Internationalization

Internationalization Unit, Instituto de Neurociencias (INIU)

Welcome to the site of the Internationalization Unit of the Institute for Neurosciences (INIU)!

Below we will have a closer look at our mission, objectives and key projects that seek to foster global collaboration in the field of neurosciences. 

Mission

INIU’s mission is to promote international neuroscience research and development by facilitating the exchange of knowledge, technology and resources. We seek to connect students and researchers from different countries to address global neuroscience challenges.

The IN has developed a clear internationalization policy as part of its general scientific strategy in the awareness that both the international leadership of our researchers and the attraction of international talent are essential and differentiating factors in a highly competitive environment.

 Main objectives

  • Foster international collaborations by establishing partnerships with academic institutions and research centres around the world.
  • Encourage the participation of IN researchers in joint projects and international consortiums.
  • Promote exchange programs and mobility for students and researchers.
  • Facilitate attendance to international conferences and workshops.
  • Organize events, seminars and courses in collaboration with foreign institutions.

 Team

  • Coordinator: Dr Julio Barbas, Investigador Científico CSIC
  • Executive: Dr Bibian García, CSIC contracted personnel

 Financial support

We acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI) through both the “Severo Ochoa” Programme for Centers of Excellence in R&D -SOCE- (CEX2021-001165-S), and a grant “to facilitate the attraction of international talent in R&D institutions” (GPE2023-001193-T).

Main task

Administrative support for the integration of international students and researchers.

The paperwork required for integrating international students and researchers (academic degrees recognition, translations, work and residence permits, visas, contracts, etc.) are complex, lengthy and costly complexity. INIU’s primary task is to provide guidance and assistance to simplify these procedures as much as possible. Additionally, we can cover the financial costs associated with these administrative processes and, in specific cases, even the mobility expenses of researchers.

INIU has prepared detailed “Guidelines for foreign researchers” (only available on the IN intranet).

Featured projects

  • International call for Master’s scholarships.
  • Participation in the INPhINIT programme of la Caixa Foundation. 
  • SOCE Postdoctoral Programme.
  • Participation in “Science by Women” programme of Women for Africa Foundation.

 

International call for Master’s scholarships

Recruiting young researchers in training (Master’s students) is essential for attracting international talent, so one of our most relevant activities is the annual call for scholarships for the Master’s in Neurosciences, with the financial support of the SOCE grant.

From INIU:

  • We disseminate the call to contacts at dozens of universities worldwide.
  • We collect and manage the evaluation of the applications received.
  • We assist candidates with their formal application for the grant through the JAE Intro ICU call from CSIC.
  • We support candidates in their enrolment at UMH.
  • We help scholars with their integration in Alicante and at the IN.

The main objective of this initiative is to retain these young researchers at the IN after their Master’s so they can carry out their doctoral thesis here.

Since 2018 we have recruited scholars from 19 different countries. The distribution by country is in the map below.

Scholars of the 2024-25 academic year:

  • Yodalis AGUILAR (Panama, Bachelor’s degree in USA)
  • Berzan BURULDAY (Turkey)
  • Isabel FUENTES (Spain)
  • Irene GUERRERO (Spain, Bachelor’s degree in Canada)
  • Carmen MARTÍNEZ (Spain)
  • Emma SAXTON (USA)
  • Imo UDOTONG (Nigeria)
  • Wanda T. VILLACORTE (Colombia)

Participation in the INPhINIT programme of la Caixa Foundation

The incorporation of international students to our PhD Program in Neurosciences is of major interest for the IN. INIU is the contact point of la Caixa Foundation for its INPhINIT-Incoming programme of pre-doctoral fellowships at Centers of Excellence. As such, we encourage the participation of international students in this prestigious programme, in particular, that of international scholarship holders in our Master’s program. We also assist in the incorporation of the fellowship recipients, especially if they are foreigners, and mediate the interaction of the fellows with the Foundation throughout the duration of the fellowship.

Several INPhINIT-Incoming fellows have completed or are currently working on their doctoral thesis at the IN:

Michael Joe Munyua Gachomba (Italy)

He completed his PhD thesis on “Multimodal cues displayed by submissive rats promote prosocial choices by dominants” at Dr Cristina Márquez’s lab in May 2023. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Birmingham (United Kingdom).

Mohamed Kotb Selim (Egypt)

He completed his PhD thesis on “Characterising white matter disruption in alcohol use disorder: a deep TMS intervention study” at Prof. Santiago Canals’ labin July 2024. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Nottingham (United Kingdom).

Helena Bortolozzo (Brazil)

She has completed her work on “Neural circuit mechanisms of social reward processing”at Dr Félix Leroy’s lab, and will defend her PhD thesis soon. She is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Heidelberg (Germany).

Beatriz Fernández Arroyo (Spain)

She is currently working on her PhD thesis on “Role of hippocampal OLM cells in spatial memory” at Prof. Juan Lerma’s lab.

Enrico Negri (Italy).

He is currently working on her PhD thesis on “Mitochondria and metabolism in cortical development evolution” at Prof. Víctor Borrell’s lab.

SOCE Postdoctoral Programme

The Postdoctoral Programme for the recruitment of new researchers has been one of the most relevant actions included in the last two “Severo Ochoa” Strategic Plans of Excellence, and consequently a large part of the associated funds has been invested in the implementation of this programme. INIU is responsible of giving wide international diffusion to the call, receiving and checking the applications, managing their evaluation by the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) of the IN, and managing the hiring of the selected researchers as well as their integration in the IN.

The last call of the Postdoctoral Programme was solved in 2024. As a result, the following researchers will be incorporated to the IN:

– Pablo Giménez-Gómez, coming from the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School (USA). Host group: Félix Leroy

– Matthew Kocher, coming from Florida State University (USA). Host group: José Sánchez-Mut

– Federico Miozzo, already at the IN. Host group: Ángel Barco

– Roser Montañana-Rosell, coming from University of Copenhagen (Denmark). Host group: Sandra Jurado

– Sulov Saha, coming from University Toulouse III-Paul Sabatier (France). Host group: Víctor Borrell

– Luwei Wang, already at the IN. Host group: Guillermina López-Bendito

Participation in “Science by Women” programme of Women for Africa Foundation

The IN participates in the SCIENCE BY WOMEN programme of the Women for Africa Foundation, with the financial support of the SOCE grant. The programme aims to promote African women’s leadership in scientific research and technology transfer, and to build the capacity of research centres in their countries of origin. The ultimate goal is to enable African women researchers and scientists to address the major challenges facing Africa through research in health and biomedicine, sustainable agriculture and food security, water, energy and climate change.

Thanks to this programme, they have been able to develop their research projects at the IN during six-month stays:

Dr Flora Stephano, University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania)
Year: 2018
Work title: «The role of Wnt signaling pathway in the dopaminergic neurons in rotenone induced Drosophila model of Parkinson’s Disease (PD)»
Supervisor at IN: Prof. María Domínguez
Work impact:  On her return to Tanzania, she joined the group DrosoAfrica, which got the grant within the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) to study Drosophila fly as a model for Parkinson’s disease.

Dr Mansurah Abdulazeez, Bayero University (Nigeria)
Year: 2019-20
Work title: «Molecular basis of therapy resistance in triple negative breast cancer, hoping to understand the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the progression to the metastatic state in cancer»
Supervisor at IN: Prof. M. Ángela Nieto
Work impact:  To alleviate the unending tragedy brought about by this disease it is pertinent to understand the basis of drug resistance and consequent metastasis in this type of cancer.

Dr Amal Barakat, National Research Center, Egypt.
Year: 2022
Work title: «Malfunction of Zic2 in Holoprosencephaly»
Supervisor at IN: Prof. Eloísa Herrera
Work impact:  This study aims to shed light on the aetiology of HPE in order to understand the regulatory mechanisms and risk factors that may palliate Zic2 malfunctioning during pregnancy.

Dr John-Mary Vianney Joseph, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology in Arusha (Tanzania)
Year: 2022
Work title: «Functional relationship between PMD201 locus and aging»
Supervisor at IN: Dr José Sánchez-Mut
Work impact:  Working with two new experimental models of aging for this researcher: yeast (S. cerevisiae) and fly (D. melanogaster), will bring new approaches to Dr Vianney’s research on Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases.

Dr Nermeen Zakaria Abuelezz, Misr University for Science & Technology, Egypt
Year: 2023
Work title: «Role of microglial cells in the progression of Alzheimer’s disease»
Supervisor at IN: Prof. Javier Saez Valero & Dr M. Salud García Ayllón
Work impact:  The results of this study, focused on the analysis of molecular mechanisms of the disease, have a clear translational potential aimed at early diagnosis and possible treatments.

Dr Adaeze Ngozi Adebesin, University of Olabisi Onabanjo (Nigeria)
Year: 2024
Work title: «Implementing a new and affordable imaging method to study fine brain structure and connectivity»
Supervisor at IN: Prof. Víctor Borrell
Work impact:  As a mental health advocate, and a neuroscientist interested on neuroimaging in depression and stress related disorders, acquiring skills in frontier neuroimaging techniques has significantly improved Dr Adebesin’s capabilities in this area of research. Importantly, this will have a very positive impact on her colleagues and students in neuroscience back in her home country and institution.