Doctoral Programme of the Lisbon Academic Medical Centre – Ph.D. CAML

Lisbon School of Medicine, Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM) and Santa Maria University Hospital (HSM-CHULN) recently formed the Lisbon Academic Medical Center, CAML (Ordinance No. 1371/2009 of 27 October), a consortium that aims to promote the development of the academic dimension and excellence in clinical practice, modernization and development of research, medical education and innovation in the health sciences. CAML aims to ensure the essential compatibility of medical education and research with the development of the care mission, renewing the concept of university hospital.

As part of this consortium, FMUL, IMM and HSM-CHLN have designed a joint doctoral program: the CAML Doctoral Program. A program focused on excellent research projects, which includes a flexible and modular training component.

The CAML PhD Program, being research-oriented, aims to stimulate clinicians to ask new questions regarding patients and diseases and to bring them into the laboratory. And reciprocally to bring questions from the laboratory into clinical practice. By bringing together medical and non-medical researchers, the program stimulates new collaborative approaches and more effective communication between basic and clinical researchers.

The three institutions, FMUL, IMM and HSM-CHULN, actively participated in the design of the PhD Program, using existing resources and creating new synergies to create an attractive and motivating environment for clinicians and researchers to develop their PhD theses. The program is managed by a Board of Directors and a Scientific Committee, both composed of representatives from the three institutions.

You can consult its constitution HERE

Tasks of the Scientific Committee:

• Assessment of training programs and credits, assessment of training books;
• Assessment of accreditation processes;
• Monitoring the selection process and the candidate's curricular path;
• Assessment of the scientific research projects for the Thesis and the admissibility of the final thesis;
• Preparation of the Scientific Council Advice.

 Todas as decisões relacionadas com estas competências estão sujeitas à ratificação pelo Conselho Científico.

 All decisions related to these competences are subject to ratification by the Scientific Council.

See the schedule of meetings

You can consult the calendar of monthly meetings of PhDCAML and the Scientific Council here.

The CAML PhD programme includes a PhD Students’ Committee composed by student representatives of each CAML institution:

• Biomedical Sciences
• Medicine
• Health Sciences and Technologies.

This Committee is composed of representatives elected each year by the corresponding student community. The representatives serve as mediators between the CAML community and the Board of Directors of both the PhD programme and of each CAML member institution. Therefore, the PhD Students’ Committee focuses on creating a communication platform where students can voice their concerns and suggestions. To this end, the Committee participates in some initiatives, such as making a Slack channel and an Academic available to all doctoral students, and scheduling regular meetings with students to understand the priority action points.

In addition to the PhD Students’ Committee, the PhD CAML also includes frequent opportunities for scientific discussion organized and moderated by the students. Volunteers are recruited every year to organize seminars with internal and external speakers. Thus, CAML PhD students are the ones who maintain the regularity of:

• Monday Lectures
• Pizza Seminars
• Annual CAML PhD meeting
• between others.

To contact the 2023-2024 Course Committee:

camlphdstudents@medicina.ulisboa.pt

CAML PhD Program, being research-oriented, aims to stimulate clinicians to ask new questions regarding patients and diseases and to bring them into the laboratory. And reciprocally to bring questions from the laboratory into clinical practice. By bringing together medical and non-medical researchers, the program stimulates new collaborative approaches and more effective communication between basic and clinical researchers.

The program intentionally emphasizes research and proposes a very flexible curricular structure that can be adapted to candidates from different medical and related fields as well as allowing students to choose between a full or partial time commitment. Individual pathways are thus created, which best suit the profiles of the doctoral candidates.

During their PhD, candidates are followed by a supervisor and a Thesis Committee. The Thesis Committee is responsible for monitoring and analyzing the progress made by the student. It is composed of 2 members proposed by the supervisor, preferably one from the host institution, who are experts in areas related to the thesis topic and a third member, the Tutor, chosen by the student from among senior researchers. The Tutor has a role of provider and must monitor the institutional integration and the development of the scientific culture of the doctoral student.

The PhD Program is composed of:

An Advanced Training component equivalent to 1 semester (corresponding to 30 ECTS) with a modular structure ("student-oriented"), which can be developed continuously or intermittently during the PhD Program.
e
A Research Project, leading to the presentation and discussion of the Doctoral Dissertation, with a duration equivalent to seven semesters (210 ECTS, including 30 ECTS corresponding to the guidance of the scientific project by the thesis supervisor over the four years).

CAML PhD Regulations

Guide to administrative procedures

Regulation of the CAML PhD Program (in portuguese)

CAML PhD Branches and Specialties (in portuguese)

Under Order No. 6665/2011, creation of the PhD Program of Lisbon Academic Medical Center, during their PhD, candidates are accompanied by a guidance team and by the Thesis Committee and tutor. The Thesis Committee (TC) has the role of monitoring and analyzing the progress made by the student. The Tutor has an ombudsman role and must monitor the institutional integration and the development of the scientific culture of the doctoral candidate.

See in detail the notes on the organization of the TC:

Download 1st year, 3rd year and the follow-up TC reports (if applicable).

The annual renewal of registration is mandatory and takes place at the academic office fénix within the deadlines established annually and published HERE. You can consult the Annual Tuition Fees Order HERE.

Renewal of registration presupposes:

1. Submission of the annual report at the fénix academic secretariat - Submission of the PhD Report

Submission from June 19 to 31 july, 2023.

• Declaration of the Supervisor(s) - The supervision team, formally approved by the Scientific Council of FMUL, must issue an opinion, which may be individual or joint.
• Annual Report - Annual presentation of the written report on the progress of the work with the opinion of the guidance team, to be sent annually from June 28 to August 31.
• Reports Thesis Committee - Under Order No. 6665/2011, creation of the Doctoral program of the Academic Centre of Medicine of Lisbon, during their doctorate, candidates are accompanied by a guidance team and the Thesis Committee and tutor. The Thesis Committee (TC) has the role of monitoring and analyzing the progress made by the student. The Tutor has an ombudsman role and must monitor the institutional integration and the development of the scientific culture of the PhD candidate. The TC reports for the year in question must be attached, if applicable, 1st year, 3rd year and interim report if applicable.
• FCT Grant Renewal - FCT grant students are required to submit the FCT grant contract or its renewal. The tuition fee will only be waived in Phoenix upon receipt of this document.

Note: If not applicable submit a blank sheet.

2. Procedural aspects to be observed

• No debts from previous year;
• Payment of the 1st installment of the academic year in question, or, applicable to FCT scholarship students, submission of the scholarship contract or its annual renewall;
• Submission of the annual written report on the progress of the work with the opinion of the guidance team, to be sent annually from June 1 to August 31 to the email address: camlphd@medicina.ulisboa.pt 
• Technical instructions for formalizing registration in phoenix in the tab: 
  • Student – Enroll - Enrollment processes – Enroll – select “Discussion of the Scientific Project by the Advisor”, save, continue, finish.
  • Student – Enroll - Enrollment processes – Enroll – select the "respective year of thesis”, save, continue, finish.

1st year students who do not have a contract with the FCT at the time of enrolment and registration at Lisbon School of Medicine, must send to IFA, to the email address camlphd@medicina.ulisboa.pt, a document proving that they were considered eligible for a scholarship.

After formalization of the contract with the FCT, a copy of the contract must be sent for the attribution of the tuition fee exemption generated in the Fénix academic system.

Every year they must request the annual renewal of the scholarship with FCT, sending the documentation and deadlines defined by the FCT:

https://www.fct.pt/faq/pr.phtml.pt?idFaq=EC5094EE-9E6E-4723-A89B-709B5CF8DD4A

The declarations of registration in the doctoral program for the purpose of the FCT scholarship renewal are issued by IFA, after request by the student.

• Doctoral Interns

The maintenance of the doctoral intern status depends on the submission of annual reports prepared by the doctoral intern and confirmed by the doctoral supervisor and the person responsible for training, attesting to the fulfillment of the established objectives.

The annual reports are sent annually by the student, before the renewal date, to IFA, ACSS, FCT, Internato Medico.

Failure to submit the annual report or submission of a report with missing documents may result in the loss of the status of doctoral intern.

Note: This information does not exempt the consultation and observation of the rules defined by FCT and ACSS.

• FCT training costs

Students benefiting from exceptional FCT scholarships for the mitigation of covid-19 may request the use of the remaining amount of the training costs of the 5th year scholarship, in accordance with the procedures defined in order 547472021 of June 1.

Order 23/2021

Order 15/2023

The requests mentioned in order 23/2021 are made on FMUL website, with the indication of request under "PROJECT" and reference "in this field put the reference of the FCT scholarship".

Requisitions are accompanied by budgets and a letter from the supervisor justifying the acquisition within the scope of the ongoing PhD project.

The validation of requisitions and the management of funds is the responsibility of the FMUL project team, integrated in the financial area, with the email address projetos@medicina.ulisboa.pt .

 The instruction of the process is carried out in the academic portal fenix candidate area, with the completion of all tabs and submission of the following documents:

• Proposal for writing the thesis - Provisional Version
• Updated summary of the Curriculum Vitae, with reference to indexed publications (2 to 5 A4 sheets); 
• Abstract of the thesis (the thesis must include abstracts in Portuguese and in another official language of the European Union, with a minimum of 300 words each, up to 5 keywords in Portuguese and in another official language of the European Union, and indexes).

When, according to the specific regulations, the thesis is written in a foreign language, it must be accompanied by a more developed abstract in Portuguese, with a length of between 1200 and 1500 words.

• Supervisor(s) advice(s) on the final draft of the Thesis (2 copies - 1 A4 sheet).
• Submission of dated and signed Thesis Committee reports.
• Formative booklet signed by the supervisor(s).

Supporting documents:

Logotipos FMUL + ULisboa

The instruction of the process is carried out at the Advanced Training Institute (IFA) with the submission of documents, in pdf format. by email sharing Dropbox, Google Drive or WeTransfer link to the email address: provas.academicas@medicina.ulisboa.pt 

Required documents:

• Application addressed to FMUL's President of the Scientific Council requesting the scheduling of PhD exams.
• Payment of the fee of € 500 according to the table of fees in force, consult the personal area of the fénix academic secretariat
• PhD Thesis; Curriculum Vitae; PhD Thesis Summary
• Declaração de cedência de dados

Internal rules to be observed on the inside cover of the thesis

By express determination of FML Director (order-48/2004), for the purposes of printing the PhD thesis, all volumes must contain on the inside cover the following statement, in bold and body 14, on the inner 1/4 of that page:

"The printing of this thesis was approved by Lisbon School of Medicine Scientific Council at a meeting on (date of approval)." 

Supporting documents::

Logotipo FMUL + ULisboa

Thesis Approval

The thesis is final after the tests have been completed (when no corrections have been requested) or after the President of the Jury has confirmed that the requested corrections have been made.

Documents to be submitted:

The candidate has, after the test, 30 working days to deliver, under the terms of article 46 D, of Decree-Law no. 65/2018, 1 copy of the thesis on paper for the purpose of the legal deposit provided for in paragraph 4 of article 50 of the same decree-law.

It is also necessary to deliver it in digital pen-drive format:

3 copies of the definitive thesis;
1 curriculum vitae;
1 copy of the provisional version of the thesis;
The formatting of the cover of the definitive thesis follows the same criteria defined in the formatting of the provisional cover excluding the designation "provisional version".

To be available soon

Advanced Course Programs

CAML's Doctoral program stands out for its individualized and flexible path. Its organization is centered on the doctoral student and his/her research project.

The main objective is to enable doctoral students to develop original research projects, enhanced by a unique academic research and care climate, which includes clinical and non-clinical researchers, in an integrative concept involving clinical, biomedical and health sciences and technologies.

The curricular structure of the Doctoral program, can be completed over the four years of doctoral studies, for a total of 30 credits, see course booklet.

Useful Information

Applications will be submitted on https://fenix.medicina.ulisboa.pt

Applicants who already have a @campus.ul.pt account (who are attending or have attended a course at the Faculdade de Medicina), must start the application at https://fenix.medicina.ulisboa.pt/application.

To access must log in with the Campus account and then access the Candidate menu (at the top of the page) to start the application.

If you don’t remember the username or password of the account click HERE and follow the instructions for the recovery of the username or password.  If you cannot retrieve your username or password trough the recovery mechanism, you should send an email to the address suporte@medicina.ulisboa.pt with the following data: full name; student number; course number identification; ID number (BI/CC); External email.

Applicants who do not have a @campus.ul.pt account (Fenix) should register HERE. After creating your account you will receive in your email the username after which can start the formalization of the application in https://fenix.medicina.ulisboa.pt.

For further questions please contact: camlphd@medicina.ulisboa.pt

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25 September, 2023 – 12:30
Location: Egas Moniz Building  – Floor 0 – Auditorium 52 (David Ferreira Auditorium) 

Hormonal and environmental factors driving sex differences in depression, anxiety, and substance use disorders

Marija Kundakovic | Spain
16 October, 2023 – 12:30
Location: Egas Moniz Building  – Floor 0 – Auditorium 52 (David Ferreira Auditorium) 

Biological design principles for controlling gene expression

João Guimarães | Portugal
23 October, 2023 – 12:30
Location: Egas Moniz Building  – Floor 0 – Auditorium 52 (David Ferreira Auditorium) 

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Lori Passmore | United Kingdom
30 October, 2023 – 12:30
Location: Egas Moniz Building  – Floor 0 – Auditorium 52 (David Ferreira Auditorium) 

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Johanne Jacobsen | Norway
13 November, 2023 – 12:30
Location: Egas Moniz Building  – Floor 0 – Auditorium 52 (David Ferreira Auditorium) 

Immunometabolism at the crossroad between inflammation and aging

Maria Mittelbrunn | Spain
20 November, 2023 – 12:30
Location: Egas Moniz Building  – Floor 0 – Auditorium 52 (David Ferreira Auditorium) 

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Stamatis Papathanasiou | Germany
27 November, 2023 – 12:30
Location: Egas Moniz Building  – Floor 0 – Auditorium 52 (David Ferreira Auditorium) 

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Johanne Jacobsen | Norway
11 December, 2023 – 12:30
Location: Egas Moniz Building  – Floor 0 – Auditorium 52 (David Ferreira Auditorium)