A: To be an eligible MINDED candidate, make sure you:

• Hold a PhD (in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, Materials Science, Mathematics, Biology, Biotechnology, Pharmacology, Neuroscience, Psychology or closely related fields), or at least 4 years of scientific research experience holding a degree that gives access to PhD courses
• Be fluent in English
• comply with the Transnational Mobility Rule: at the time of recruitment, MINDED researchers must not have resided or carried out their main activity in Italy for more than 12 months in the 3 years immediately prior to the reference date: June 1st, 2017. Time spent for obtaining a refugee status under the Geneva Convention, compulsory national service and/or short stays, such as holidays, will not count towards the 12-month limit.
• Must not have over 10 years of experience after the University Degree, which gives access to doctoral programs.

A: Yes, you will receive a confirmation shortly after submitting your application. If you haven’t received anything, please contact us minded@iit.it

A: Firstly, applications will be evaluated based on:

• Curriculum vitae (40/100): Mobility experience; Research experience; Research skills acquired, ability for scientific analysis, leadership, management, autonomy; Scientific production in terms of publications, patents, attendance of international conferences, etc.;
• Research Project Proposal (50/100): Overall quality and originality of the proposal; Appropriateness of work plan and feasibility of the project (time and resources); Adequacy of experience (according to the applicant’s profile) to carry out the proposal; Expected impact on society (e.g. socio-economic impact on a local, regional or international level, transferability);
• Research Context (10/100): Strategic relevance to the research domain; Potential for cooperation with the host research domain; Availability of infrastructure and equipment

Candidates, who have successfully passed the first selection step, will be contacted for an interview. The evaluation will focus on:

• Research Skills (40/100): Competence and previous experience; Data analysis and interpretation; Logically design of experiments; Scientific background;
• Communication Skills (30/100): Written communication skills; Oral communication skills; Effectively presents work;
• Interpersonal Skills (30/100): Team Working; Reliability and Attendance and Punctuality; Attitude

A: The Research proposal requirements are the following:

• It must be in English
• It must be received on or before the call deadline through the online application system
• Only one application per applicant may be submitted
• Proposals must adhere to the ethical standards applicable to the MINDED programme
• It must be within a MINDED research area (Nanomedicine, Molecular Neuroscience and Cognitive Neuroscience Robotics)

It is advisable to use the template here provided, to ensure all parts are complete

A: No, only one research proposal will be accepted for each candidate.

A: The Grand Research Challenges listed below constitute the backbone of the MINDED initiative. Applicants for MINDED fellowships have to develop their research proposal around one or more of these challenges.

Nanomedicine

• Delivering RNA and therapeutic molecules to the brain;
• Modulating vascular permeability via US, permeation enhancers or other strategies;
• Designing stimulus-sensitive nanomedicines
• Predicting protein corona on nanomedicines;
• Modulating/priming the immune system with nanomedicines;
• Fabricating microfluidic chips for high throughput screening of nanomedicines;
• Realization of 3D tissue-on-chips for transport analyses;
• Computational modeling of nanomedicines across multiple scales

Molecular Neuroscience

• Assessing genetic heterogeneity in autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs);
• Designing, developing and testing innovative genomic tools for patient classification;
• Integrating genomic analyses and robotics to improve personalized diagnosis and treatment of NDDs ;
• Streamlining therapeutic approaches for haploinsufficiencies in NDDs;
• Developing RNA technologies for NDDs
• Develop 2D and 3D neural tissues from human IPSCs for assessment of neural network activity

Cognitive Neuroscience Robotics

• Assessing quantitatively sensorimotor and cognitive deficits in NDDs;
• Tuning robots to the needs of both typically and atypically developing individuals;
• Developing portable, non-invasive, low-cost, easy-to-use devices for sensorimotor assessment;
• Reconfiguring sensorimotor integration through human-robot interaction;
• Developing a coordinated effort to bring innovative technologies from bench to the bed-side.

A: Yes, MINDED aims to develop a strong collaboration between the people and the laboratories involved in the programme. IIT Genova would always be scientifically involved and would provide the administrative support, despite of that, part of research activities will be carried out in the partners’ labs (up to 50%).

A: All applicants will receive a feedback via e-mail. Applications that do not meet the eligibility criteria will be rejected. Applicants will receive an email stating the reason for rejection and detailed instructions for redressing.

A: After one year of basic training in nanomedicine, molecular neuroscience or cognitive neuroscience robotics at IIT, four MINDED researchers will be selected for a business development-training path. The selection will be performed according to the criteria already implemented by the UniBO-Launchpad platform at the University of Bologna. Following this path, MINDED fellows will acquire specific skills in the area of management, technology and entrepreneurship.

A: Certainly, career breaks for justified reasons (military service, parenthood, family care or illness) will be properly considered to ensure a fair selection.

A: Sure, please send an email to minded@iit.it with your query and contacts details.

A: The MINDED fellowship is of 63,000 Euro and this is subject to taxes, national insurance and pension deductions, at the current Italian rates. The actual salary for a MINDED fellow would be of about 45.000 Euro (54,000 USD), after pension deduction and insurances (Healthcare and Life/Accident), but before taxes.

PLEASE NOTE that, this is an estimate. The actual numbers might be affected by exemptions and deductions related to family members, newborn bonuses, etc etc. For this reason, the actual salary has to be calculated specifically for each individual, on a case-by-case scenario.

The salary will be paid in Euro by IIT via wire transfer at the end of every month (12 payments).

A: MINDED fellows are fully responsible for their living costs at secondments. This is already included in their salary. Expenses for participation to workshops, conferences and summer schools organized by MINDED are fully covered by the programme. 

A: Yes, MINDED will cover the costs to participate to conferences/events organized by MINDED as well as other conferences connected to the MINDED research activities. 

A: The transition of a MINDED Fellow to the faculty rank is indeed a sign of success for the programme. However, such a new position is not compatible with MINDED salary, which will be discontinued.
IMPORTANTLY, the new junior faculty, formerly a MINDED fellow, could be involved in the MINDED activities and benefit from participating in meetings, workshops and hosting MINDED fellows.

A: Yes, IIT through the “We care” Human Resources Office helps scientists with family reunion procedures. It is very important that the Marriage certificate is translated and legalized beforehand so that the procedure can run smoothly. The couple is expected to live and stay in Italy at least 6 months for the whole procedure to be finalized. The residence permit will be issued for about 12 months and it will be valid in the Schengen countries.