Young Researcher Award
In Tribute to Professor Isabel Spencer-Martins
This award, valued at 500 euros, was established in 2009 by the Portuguese Society of Microbiology, as a tribute to Professor Isabel Spencer-Martins.
Eligible candidates must meet the following requirements cumulatively:
Have completed a Ph.D. focused on the theme of Yeast Biology during the period between June 2021 and June 2024.
Have a total number of publications (P), corrected by the impact factor and authorship position, greater than 4 (four), calculated according to the following formula: P = Sum(IFk*fk), where the variable k refers to the publication, n is the total number of publications, IFk is the Impact Factor for publication k (ISI Web of Knowledge, referring to the year of publication or, if not yet available, the previous year), and fk is the correction factor for the authorship position for each publication k (fk =1 when first author; fk =0.5 when second author; fk =0.2 in any other position).
The awarding of the “Young Researcher” Prize is based exclusively on the analysis of the candidates’ Curriculum Vitae.
The ranking of candidates is based on the published articles, supported by the impact index of the journal where the article(s) were published, corrected by the authorship weighting factor as defined in item 1(b).
In the event of a tie, the number of book chapters will be considered, followed by the number of oral presentations at conferences.
The awardee will deliver the “Young Researcher” Lecture, which will close the program of the conference.
The jury will consist of:
Professor Jorge Pedrosa – President of the SPM
Professor Cecília Leão – UMinho
Professor Maria da Conceição Loureiro Dias – ISA-ULisboa
Professor Isabel Spencer-Martins
Isabel Spencer-Martins was Professor of Microbiology at the Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Sciences and Technology (FCT), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Caparica, Portugal.
Her scientific career started in 1974 when she joined the Microbiology Laboratory at the Gulbenkian Institute of Science (IGC; Oeiras, Portugal). Her work on yeast enzymology and physiology resulted in a PhD degree in Biological Engineering in 1983. From 1986 till 1997 she was part of the research staff at IGC. In 1983, she joined the teaching staff of the Biotechnology Unit at FCT where she was appointed full professor 1992. In 1998, she founded the Centre for Microbiological Resources (CREM) at FCT, which she co-coordinated until her death.
Starting in 1993 Isabel setup and co-organized with fellow van Uden PhD students the annual yeast biology meetings (Jornadas de Biologia de Leveduras ‘Professor Nicolau van Uden’), hosted by yeast groups in different parts of the country to bring together Portuguese zymologists. Isabel Spencer-Martins was also the director for the Portuguese Yeast Culture Collection (PYCC).
Isabel Spencer-Martins had a unique approach to yeast research. She used the knowledge and the scientific tools from ecology and evolution and translated them to modern biotechnology, including the molecular tools developed in the last couple of decades. Thus, her group was among the first to clone and functionally express a heterologous sugar transporter in baker’s yeast; a groundbreaking achievement of fundamental importance for future research on the bioconversion of renewable resources. In recognition of her contributions to yeast biology and microbiology, two microbial species have been named after Isabel Spencer-Martins: the ascomycetous yeast Lipomyces spencermartinsiae (van der Walt & M.Th. Smith) van der Walt & M.Th. Smith (van der Walt et al., 1997) and the grampositive bacterium Bacillus isabeliae Albuquerque et al. (2008). In May 2008, Lund University, Sweden, conferred to Isabel Spencer-Martins the title honorary doctor in recognition of her outstanding scientific contributions and her longstanding collaboration with Lund University.