HOPTEC Masters Thesis Scholarship Program (6 months), Johns Hopkins University 

Applications for the HOPTEC Scholarship Program are now OPEN!

Application Period: from 11 December 2023 to 3 January 2024

Scholarship Period: from March to August 2024

 

Program framework

In the past decade, several students from Técnico have had the opportunity to conduct the research for their master’s thesis as visiting scholars at Hopkins in the area of Bioengineering. As a result, all the visiting students completed their dissertation work with distinction. The overall feedback from the students is that conducting research at Hopkins was a lifetime opportunity that deeply shaped their personal and professional path. For the students involved in this exchange, the main highlights of this collaboration included having access to cutting edge technological tools, transfer of knowledge and interdisciplinary research.

At the initiative of some of these students, now alumni, in collaboration with Técnico’s International Affairs Division, a project was presented and received support from FLAD, the Luso-American Development Foundation, named HOPTEC.

 

About the Event

The first edition of the HOPTEC Scholarship Program offers outstanding students the opportunity to develop research for their master’s thesis at the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department at the Whiting School of Engineering, Johns Hopkins University in the area of cancer research for a period of 6 months (from March to August 2024).

 

Program

• Training Opportunities: 2 HOPTEC Scholarships for Técnico Master’s students to conduct the research for their master’s degree at Hopkins. In return, these two students would be named HOPTEC Ambassadors and be involved in the HOPTEC activities.
• Dynamic Collaborations: HOPTEC Seminar Series; HOPTEC Annual Symposium; HOPTEC Grant Competition. (Events to be announced in 2024)
• Scientific Advancements: By creating a network of exchange students and active collaborations, HOPTEC will promote the transfer of knowledge and skills between institutions, leading to impactful discoveries.

Objectives

• Promote transfer of knowledge and skills between institutions
• Provide cutting edge research opportunities
• Shape personal and professional paths to students from both institutions

 

Scholarship Details

The HOPTEC Scholarship Program covers traveling, provides guidance regarding visa and housing matters, and ensures that the host institution (Hopkins) will provide a stipend to help support the selected students while living in Baltimore.

• Covers traveling
• Provides guidance on visa and housing
• Hopkins will provide a stipend to support students

 

Eligibility Criteria

• The applicant must be a student enrolled in the 2nd year of a Master’s program at Técnico Lisboa, in the field of Bioengineering (or related fields, if well-justified in the personal statement).
• The applicant only has 30 ECTS (dissertation) left to complete at the beginning of the 4th semester of the Master’s degree.
• The applicant has a minimum grade average equal or above 16/20 in the Master’s degree (previous semesters) and 14/20 in the Bachelor’s degree.
• The applicant has at least intermediate written and spoken English proficiency (no certificates required).

Applying

• Online application due January 3rd, 2024
• Application process includes CV, transcripts, statement of purpose
• Interview, to be scheduled later

Selection Process

• The selection process will be initiated with an online application including:
  – Application Cover Page (download here)
  – Personal statement (your background, motivation, future aspirations, etc).
  – Curriculum vitae.
  – Transcripts from Bachelor and Master’s degrees.
• Application materials should be in English (mandatory for personal statement and CV). The application package must be sent to international@tecnico.ulisboa.pt by January 3rd, 2024 by 23:59 (GMT) with the subject “HOPTEC – Name” (for instance: HOPTEC_MariaAlmeida).

The HOPTEC selection committee is composed of the two HOPTEC Program chairs, two professors from Técnico and two professors from Hopkins. This committee will select the 4-6 top applicants based on the submitted applications for a formal interview with at least one professor from each university. Interviews will take place between January 8th and 11th, 2024. After the interviews, the 2 top students will be selected in a final selection committee meeting.

Selected students will be announced by January 12th.

 

HOPTEC Ambassadors

The awarded students will be named HOPTEC Ambassadors. In addition to completing their master’s work with an international experience in Hopkins, the HOPTEC Ambassadors will be responsible for the following:

• Participating in the HOPTEC Seminar Series;
• Organization of the HOPTEC Annual Symposium;
• Designing and giving a workshop based on the content of their dissertation work during the HOPTEC Annual Symposium;
• Providing guidance to the next generation of HOPTEC Ambassadors.

Questions can be emailed to international@tecnico.ulisboa.pt with the subject “HOPTEC – question”.

 

HOPTEC  Founders

	Inês Godet. My academic background in bioengineering provides me with problem solving skills to study biological systems using innovative and interdisciplinary approaches. During my PhD, I conducted research in the lab of Dr. Daniele Gilkes at Johns Hopkins University. My PhD project focused on establishing a fluorescent fate-mapping system that allowed us to map the fate of cells that experienced intratumoral hypoxia throughout the metastatic cascade. We found that post-hypoxic cells are more invasive, metastatic and chemoresistant.
	André Forjaz. Pursuing his PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in the laboratory of Prof. Denis Wirtz at Johns Hopkins University. He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Tecnico, at the University of Lisbon. André’s research focuses on application of novel AI and computer vision algorithms to study anatomical tissues. Through the implementation of CODA, a software for 3D reconstruction of tissues at single cell resolution, André studies changes in normal, and diseased tissues, such as pancreatic, lung and ovarian/fallopian tube cancers.
	Denise Castilho de Matos. Has a Postgraduate degree in International Relations, a M.A. in African Studies and completed her advanced PhD training course in Human Geography, specialization in European Public Policy. Currently, she coordinates the International Affairs Division at Instituto Superior Técnico – ULisboa. She is involved in several European projects with emphasis in communication, internationalization strategies and entrepreneurship. She has over 15 years of experience in international relations: in and outbound student and staff mobility, international student recruitment, strategic partnerships, innovative academic programmes and project management.

Crucial HOPTEC Contributors

Prof. Denis Wirtz. As Vice Provost for Research and Theophilus Halley Smoot Professor at Johns Hopkins University, Denis Wirtz has made groundbreaking contributions to the physics of cell migration and mechanobiology. Through quantitative methods like particle tracking microrheology, Wirtz pioneers research on 3D cell motility, bacterial division, and high-throughput phenotyping. His 250+ seminal publications have 31,000+ citations, and he has been elected Fellow of AIMBE, AAAS and APS. Wirtz founded the Institute for NanoBioTechnology at Hopkins and directs multiple NCI training programs. His recent CODA technology enables AI-powered 3D tumor imaging. With degrees from the Free University of Brussels and Stanford, Wirtz’s prolific, cross-disciplinary career spans physics, biology and oncology.

Prof. Cláudia Lobato da Silva Prof. Fátima Montemor Prof. Tiago Fernandes Prof. Rogério Colaço

Former Students

Several Técnico students have already conducted thesis research at Hopkins with great success, completing dissertations with distinction.

• Eduarda Vaz
• Vasco Queiroga
• André Forjaz [2019-2020]
• Inês Godet [2017-2018]
• Alexandre Carnet
• Duarte Ferreira
• João Brás
• Ana Maria Carmo
• Leonor Guedes Da Silva