Expression of Interest MSCA PF 2021. Water-in-Water emulsions. Surface Chemistry (IQAC-CSIC)

Project Keywords

• Biocompatible Colloids

• Water-in-Water Emulsions

• Biomedical Applications and Drug Delivery

Description of the Research Center

The research project will be developed at the Institute of Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC), located in the campus of the University of Barcelona. It was created in 2007 and belongs to the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), with the mission to perform research of excellence in Chemical Sciences with the broad goal of improving the quality of life. The general strategy to achieve this mission involves the application of chemical approaches to address and solve societal challenges, mainly those related to human health, the sustainability of chemical processes and products, and the needs for novel materials for different applications. Since its establishment, IQAC has been in a permanent attitude to transfer its knowledge and technology results to the industrial sector. The research developed at IQAC is organized around two main nodes: Biological Chemistry and Nanobiotechnology and it is facilitated by a number of Key Enabling Technologies.

Description of the Organization

The Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) is a state agency for scientific research and technological development. The research is structured in three main areas, Society, Life and Materials, which cover most of human knowledge and which encompasses the activity of more than 120 research institutes.

Project description

The present proposal wishes to study the formation and properties of water-in-water emulsions and their derived systems. Water-in-water (W/W) emulsions are colloidal dispersions of one aqueous solution (droplets of disperse phase) into another aqueous solutions (continuous phase). These emulsions can be formed in mixtures of two immiscible hydrophilic polymers, without oil and without surfactant [1,2], and using water as the only solvent. These systems are usually denoted as Aqueous Two-Phase Systems (ATPS), since the two solutions are in thermodynamic equilibrium. One phase is enriched in one polymer, whereas the other phase contains most of the other polymer. Recently, it has been shown that ATPS can be also used to obtain multiple water-in-water-in-water (W/W/W) multiple emulsions [2].

The stabilization of all-aqueous emulsions has become a hot topic and is the focus of a great scientific interest. Stabilization of W/W emulsions has been achieved by adding edible and nontoxic particles as stabilizers, made of polysaccharides or proteins. Examples are the use of liposomes, cellulose nanorods or whey proteins. Much interest is in the use of biocompatible particles that allow W/W for biomedical applications and food formulations.

Aqueous mixtures that separate into two immiscible phases are being used for extraction of biological entities and macromolecules. An example is the extraction of viruses, using ATPS as separation media. ATPS are particularly present in mixtures of proteins and polysaccharides, which separate in two immiscible phases, one protein-rich phase and another polysaccharide-rich phase. Consequently, these systems allow the separation and extraction of proteins from mixtures of polysaccharides. Moreover, ATPS are also formed in mixtures containing nucleic acids, RNA or DNA, allowing to control the self-assembly of nucleic acid molecules. Certainly, these phenomena occur naturally in vacuoles and other cell compartments, and are very important in biological processes. Recent research on preparation and stabilization of W/W emulsions has opened a new field that could lead to many potential applications. The range of possible applications of W/W emulsions is expanding very rapidly, and many potential applications are being suggested and investigated, as an area of great interest.

The Marie Curie fellow would join a research project to discover and study new W/W emulsions and finding novel applications in the biomedical and drug delivery fields. The fellow would be part of the Surface Chemistry Group, headed by Dr. Jordi Esquena in IQAC-CSIC, and will be integrated in a wider research team, interacting with coworkers, other research groups and international collaborators. A wide range of updated instrumental equipment will be used, mainly in the IQAC-CSIC and the Faculties of Pharmacy and Medicine of the University of Barcelona.

References

Applications

The MSCA PF supports experienced researchers from any country in the world who:

• have a doctoral degree
• have a maximum of 8 years of full-time equivalent research experience*
• comply with the mobility rule: the applicant must not have resided or carried out his/her main activity (work, studies, etc.) in the country of the beneficiary for more than 12 months in the last three years immediately before the call deadline
• Only one proposal per individual researcher may be submitted to the MSCA PF 2021 call

*Information still subject to change. The final MSCA Work Programme is not published yet (MSCA PF 2021 call is expected to open in April 2021 and close in September 2021)

The MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships provide living allowance (one to two years’ salary), mobility (and family) allowance, as well as research, training and networking costs and overheads for the host institution. The applicants submit proposals for funding jointly with the host organisation. Proposals are evaluated based on their research quality, the researcher's future career prospects, and the support offered by the host organisation. All domains of research and technological development are eligible for funding.

If you are interested in submitting an Expression of Interest, please send your CV, a motivation letter explaining your research background and interest and a summary of your project idea by 15^th May 2021 to the group supervisor indicating Expression of Interest MSCA PF 2021 in the subject.

The selected candidates will be invited to prepare a MSCA PF application and will receive help and support from our International and European Programme Unit during proposal preparation.

Contact Person

• Dr. Jordi Esquena (jordi.esquena@iqac.csic.es)

Surface Chemistry Group

Institute for Advanced Chemistry of Catalonia (IQAC-CSIC)

Jordi Girona, 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain

Visit: www.iqac.csic.es/qci