Host institution for Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellows.
BIO-HPC at UCAM hosts Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellows, Staff Exchanges and Doctoral Network partners in computational drug discovery, AI for life sciences and HPC — in Murcia, Spain.
Why choose BIO-HPC for your MSCA
An active drug-discovery pipeline, your own HPC compute, and an experienced supervisor with 25 years of EU-funded research — in a friendly, Mediterranean-located group.
An experienced supervisor
Prof. Horacio Pérez-Sánchez has 25 years of HPC-driven drug discovery, 200+ publications, 8 granted patents, 2 ongoing clinical studies and 6M€+ in competitive funding raised — including Horizon, Marie Curie, ERC and Spanish national programmes.
Real research infrastructure
UCAM HiTech Innovation Hub facilities, in-house HPC, and allocations on BSC, NLHPC, PSNC and HPC-Europa. 12 in-house drug-discovery software tools, all open source or freely available.
A real pipeline, not a thought experiment
Fellows step into a working pipeline of 12 active drug-discovery programs, 8 patents and 2 clinical studies. Output is publications, patents, software releases and, when relevant, clinical translation.
MSCA schemes we host
We can host or participate in the full range of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
PF
Postdoctoral Fellowships
Both European Fellowships (1–2 years in Europe) and Global Fellowships (outgoing phase + UCAM return phase). We help applicants write the proposal and prepare the technical work-plan.
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Doctoral Networks
Available as beneficiary or associated partner in MSCA Doctoral Networks training the next generation of researchers in computational drug discovery, AI for health and HPC.
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Staff Exchanges
Inbound and outbound secondments at the interface of academia, industry and HPC. Particularly fitting for projects that involve our SME partners (Eurofins Villapharma, Hijos de Rivera, GOURA, etc.).
Cofund
COFUND programmes
UCAM can act as supporting host within national/regional COFUND doctoral and postdoctoral programmes that match our research lines.
Research topics we host
Match your proposal to one of our four research lines — or propose your own at the intersection.
Computational drug discovery
Structure-based virtual screening, molecular docking, molecular dynamics, fragment-based design, pharmacophore modelling and consensus methods for early-stage hit identification.
QSAR & ADMET prediction
Interpretable machine-learning models for activity, toxicity and pharmacokinetic-property prediction — built on the group’s SIBILA framework.
HPC for life sciences
Scaling large molecular dynamics ensembles, virtual-screening campaigns and ML training to supercomputers and GPU clusters. Reproducible, containerised pipelines.
AI on HPC
Interpretable ML / XAI for biological and clinical data, generative chemistry, model-driven design loops with experimental partners.
Translational drug discovery
Hit-to-lead optimisation in oncology, metabolic and antiviral programmes, including projects with patents and ongoing clinical studies in Murcia.
Methods development
Novel docking protocols, consensus virtual screening, advanced clustering methods for chemical libraries and MD trajectories.
How to apply with us
A short, direct process — ideally starting 4–6 months before the call deadline.
- 1. Send a short email with: a 1-page CV, a 5–10 line outline of your research idea, and the MSCA scheme + call you are targeting.
- 2. Within a few days we schedule a 30-minute video call to discuss research fit, proposal structure and feasibility.
- 3. We co-develop the proposal with you — concept, work-packages, training plan, dissemination and ethics — in close iteration. Final draft typically ready 2–3 weeks before deadline.
- 4. UCAM’s Research Office & OTRI handle the administrative submission (PIC code, host signatures, eligibility letters, ethics clearance).
- 5. If awarded, you join a small (≈10-person), multidisciplinary group at UCAM’s HiTech Innovation Hub in Murcia, with direct supervision from the PI and integration into ongoing pipeline projects from day one.
Have a draft idea? Email us.
We’ll respond within a few working days with feedback on fit and feasibility — even if it’s not the right match, we’ll suggest other groups in Europe that may be.
Prof. Horacio Pérez-Sánchez, PhD · Director, BIO-HPC Research Group · UCAM Universidad Católica de Murcia
hperez@ucam.edu