ANICT MSc Fellowship: Searching for biocompatible dental reconstruction

Conceição Montenegro, member of ANICT and researcher at  Universidade do Porto, was the winner in the “Health Sciences” field of the 2012 ANICT Msc Fellowships awards. She will supervise the MSc candidate Tiago Sousa, to pursue his thesis in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Porto, in the theme of “ Evaluation of the release  methyl methacrylate monomers in dental restorative materials: use of HPLC coupled with efficient sample extraction processes”.

ANICT member Conceição Montenegro (left) and MSc candidate Tiago Sousa (right)

More about the MSc project:

The most used polymer for denture bases fabrication is polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), obtained by mixture of this polymer powder with liquid monomer methyl methacrylate (MMA). The polymerization reaction may occur through different methods: heat-polymerization, auto-polymerization, microwave and visible light polymerization. The  conversion of monomers into polymers is never complete and the unreacted MMA monomers remain in the denture base in the range of 0,1 to 5% (w/w) . The ISO 1567 standard specifies that the maximum residual monomer content should not exceed 2,2% (w/w), arguing potential cito and/or genotoxic effects.  The project aims to develop and validate an analytical method for the determination of MMA in saliva samples subjected to direct contact with PMMA resins obtained through different polymerization methods to establish a correlation between the polymerization process and the amount of toxic .monomers. The method it will be based on HPLC – UV detection associated with analyte extraction by dispersive liquid- liquid microextraction technique. In the future, this  study will give an indication on which of the processes is safer under the clinical point of view, after studies of cito/genotoxic effects in living cells.

ANICT MSc Fellowship: Drawing dinosaurs and other vertebrate fossils

Octávio Mateus, member of ANICT and researcher at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, was the winner in the “Other Scientific field / multidisciplinary ” of the 2012 ANICT Msc Fellowships award. He will supervise the MSc candidate Joana Bruno, to pursue her thesis in Scientific Drawing at the University of Évora, in the theme of “Paleontological Illustration of Dinosaurs and other fossils”.

ANICT member Octávio Mateus (left) and MSc candidate Joana Bruno (right)

More about the MSc project:

The Master’s dissertation is devoted to the illustration of dinosaurs and other Cretaceous and Cenozoic fossil vertebrates within the scope of the «PaleoAngola Project». The main goal is to produce scientifically accurate drawings that will contribute to the research of paleontology and promote the value of Angolan fossils. These include new species hitherto unknown to science, are presently under preparation and study in the Museum of Lourinhã and will afterwards return to their country of provenance. For this reason, the scientific illustration plays a crucial role in the research.

Moreover, the illustrations may become a part of related scientific publications (including articles and a book currently being prepared by the project’s researchers), and museum and public science outreach.

It is our aim to make the final illustrations not only of use to the «PaleoAngola Project», but also a contribution to the cultural and scientific enrichment of Angola.

Summary of the 3rd ANICT National Symposium

The 3rd Nacional Symposium of ANICT – ANICT2012 – took place on June 15^th.at the auditorium of the Rectory of the University of Coimbra.

The event comprised two parts:  in the morning, four specialized workshops were organized, devoted to Entrepreneurship, Science Communication, ERC Grants and Enlarging Social Sciences.

In the afternoon, the event had a programme dedicated to the debate on science policies and employment of researchers in Portugal. After the opening speech delivered by João Rodrigues (ANICT vice-president), the first session of the symposium was dedicated to an Assessment of the Ciência Programme.

ANICT 2012 MSc fellowship results

ANICT 2012 MSc fellowship results were announced on the 3rd ANICT symposium, in the past 15th of June. The ANICT member winners were Susana Barbosa,  Conceição Montenegro, Joao Oliveira Ventura  and Octávio Mateus.

In the next couple of days, more details about the winners and the MSc projects will be announced. The following list is the ranking of candidates, by major field of Science.

ANICT 2012 in the press

• “Maioria dos investigadores portugueses quer abandonar o país” in SOL

• “Investigadores sem condições para permanecer no país, acusa ANICT” in TEC noticias

• “Investigadores sem condições para permanecer no país, acusa ANICT” in NOTICIAS MUNDOPT
• “Investigação a termo certo? O futuro da próxima geração de investigadores portugueses em análise na Universidade de Coimbra” in Rostos
• “Investigação a termo certo? Futuro da próxima geração de cientistas portugueses analisado na UC” in CIENCIAPT.NET
• “Coimbra: O futuro da próxima geração de cientistas discutido na universidade” in CNOTICIAS

ANICT 2012 Msc Fellowships overview of the applications

The first call for ANICT Msc Fellowships ended last week. 18 applications were submitted, covering 3 of the 4 major fields of science proposed by ANICT. Of note, no application was submitted to the Humanities and Social Sciences field, and two applications were multidisciplinary and were considered on a separate evaluation scheme.

The results of this evaluation will be announced on the ANICT 2012 symposium, and latter the MSc projects will be briefly presented on ANICT website.