Call opening for 2 PhD Scholarships

The Centre of Mathematics of the University of Porto (herein named by CMUP) opens a call for granting two PhD scholarships in Mathematics, complying with the provisions of the FCT Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) and the Research Fellowship Holder Statute (EBI).

The Scholarships will be funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) under the scope of Collaboration Protocol for the Multiannual Financing Plan of Research Sscholarships for PhD Students, between FCT  and the I&D Research Unit – CMUP.

1.  APPLICATION

The call is open from the 5th June 2023 through 23.59 (Lisbon time) of 26nd June 2023.

Applications, and the supporting documents described in this notice, must be sent by email to CMUP.bolsasdout2023@fc.up.pt  with CC to cmup.secretariado@fc.up.pt and recrutamento@fc.up.pt and with the subject ‘Application to PhD Scholarships - CMUP - UIDP/00144/2020”.

Each candidate may submit only one application, under penalty of cancellation of all submitted applications.

Providing false declarations or committing acts of plagiarism, leads to the exclusion of the application without prejudice of taking other corrective and punitive disciplinary measures.

2.  TYPE AND DURATION OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS

PhD scholarships are intended to fund research activities leading to a doctoral degree in Portuguese universities. The research activities leading to the doctoral degree will take place at the CMUP, which will be the host institution, although the work may be carried out in collaboration with more than one institution. The research activities leading to the doctoral degree of the scholarship holders must fit into the plan of activities and strategy of the CMUP, and must be developed within one of the following PhD Programs associated with CMUP:

·      PhD Program in Applied Mathematics (MAP-PDMA)

·      UC|UP PhD Program in Mathematics (PIUDM)

The research plan may take place in full or partially in a national institution (in-country scholarship or mixed scholarship, respectively).

The duration of the fellowships is, as a rule, annual, renewable up to a maximum of four years (48 months), and no fellowship may be awarded for a period of less than 3 consecutive months.

In the case of a mixed scholarship, the period of the research plan that takes place in a foreign institution cannot exceed 24 months.

3.  RECIPIENT

The PhD Scholarships are intended for candidates enrolled or candidates who meet the conditions necessary for enrollment in the PhD Programs listed in point 2 of this Notice and who intend to develop research activities at the CMUP leading to the award of the academic degree of doctor at the University of Porto.

4.  ADMISSIBILITY

4.1  APPLICANT’S ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

The following are eligible to apply for these PhD scholarships:

·      National citizens or citizens of other Member States of the European Union;

·      Non-EU citizens;

·      Stateless persons;

·      Citizens benefiting from the status of political refugee.

To apply for a PhD scholarship it is necessary to:

·      Possess an academic and scientific curriculum considered suitable by the jury to carry out research activities at the Mathematics CMUP leading to obtaining the academic degree of doctor at the University of Porto;

·      Not to have benefited from a PhD scholarship or an Enterprise PhD Scholarship directly funded by FCT, regardless of its duration.

·      Not hold a doctoral degree.

4.2  APPLICATION’S ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applications must be formalized by sending an application letter accompanied by the following documents:

·  Data of the ID card/passport;

·  Curriculum vitae;

·  Qualification certificates and a detailed description of the candidate's academic background;

·  Research project to be developed within the scope of the PhD;

·  Motivation letter.

· It is candidate’s responsibility to make sure that two recommendation letters are directly sent to addresses below

·  Applications and all the supporting documents must be written in Portuguese or English.        

Applications and recommendation letters must be sent by email, indicating the project reference (CMUP - UIDP/00144/2020) in the subject, to the following addresses: CMUP.bolsasdout2023@fc.up.pt  with acknowledgment to recrutamento@fc.up.pt and cmup.secretariado@fc.up.pt .

5.  WORK PLAN AND SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION

The work plan will be based on the research project submitted by the candidate; the research work will be developed under the scientific supervision of an integrated member from CMUP.

6.  EVALUATION CRITERIA AND BONUS

6.1  EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation procedure takes into account the merit of the candidate, the curricular analysis, the quality of the work plan and an interview (if applicable) as well as its relevance to the research objectives of CMUP..

Applications considered admissible will be scored on a scale from zero (0 - minimum rating) to two hundred (200 - maximum rating) in each one of the following evaluation criteria:

·  CriterionA -Curricularanalysis

In this criterion, based on the curriculum vitae, motivation letter and recommendation letters, the jury will evaluate the merit of the candidate and his/her preparation and ability to implement the proposed work plan.

·  CriterionB –Research Plan

This criterion will assess the relevance of the goals of the research project for the advancement of knowledge and its relevance to the research objectives of CMUP. The suitability of the proposed methods and the feasibility of the project will also be evaluated.

·  CriterionC –Interview

If the jury considers convenient, an individual interview (possibly using a videoconference system) may be carried out to the best ranked candidates after classification according to criteria A and B.

All candidates will be evaluated and ranked according to criteria A and B, and the respective classification will be calculated as a weighted average with the following weights: criterion A: 60%, criterion B: 40%.:

Final Classification = ( 0,6× Criterion𝑨) + ( 0,4× Criterion𝑩)

If the jury decides to conduct an individual interview with the group of 6 best ranked candidates, the candidates of this group will be reordered according to their classification obtained as a weighted average with the following weights: classification previously obtained in criteria A and B (with the weights already referred): 80%, criterion C: 20%.

In the event of a tie, candidates will be ranked based on the ratings assigned to each of the evaluation criteria in the following order of precedence: criterion A, criterion B, criterion C (if applicable).

Candidates whose application is evaluated with a final grade lower than 150 (one hundred and fifty) are not eligible for granting the scholarship.

6.2  BONUS

No bonus criteria are applied.

7.  EVALUATION

The evaluation panel of the candidates is composed of the following elements:

·  President: Luís António Oliveira (Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto)

·  1º Member: Sílvio Gama (Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto)

·  2º Member: Jorge Milhazes de Freitas (Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto)

·  1º Alternate Member: António Machiavelo (Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto)

·  2º Alternate Member: Christian Lomp (Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto)

·  3º Alternate Member: Ana Paula Dias (Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto)

·  4º Alternate Member: Helena Reis (Faculdade de Economia da Universidade do Porto)

·  5º Alternate Member: Manuel Delgado (Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto)

The evaluation panel will assess the applications in accordance with the evaluation criteria contained in this opening notice, weighing the assessment elements.

All panel members, including the President, establish a commitment to respect a set of essential responsibilities in the evaluation process, such as the duties of impartiality, declaration of any potential conflict of interest situations and confidentiality. At all moments of the evaluation process, confidentiality is fully protected and assured in order to guarantee the independence of all produced reports.

For each application, the panel will produce a final evaluation sheet where the arguments that led to the classifications attributed to each of the evaluation criteria are presented in a clear, coherent and consistent manner.

The minutes of the evaluation panel meetings shall be produced under the responsibility of all its members.

 A ata e os seus anexos devem incluir, obrigatoriamente, a seguinte informação:

·  Name and affiliation of all members of the evaluation panel;

·  Identification of all excluded applications and the reasons for exclusion;

·  Final evaluation sheet for each candidate;

·  Final evaluation sheet for each candidate;

·  Provisional ranking and seriation list of the candidates, in descending order of the final ranking, of all the applications evaluated by the panel;

·  CDI declarations of all the panel members;

·  Occasional delegation of vote and similar competences due to a justified absence.

8.  RESULTS DISCLOSURE

The evaluation results are communicated via e-mail to the e-mail address used by the candidate to submit the application.

9.  DEADLINES AND PROCEDURES FOR PRELIMINARY HEARINGS AND COMPLAINTS

After notification of the provisional list of the results of the evaluation, the candidates have a period of 10 working days to, if they wish, make their comments during a prior hearing of interested parties, under the terms of articles 121 and following of the Administrative Procedure Code.

The final decision will be issued after the analysis of the statements presented during the prior hearing of interested parties. A complaint may be lodged against the final decision within 15 working days, or alternatively an appeal may be lodged within 30 working days, both counting from the respective notification. Candidates who choose to file a complaint must address their appeal to the member of the FCT Board of Directors with delegated authority. Candidates who choose to file an appeal must address their appeal to the FCT Board of Directors.

10.  REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTSHIP GRANTING

The PhD scholarship contracts are signed directly with FCT.

Unless agreed between the candidate and the host institution, the scholarships must start between September 1st and November 30th, 2023.

The following documents must be submitted, when the grant is awarded, for contractualization purposes:

a)     Copy of the civil, fiscal and, when applicable, social security identification document(s)2;

b)     Copy of the academic qualifications certificates;

c)     Submission of the record of recognition of the foreign academic degrees and conversion of the respective final classifications to the Portuguese classification scale, if applicable;

d)   Research plan;

e)    Document proving enrolment and registration in one of the Doctoral Programmes identified in the present Notice;

f)     Statement from the supervisor(s) assuming responsibility for the supervision of the work plan, under the terms of article 5-A of the Research Grant Holder Statute (draft of the statement to be made available by FCT);

2 The availability of these documents may be substituted, at the option of the candidate, by their presentation in person at the financing entity, which will keep the elements contained in them that are relevant for the validity and execution of the contract, including the civil, tax and social security identification numbers, as well as the validity of the respective documents.

g)    Document proving acceptance of the applicant by the institution where the research activities will take place, guaranteeing the necessary conditions for the proper development of the research activities, as well as fulfillment of the duties established in article 13 of the Research Grant Holder Statute (draft statement to be made available by FCT);

h)    Up-to-date document proving compliance with the regime of exclusive dedication (draft statement to be made available by FCT);

The award of the grant is also subject to:

·      fulfilment of the requirements set out in this Announcement of the Call;

·      the result of the scientific evaluation;

·      the absence of unjustified non-compliance with the duties of the grant recipient under a previous grant contract funded directly or indirectly by FCT;

·      FCT budget availability.

Failure to submit any of the documents needed to complete the grant contractualization process within 6 months of the date of communication of the decision to award the grant conditionally will result in the expiration of the grant and the termination of the process.

11.  FUNDING

Payment of the grants will begin upon return by the applicants of the duly signed grant contract, which must occur within a maximum of 15 working days from the date of receipt.

The scholarships awarded under this call will be financially supported by FCT with funds from the State Budget and, when eligible, with funds from the European Social Fund, to be made available under the Demografia, Qualificações e Inclusão (PDQI) programme, according to the regulations established for this purpose.

12.  STRUCTURE OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

The scholarship holders will receive a monthly stipend under the terms of the table in Annex I of the RBI.

The scholarship may also include other components, under the terms set forth in article 18 of the BPR and in the amounts provided for in Annex II.

All scholarships holders will benefit from a personal accident insurance for research activities, supported by FCT.

All scholarship holders who are not covered by any social protection system are entitled to social security by joining the “voluntary social insurance” system, under the terms of the Social Security Contributions Code.

13.  PAYMENT OF SCHOLARSHIP STIPEND

Payments due to the scholarship holder are made by bank transfer to the respective indicated account. The stipend is paid on the first working day of each month.

Registration, enrolment or tuition fees components are payed directly by FCT to the national institution where the scholarship holder has enrolled or registered in a 3rd Cycle of Studies.

14.  TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PhD STUDENTSHIP RENEAWAL

The renewal of the scholarship always depends on a request submitted by the scholarship holder within the 60 working days prior to the renewal starting date, accompanied by the following documents:

a)        evaluation report issued by the supervisor/s and the host institution/s on the progress and the activities conducted by the scholarship holder;

b)         up-to-date document proving compliance with exclusive dedication rule;

c)         document proving renewal of enrolment in the cycle of studies leading to a doctoral degree.

15.  INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY OF THE GRANTED FUNDING

All the R&D activities carried out by the grantee, directly or indirectly financed by the scholarship, namely, communications, publications and scientific creations, as well as thesis, must include the reference to FCT and European Social Fund (ESF) financing, through the Demografia, Qualificações e Inclusão Programme (PDQI). Insignia of FCT, MCTES, ESF and EU must therefore be included in the documents referring to these actions, according to the graphic rules of each operational programme.

The disclosure of research results funded according to the RBI provisions must comply with the open access guidelines, publications and other research results in accordance with FCT rules.

For all the scholarships, in particular in case of European funded actions, namely the ESF, may be performed monitoring and controlling actions by national or European entities according to the applicable legislation. Scholarship holders must therefore collaborate and provide all the required information, including answering to surveys and evaluation studies in this area, even though the scholarship might has already ceased.

16.  NON-DESCRIMINATION ACCEESS POLICY

FCT promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, thus no applicant may be privileged, benefited, damaged or deprived of any right or exempted from any duty. This includes ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic disease, nationality, ethnicity or race, land of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs or trade union affiliation.

17.  APPLICABLE LESGISLATION AND REGULATION

Regulation no. 950/2019, published in 16th December (by the Research Fellowship Holder Statute from FCT), Regulation no. 66/2018, published in 16th August (Legal Regime for Recognition of Higher Education Degrees and Diplomas awarded by Foreign Higher Education Institutions)      

All the R&D activities carried out by the grantee, directly or indirectly financed by the scholarship, namely, communications, publications and scientific creations, as well as thesis, must include the reference to FCT and European Social Fund (ESF) financing, through the Demografia, Qualificações e Inclusão Programme (PDQI). Insignia of FCT, MCTES, ESF and EU must therefore be included in the documents referring to these actions, according to the graphic rules of each operational programme.

The disclosure of research results funded according to the RBI provisions must comply with the open access guidelines, publications and other research results in accordance with FCT rules.

For all the scholarships, in particular in case of European funded actions, namely the ESF, may be performed monitoring and controlling actions by national or European entities according to the applicable legislation. Scholarship holders must therefore collaborate and provide all the required information, including answering to surveys and evaluation studies in this area, even though the scholarship might has already ceased.

NON-DESCRIMINATION ACCEESS POLICY

FCT promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, thus no applicant may be privileged, benefited, damaged or deprived of any right or exempted from any duty. This includes ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic disease, nationality, ethnicity or race, land of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs or trade union affiliation.

APPLICABLE LESGISLATION AND REGULATION

Regulation no. 950/2019, published in 16th December (by the Research Fellowship Holder Statute from FCT), Regulation no. 66/2018, published in 16th August (Legal Regime for Recognition of Higher Education Degrees and Diplomas awarded by Foreign Higher Education Institutions).