral part of our Innovation Strategy, Hovione is opening an application process for the allocation of 1 (one) research scholarship complying with the provisions of the FCT Regulation for Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) and the Research Fellowship Holder Statute (EBI), according to their current versions.

Title of the Research Project: Unlocking Absorption Barriers: Permeation Mechanisms and Enhancers for Fundamental Knowledge Gathering 

Research Project Overview

The implementation of bioavailability enhancement strategies in the current life sciences pipeline is crucial for optimizing pharmacokinetics, improving patient outcome, and maintaining competitiveness in the global market. Modern drug discovery and development pipelines challenge conventional empiric formulation approaches and highlight the insufficient mechanistic understanding of processes critical to oral drug absorption. By identifying key concepts in absorption mechanisms that lead to increased drug exposure is thus imperative. This strategy provides the basis for API-centered, science-based formulation to streamline first-in-human (FiH) development in what concerns new chemical entities (NCEs) belonging to Biopharmaceutical Classification System (BCS) Classes III and IV. This PhD aims to:

• #1 Map key concepts and solutions for absorption enhancement: types of absorption mechanisms, types of permeation enhancers and how to use them
• #2 Focus on the mechanistic understanding of paracellular and transcellular routes
• #3 Identify key mechanistic concepts to modulate these routes resorting to permeability enhancers

The activities will be developed around the implementation of cellular and/or tissue-based models and how to better understand the defined absorption mechanisms described above

Some of the expected tasks are listed below:

• Participate in research planning;
• Interact with research partners and collaborators;
• Execution and troubleshooting of research plan;
• Data management, communication of results and scientific findings in internal and external forums upon approval;
• Write the thesis document and other documents that attest for progress in the plan being executed; 
• Acquire in-depth technical knowledge in mechanistic approaches to absorption modulation for BCS III and IV drugs, and skills in independent thinking, research planning and research ethical practice;
• Fulfil the requirements set by the Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade do Porto to be awarded a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences.

Candidate Eligibility Requirements

The following individuals may apply to this call: 

• a. Portuguese citizens or citizens from other member-states of the European Union. 
• b. Citizens from third-party states. 
• c. Stateless individuals. 
• d. Citizens holding a political refugee status. 

To apply for the PhD Research Scholarship, applicants must have:

• Master's Degree (MSc) in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Biochemistry, Toxicology, or closely related scientific areas, with a final grade minimum of B (ECTS grading scale)
• Documented practical experience in in vitro studies, including in cell culture techniques; cytotoxicity assays (e.g., Neutral Red, Resazurin reduction); assessment of oxidative stress (e.g., ROS/RNS quantification with DCFH-DA); mitochondrial function assays (e.g., TMRE-based analysis of membrane potential) and Western blotting for protein expression analysis
• Scientific output: 
  • Oral or poster communications at a recognized national or international scientific conference.
  • (Co)-authorship in peer-reviewed scientific journals indexed in Scopus, PubMed, or Web of Science.
• Proficiency in English, (minimum C1 level) with excellent written and verbal communication skills. Ability to produce scientific reports and communicate research findings in English.
• Strong personal attributes, including enthusiasm, organization skills and objectivity; analytical sense (attention to detail); sense of responsibility and ethics; ability to analyze and solve problems; good interpersonal skills.
• A strong interest in applied research and innovation within an industrial context.

Workplace
The implementation of the program will take place at Hovione's premises, in close collaboration with the Faculty of Pharmacy Porto University. 

Supervision
The PhD will be supervised by Renata Sofia Araújo da Silva, PhD ( Investigador Auxiliar, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto), Fernando Remião, PhD (Full Professor of Toxicology, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto), Mafalda Paiva (Senior Manager, Hovione) 

Duration
The scholarship has a maximum duration of 4 years; it is granted on a full-time basis and is awarded annually, for periods of 12 consecutive months and automatically renewable, unless under the applicable legislation the scholar fails to fulfill his / her assigned duties. 
The scholarship is scheduled to start in September 2025 on an exclusive basis.

Application 
The call is open from June 18th to July 2nd 2025, until 5:00 pm (Lisbon time).
Applications must be completed through a motivation letter to bolsas@hovione.com, mentioning the Program and this announcement, together with the following documents: 

• Letter of Motivation, 
• Detailed Curriculum Vitae of the applicant [proving the above mentioned requirements] 
• Copy of relevant diploma, a valid email address and a contact telephone number, contact details of 2 persons as referrals and other documents which the applicant considers relevant for the evaluation of his/her application.

Only applications received until 5.00pm (Lisbon time) on July 2nd, 2025 will be considered. 

Evaluation
The selection methods are as follows:

• a)    Eligibility screening: all applications received are screened and applications that do not fulfil the criteria published in the call for applications rules are rejected.  Should an application not fulfil the formal requirements of the call for applications, Hovione will send a notification by e-mail specifying the reason for its rejection. 
• b)    Shortlisting: each of the eligible applications is sent to the evaluation panel with broad experience in the discipline of the application. The applications that receive the highest scores from the panel will pass to the next stage. Hovione will notify candidates whether they have been shortlisted or not by e-mail. 
• c)    Interviews: candidates whose applications have passed the shortlisting stage will be called in for an interview. The interviews will be held remotely. They will be conducted in Portuguese and/or English. 

The evaluation criteria that govern the selection process:

1. Scientific merit taking into account the curriculum vitae of the candidate, degree/masters grade (minimum 16/20), participation in research projects, suitability of the candidate's profile to the Program theme and candidate experience in the Program theme;
2. Level of English;
3. Motivation Letter
4. Interview

Each item will be scored on a scale of 0-20, with the following weights: Curriculum vitae and experience (40%), English (10%), motivation letter (10%) and interview (40%).

Evaluation Panel
The panel responsible for evaluating the candidates is composed of the following members:

• Mafalda Paiva, Panel Coordinator
• Inês Ramos, Manager

Financing
The scholarship has a value of € 1.309.64, which is in accordance with the table of values for scholarships awarded directly by FCT, I.P. (Tabela_valores_SMM_2025.pdf), and is 100% funded by Hovione. The scholarship payment will be made monthly. The tuition fees of the Academic Institution will also be paid entirely by Hovione.

Publication of Results
The provisional results of the evaluation are communicated via e-mail to the e-mail address used by the applicant and will be published up to 90 working days after the deadline for submitting applications.

After the provisional results have been communicated to the applicants, those who have an unfavourable provisional decision may use their right to dispute it. Applicants should send an email to bolsas@hovione.com which must include an explanatory text together with the documents that the applicant deems appropriate. Resolutions will be sent by email within 10 calendar days from the date of the email. Final results will then be disclosed.

Contact Information
For further inquiries, please contact: Sónia Ferreira

We look forward to receiving your application!