CALL FOR A MASTER RESEARCHER HIRING IN THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT “MISCOR – FAKE NEWS: ACCEPTANCE AND CORRECTION OF MISINFORMATION IN SOCIAL INTERACTION CONTEXTS” OF WILLIAM JAMES CENTER FOR RESEARCH, ISPA – INSTITUTO UNIVERSITÁRIO (Ref. MISCOR/015/CT/2023).

At a meeting of the Board of Directors of ISPA, CRL, it was decided to open a call for the hiring of one Master researcher to develop research in the scientific field of Psychology, under an unfixed-term contract, in line with the Labor Code, approved by Law No. 7/2009, of February 12, within the scope of research activities of the project “MISCOR – Fake news: Acceptance and correction of misinformation in social interaction contexts” by the William James Center for Research, with financial support from “la Caixa” Foundation (project reference: LCF/PR/SR22/52570004).

1. SCIENTIFIC FIELD : Psychology.

2. Funding: “la Caixa” Foundation (project reference: LCF/PR/SR22/52570004).

3.  Applicants’ Profile

Mandatory requirements:

a) Master’s degree in psychology, namely social, experimental, cognitive, or other related areas that the Jury considers relevant to the position and execution of the research plan, with a final grade equal to or greater than 16 values.

b)  Previous experience in experimental research.

c) Experience in collecting and analyzing quantitative data.

d) Proficiency in written and spoken Portuguese and English

Preferred factors:

Preference will be given to candidates who have: 1) Experience in programming and collecting data with experimental software (e.g., E-prime, Qualtrics, or similar); 2) Experience in recruiting and managing participants’ pools; 3) Experience in analyzing quantitative data (e.g., SPSS, R, or other similar software); 4) Knowledge of web design and social media management.

4. Requirements for admission to the competition

Eligible applicants must comply with the following requirements cumulatively:

a) The master's degree has been completed by the application submission date.

b) Submit the following documents as part of their application:

1) Copy of the master’s or Integrated master’s diploma or certificate, indicating the date on which the degree was obtained and the final grade equal to or greater than 16 out of 20 (according to point 3 of this call).

2) Detailed curriculum vitae (CV).

3) Personal statement (in English), in which the candidate is expected to explain the reasons for the application as well as future career plans (max. 2 pages).

4) One recommendation letter.

Only applicants who supply proof to have completed the study cycle leading to a master’s degree by the end of the application deadline will be admitted.

If the master’s degree has been conferred by a foreign higher education institution, it must be recognized by a Portuguese higher education institution, and the final grade must be converted into the Portuguese evaluation scale, under the terms of the provisions of Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of August 16th, which approves the legal regime of recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of Higher Education, attributed by foreign higher education institutions, and of paragraph e) of no. 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law no. 60/2018, of August 3rd.

The recognition of foreign academic degrees and diplomas and the conversion of the final grade to the Portuguese classification scale may be requested in any Portuguese public higher education institution or at the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES, for automatic recognition only). Please consult the DGES portal for details: http://www.dges.gov.pt.

5. Work plan

The associated tasks to this research position will include providing support in all stages of the research and the tasks detailed in the project application and contributing to any other activities falling within the overall project goals. These tasks include review of relevant literature; programming experimental studies; data collection; identifying and recruiting participants; collecting data; processing and analyzing quantitative data; supervising research assistants; providing administrative and project management support; providing support in the dissemination of project results in scientific meetings and general events for the dissemination and communication of science and on social media.

6. Applicable legislation

Labor Code, approved by Law No. 7/2009, of February 12, in its current wording; and Regulation on the Career Regime for Research Personnel at ISPA.

7. SCIENTIFIC ORIENTATION AND WORK LOCATION

The activities will be developed at ISPA - Instituto Universitario, located at Rua Jardim do Tabaco, 34, 1149-041 Lisboa, Portugal, and/or other locations necessary for the execution of the work plan, under the scientific supervision of Doctor Magda Saraiva.

8. DURATION AND REGIME OF ACTIVITY

The full-time contract with full dedication is expected to start on September 2023 and has an expected duration of 12 months, possibly renewable for periods up to the maximum duration of the project, subject to the project budget.

9. MONTHLY REMUNERATION

The monthly illiquid remuneration to be awarded is 1228.09 euro, in accordance with level 14 of the TRU, approved Decree-Law No. 1553-C/2008 of December 31.

10. EVALUATION CRITERIA AND SELECTION METHODOLOGY

The selection method will be in accordance with the following selection criteria and their respective values:

10.1 Curriculum evaluation

The curriculum evaluation (CE) is expressed on a scale of 0 – 100.

Evaluation criteria

a) Final grade obtained in the master’s or integrated master’s in psychology, namely social, experimental, or cognitive areas, or other related areas that the Jury considers relevant to the position and execution of the research plan:

16 values = 5 points

17 values = 10 points

≥18 values = 15 points

b) Previous experience in research projects:

Experience in 1 project = 5 points

Experience in 2 projects = 10 points

Experience in 3 or more projects = 15 points

c) Experience in programming experimental studies (EPrime, Qualtrics, or similar software):

Programming experience in the context of academic work (e.g.,

completion of dissertation) = 10 points

Programming experience in a research project(s) team = 20 points

d) Experience in collecting quantitative data:

Training and experience in academic works (e.g., writing a dissertation) = 10 points

 Training and experience in a research project(s) team = 20 points

e) Advanced statistical knowledge (e.g., SPSS; R):

Training and experience in academic works (e.g., writing a dissertation) = 10 points

Training and experience in a research project(s) team = 20 points

f) Experience in scientific dissemination/communication (e.g., publication of scientific papers, participation in scientific meetings or general science dissemination events)

Without experience = 0 points

With experience = 10 points

The jury evaluates the applications in accordance with the criteria defined for Curriculum Assessment (AC) on a scale of 0-100, to the nearest hundredths, with the classification and ordering obtained by the average of the scores attributed to each sub-criterion by each of the members of the jury.

Only candidates with a score equal to or greater than 75 points may be invited to an interview. The remaining candidates will be excluded from the competition process, considering the jury does not have a scientific and professional curriculum that reveals an adequate profile for the position in competition.

Only the (3) three best-ranked candidates in the curriculum evaluation will be called for an interview.

If more than one comparable master’s or Integrated master’s certificate is presented (equivalent number of ECTS credits), it is up to the jury to decide which academic degree(s) best suit(s) the work plan to be developed and which must, therefore, be scored for the purposes of the Master's/Integrated master’s final grade.

10.2Interview

The interview consists of a conversation between the candidate and the Jury, aimed at clarifying aspects related to the candidates' research results.

The evaluation criteria for the interview focus on the candidate's demonstrated scientific knowledge and the suitability of the candidate's research to the position of the present call.

The evaluation of the interview is expressed on a scale of 0 - 100.

The final classification of the interview is obtained by the average of the scores given by each of the members of the jury, and expressed on a scale of 0-100, to one decimal place.

11. CLASSIFICATION AND FINAL RANKING

The final classification (FC) of each candidate admitted for an interview is obtained from the weighted average of the evaluation and selection criteria, with a weighting factor of 90% for the Curriculum Evaluation and 10% for the Interview:

FC = Curriculum Evaluation (CE) x 90% + Interview x 10%

11.1 In case of a tied score, the jury president has a deciding vote.

11.2 The final classification is expressed on a scale of 0 - 100, to one decimal place.

Minutes of the jury meetings shall be drawn up containing a summary of what took place, as well as the votes cast by jury members and respective reasoning and shall be made available to candidates whenever requested. The jury deliberates by means of a reasoned nominal vote according to the selection criteria adopted; abstentions are not allowed.

The final decision of the jury should be approved by the President of the Board of Directors of ISPA, CRL.

In the eventuality that none of the candidates possess the profile indicated for carrying out the work plan, the jury reserves the right not to award the contracts for the call.

12. JURY COMPOSITION

The jury will be composed by:

President: Magda Saraiva, Assistant Researcher in the William James Center for Research, ISPA – Instituto Universitário.

Effective member: Margarida Vaz Garrido, Associate Professor with habilitation at ISCTE- University Institute of Lisbon, who substitutes the president in case of absence.

Effective member: Rita Silva, Researcher at Springer Nature.

Alternate member – Josefa das Neves Simões Pandeirada, Principal Researcher at the Department of Education and Psychology, University of Aveiro.

Alternate member – Marília Prada, Assistant Professor with habilitation, ISCTE-University Institute of Lisbon.

13. FINAL DECISIONS ANNOUCEMENT

13.1 After notification of the results, the candidates have 10 working days to comment in a prior hearing, under the terms of Article 121 and following the Administrative Procedure Code. The final decision will be issued after the analysis of the statements presented during the prior hearing. Within 90 days, counting from the deadline for submitting applications, the jury's final decision is rendered. All applicants will be notified, by email of the evaluation process and results.

13.2 After the period for hearing interested parties, the selected candidate has ten working days in which to accept, in writing, the position assigned, under penalty of, if no reasonable reason is invoked within the said period, this being considered as a resignation or withdrawal from the position. In case of resignation or withdrawal of the selected candidate, the jury reserves the right to notify and award the contract to the candidate ranked in the subsequent position, if applicable, and according to the final seriation list.

The competition is exclusively intended to fill the indicated in the call and may be terminated until the approval of the respective final ranking list of candidates and expires with the occupation of the call position.

14. DEADLINE AND SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

Applications should be submitted by sending the application and supporting documents, digitally in PDF format, to the e-mail address candidaturas.investigadores@ispa.pt (cc to msaraiva@ispa.pt) from July 18th  to August 14th of 2023, until 11. p.m. (Lisbon time) with reference to this call (MISCOR/015/CT/2023) in the email’s subject.

Applications should include support documents (PDF format) and proof of the conditions laid down in the points above for admission to this call, mainly in points 4:

a) Copy of the master’s or Integrated master’s diploma or certificate, indicating the date on which the degree was obtained and the final grade equal to or greater than 16 out of 20 (according to point 3 of this call).

b) Detailed curriculum vitae (CV).

c) Personal statement (in English), in which the candidate is expected to explain the reasons for the application as well as future career plans (max. 2 pages).

d) One recommendation letter.

Candidates who formalize their application incorrectly or who do not meet the specific requirements will be excluded from admission to the competition. In case of doubt, the jury is entitled to request further documentation to support the candidate’s statements.

False statements by candidates will be punished by the law.

15.Non-discrimination and equal access policy: ISPA, CRL actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access policy, wherefore no candidate can be privileged, benefited, impaired or deprived of any rights whatsoever, or be exempt of any duties based on ancestry, age, sex, sexual preference, marital status, family and economic conditions, education, origin or social conditions, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, origin territory, language, religion, political or ideological convictions, and union membership.

16. Disabled candidates: Pursuant to DL nº. 29/2001 of February 3rd, disabled candidates have a preference in an equal classification situation, which supersedes any legal preference. Candidates must declare, on their honor, on their application form during the selection period under the regulations above, their respective disability degree, the type of disability, and the communication/expression mean to be used.