1st semester

Critical Skills in Research

This course is designed to provide the core skills that you will need to initiate a career in science. You will learn how to make informed, well-grounded decisions when planning your career in science, be it in academia or industry. We will provide mentoring and help you to identify scientifically valid hypothesis and to shape your ideas into well-structured grant application. You will also learn to write and present your research proposal.

During the course you will benefit from a creative and dynamic environment and will interact with several scientists and clinicials that will help you develop and consolidate your ideas. In this course we have one of the highest ratios tutor/ student. As a Biomedical Scientist we also expect you to be an active member of the community and we will help you to communicate science to your peers and to society at large.

Advanced Research Methods

In this course, you will learn about the main methods that you can use, as a scientist, to address a variety of research problems that are faced by modern biomedical science. You will apply the new knowledge to expand the research project you developed during the critical skills course. You will also learn about the scope and limitations of these methods to address complex biomedical problems underlying several human diseases. By the end of this course, you will master the fundamentals of a number of powerful state-of-the-art techniques used in biomedical sciences, such as bioinformatics, bioimaging, proteomics, flow cytometry, gene silencing and editing, animal models of disease and whole genome analysis.

Cell Regulation

This course aims at filling putative gaps in you first-cycle degree while, also ensuring that all students are familiar with core concepts and tools in cell biology and regulation of cell function. The core aspects of cell regulation applied to Health and Life Sciences include development and cell differentiation, cell signaling, cell metabolism, cytoskeletal dynamics, mechanisms of cell damage and cell death, organelle function, subcellular trafficking and regulation of proteostasis. Our series of seminars, associated with each topic, will further ensure that you learn about the most recent developments in each of these topics, as well as current and future challenges in the field. After these seminars, students will be faced with specific scientific problems, and challenged to design strategies to address them experimentally. After the design of the protocols, students will execute these experiments in different laboratories, based in the NOVA Biomedical Research campus. This process is guided by active researchers, which will host students in their laboratories, in small groups, allowing a first contact with the real world of designing, performing and troubleshooting experiments.

Research Seminars

These series of specially designed seminars will help you to engage with the scientists that are leading the various research groups at NMS, and our partner institutions, and their top-quality research. In these seminars you will have the opportunity to give your critical perspective on a research paper of the presenting group and to develop a follow-up research idea.

This will help you to develop skills for the critical analysis of scientific publications identifying their strengths and limitations. You will learn how to recognize and identify the best experimental approaches, the most adequate technology, and the best experimental models to answer the specific scientific problems that the participating research groups.

This course will give you a privileged perspective on the skills and resources of the School, which will be valuable in choosing your lab rotation and master project.

Laboratory Rotation

Three mandatory rotations will be your first hands-on contact with research in three laboratories of your choice. Research seminars help you to know the various research groups that are available to take NBR students for their Master thesis. In the lab rotations you will be advised and mentored to choose three laboratories where you will spend three weeks carrying out a specific research task, learning new techniques and first contact with the environment of a research lab. You will need to present and discuss your work in each rotation. The goal of the rotation is to ensure that you make an informed choice when selecting your Master project. In most cases your master project will correspond to one of the three rotations that you have completed.

Dissertation project

In this course we will help you and guide you to ensure that you will take the most of the research project that you will be conducting during the second year, leading to your master thesis. The dissertation project is designed in close collaboration with your supervisor and will be assessed by a specially designated jury that will help to improve the project and overcome any challenges that you may face while carrying out the research project. You will always take an active part in the process and you will always be involved in the discussions pertaining your master project.

Area of specialization

The area of specialization is determined by the scientific area of the research thesis and there are courses focused on each area offered in the second semester.

*Please take note of the following:

• Students will graduate with one specialization determined by the research area of the thesis.
• Students may attend elective courses from other master’s or PhD programs, subject to availability

At Nova Medical School we know the importance of equal opportunities and we are trying to find ways to sponsor, at least some of those students, that may be facing financial constrains to continue their studies. These opportunities will be announced, as and if they became available, before each academic year.

Starting the NBR Master’s Program may be one of the first steps towards a global career in science.

The NBR coordinators and faculty are committed to guide students and provide key resources when planning their professional path, in individual counselling sessions.

Our Alumni are engaged in a path for a career in science. Some as research fellows gaining experience in laboratories spread in the world. Other have enrolled in PhD programs in Portugal and abroad, IGC international program, Novordisk, ENS – France, for example.

We are also committed in potentiating a career in Biomedical Industry and other science-based careers, such as, scientific writing, journalism, science communication, science illustration, editorial positions in scientific journals.