PhD positions in computational drug discovery, HPC and AI.
Open call for predoctoral fellows at BIO-HPC, UCAM (Spain). We host PhD candidates through Spanish national and regional fellowship calls — FPU, FPI, Fundación Séneca, UCAM predoctoral and Industrial Doctorates — with a track record of 200+ publications, industry contracts and patented bioactive compounds.
Profiles we are looking for
A strong research vocation and a background in any of the following areas:
Computational Drug Discovery
Structure-based virtual screening, molecular docking, molecular dynamics, fragment-based design and consensus methods for early-stage hit identification.
High Performance Computing
Parallel programming, GPU computing, containerised pipelines, large-scale virtual screening and molecular dynamics on supercomputers.
Machine Learning, XAI, LLMs & GenAI
Interpretable ML for ADMET, QSAR and target-activity prediction; generative chemistry; LLM applications to scientific discovery.
Eligibility
Hard requirements before we can put your application forward.
- Bachelor’s GPA ≥ 8.5/10 — or the equivalent in your country’s grading scale. Most Spanish calls (FPU, Séneca, etc.) require this minimum.
- Master’s degree completed in a related field (computational chemistry, bioinformatics, computer science, chemistry, biotechnology or similar).
- Currently based in Europe — resident in an EU member state, EEA country or associated country at the time of application. This is a firm requirement on our side.
- Strong research vocation — ideally with prior research experience (internships, undergraduate thesis, Master’s thesis, first publication).
- Working English — reading scientific literature, writing manuscripts, presenting at international conferences.
Spanish PhD funding calls we host through
A non-exhaustive list of the main Spanish predoctoral fellowship schemes through which we can host PhD candidates. Calls typically open once a year — contact us at any time to plan ahead.
National · Ministerio de Educación
FPU — Formación del Profesorado Universitario
Predoctoral contract of 4 years. Annual call, typically opens autumn. Highly competitive, GPA-driven.
National · Ministerio de Ciencia / AEI
FPI — Formación de Personal Investigador
Predoctoral contract attached to an active national research project. Calls open yearly. Project-bound.
Regional · Region of Murcia
Fundación Séneca predoctoral
4-year predoctoral contract from the Regional Government of Murcia. Annual call, typically late spring.
UCAM · Internal
UCAM predoctoral
3-year predoctoral fellowship from UCAM’s own research budget. Open to international candidates with a strong academic record.
National · AEI · SME-academic
Industrial Doctorates
4-year predoctoral contract jointly hosted by a company and UCAM, working on an industry-relevant problem.
EU · Pillar 1
MSCA Doctoral Networks
European Marie Skłodowska-Curie Doctoral Networks — we are available as beneficiary or associated partner. See our MSCA hosting page.
About the group
What you join when you start a PhD at BIO-HPC.
Active pipeline
12 ongoing drug-discovery programs, 8 granted patents, 2 clinical studies in Murcia and a portfolio of 12 open-source software tools.
Real publication output
200+ peer-reviewed papers, including high-impact journals in computational chemistry, drug discovery and AI for life sciences.
Multidisciplinary team
Computational chemists, ML engineers, structural biologists and HPC specialists, with direct supervision from the PI and integration into pipeline projects from day one.
Email us your CV + motivation letter
Send a 1–2 page CV and a short motivation letter (a paragraph is fine) describing your research interests and which of our research areas you’d like to focus on. We aim to reply within a few working days. If there is fit, we schedule a video call and start planning which Spanish PhD fellowship call to target together.
Prof. Horacio Pérez-Sánchez, PhD · Director, BIO-HPC Research Group · UCAM Universidad Católica de Murcia
hperez@ucam.edu