2. TYPE AND DURATION OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

The doctoral research grant is intended to finance research activities leading to a doctoral degree at a Portuguese university.

The research activities leading to a doctoral degree will take place at the Center for Geographical Studies, which will be the scholarship holder's host institution, although the work may be carried out in collaboration with more than one institution.

The research activities leading to the award of the doctoral degree of the selected scholarship holder must be framed within the activity plan and strategy of the Centre for Geographical Studies, and must be developed within the scope of one of the following Doctoral Programs:

- PhD Program in Geography, of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, University of Lisbon. 

- PhD Program in Sustainability Sciences, University of Lisbon

- Doctoral Program in Migration, Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning, Institute of Social Sciences, Faculty of Psychology and Institute of Education, University of Lisbon

- PhD Program in Tourism, from the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning of the University of Lisbon, in collaboration with the Estoril School of Hospitality and Tourism

- PhD Program in Territory, Risk and Public Policies, of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning of the University of Lisbon, the Institute of Interdisciplinary Research (III) of the University of Coimbra, and the University of Aveiro

The work plan may take place in full or in part at a national institution (in-country fellowship or mixed fellowship, respectively).

The duration of the grant is, as a rule, annual, renewable up to a maximum of four years (48 months), and the grant may not be awarded for a period of less than 3 consecutive months.

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

3. RECIPIENTS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

The Doctoral Research Scholarship is intended for candidates who are enrolled in or meet the conditions for enrolling in one of the Doctoral Programs listed in point 2 of this Notice and who wish to carry out research activities leading to a doctoral degree at the Centre for Geographical Studies, or at host institutions associated with it.

10. GRANT REQUIREMENTS

Research grant contracts are signed directly with the FCT.

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

a) Copy of civil and tax identification document(s) and, where applicable, social security document(s)1;

b) A copy of the qualification certificates for the academic degrees held;

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

d) Document proving enrolment and registration in one of the Doctoral Programs identified in this Notice;

e) Declaration by the supervisor(s) assuming responsibility for supervising the work plan, under the terms of article 5-A of the Research Fellow Statute (draft declaration to be made available by the FCT);

f) Document proving acceptance of the candidate by the institution where the research activities will take place, guaranteeing the necessary conditions for their proper development, as well as compliance with the duties set out in article 13 of the Research Fellow Statute (draft declaration to be made available by the FCT);

g) Updated document proving compliance with the exclusive dedication regime (draft declaration to be made available by the FCT).

h) Work plan.

The award of the grant is also dependent on

- compliance with the requirements set out in this Call for Proposals;

- The outcome of the scientific evaluation;

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

- FCT budget availability.

Failure to submit any of the documents required to complete the contractualization process of the scholarship, within six months of the date of communication of the decision to award the scholarship conditionally, the award will lapse and the case will be closed.

(1) The provision of these documents may be replaced, at the applicant's option, by presentation in person at the funding entity, which will keep the elements contained therein that are relevant to the validity and execution of the contract, including civil, tax and social security identification numbers, as well as the validity of the respective documents.

 

11. FINANCING

Payment of the grants will begin once the candidates have returned 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 financed by the FCT with funds from the State Budget and, when eligible, with funds from the European Social Fund, through the Demography, Qualifications and Inclusion Program (PDQI), in accordance with the regulations established for this purpose.

12. SCHOLARSHIP COMPONENTS

The scholarship holder is awarded a monthly maintenance allowance in accordance with the table in Annex I of the RBI.

The grant may also include other components, under the terms set out in Article 18 of the RBI and for the amounts set out in Annex II.

All grant holders benefit from personal accident insurance in relation to their research activities, paid for by the FCT.

All grant holders who are not covered by any social protection scheme may ensure that they exercise their right to social security by joining the voluntary social insurance scheme, under the terms of the Code of Contributory Schemes of the Social Security System, with the FCT covering the costs resulting from the contributions under the terms and within the limits set out in Article 10 of the RBI.

13. PAYMENTS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP COMPONENTS

Payments due to the grant holder are made by bank transfer to the account identified by the grant holder. The monthly maintenance allowance is paid on the first working day of each month.

Payments of the registration, enrollment or tuition fees components are made by the FCT directly to the national institution where the scholarship holder is registered or enrolled in the doctoral program.

8. DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS

The results of the evaluation will be communicated via e-mail to the e-mail address used by the candidate to submit the application/indicated in the application.

9. DEADLINES AND PROCEDURES FOR PRIOR HEARINGS, COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

Following communication of the provisional list of assessment results, candidates have a period of 10 working days in which to make their views known at the prior hearing of interested parties, under the terms of articles 121 et seq. of the Code of Administrative Procedure.

The final decision will be handed down after analysis of the comments made at 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 date of notification. Candidates

9

who choose to submit a complaint must address their complaint to the member of the FCT Board of Directors with delegated powers. Candidates who choose to appeal must address their appeal to the FCT Board of Directors.

Each candidate may submit only one application, failing which all applications submitted will be canceled.

If candidates make false declarations or commit acts of plagiarism, their application will be cancelled, without prejudice to the adoption of other sanctioning measures.

4. ADMISSIBILITY

4.1 Admissibility requirements for applicants

The following are eligible to apply for this competition

- Nationals or citizens of other member states of the European Union;

- Citizens of third countries;

- Stateless persons;

- Citizens with political refugee status.

To apply for a PhD Research Grant you must:

- Hold a bachelor's or master's degree in the scientific field of Geography or a related field;

- Be permanently and habitually resident in Portugal at the start of the period of the work plan abroad, if the work plan proposed for the scholarship includes a period in foreign institutions (mixed scholarships), a requirement applicable to both nationals and foreign citizens.

- Not to have benefited from a doctoral or business doctoral scholarship directly funded by the FCT, regardless of its duration.

- Not to hold a doctoral degree.

4.2 Admissibility Requirements for Applications

The following documents must be attached to the application, failing which it will not be accepted:

- Identity card/citizen card/passport details;

- The candidate's curriculum vitae;

- Certificates of the academic degrees held, specifying the final classification and, if possible, the classifications obtained in all subjects taken, or, alternatively, a declaration of honor by the candidate that he/she has completed the bachelor's or master's degree by the application deadline;

- Record of recognition of academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions and record of the conversion of the respective final classification to the Portuguese classification scale, or, alternatively, a declaration of honor by the candidate that he/she has obtained recognition of the foreign degree equivalent to a bachelor's or master's degree by the application deadline;

- Motivation letter, justifying the suitability of the candidate's profile for the proposed work plan (expressly indicate the code of the work plan for which you are applying);

- Letters of recommendation (2), with reference to the call for applications and the context in which the author of the letter is familiar with the candidate's work and characteristics, attesting to their qualities and suitability for the proposed work plan.

- Write the application and all associated documents, including the letters of motivation and recommendation, in Portuguese or English.

With regard to the above-mentioned admissibility requirements, the following should be noted:

- In the case of academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, and in order to guarantee the application of the principle of equal treatment to candidates who hold foreign and national academic degrees, it is compulsory to recognize these degrees and convert the respective final classification to the Portuguese classification scale.

The recognition of foreign academic degrees and diplomas and the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese classification scale can be requested at any higher education institution or at the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES, only in the case of automatic recognition). In this regard, it is suggested that you consult the DGES portal at the following address: http://www.dges.gov.pt.

- Candidates will only be admitted if they have completed the cycle of studies leading to a bachelor's or master's degree by the application deadline. If they do not yet have a degree completion certificate, a declaration of honor will be accepted from the candidates that they have completed the qualifications required for the purposes of the competition by the application deadline. The award of the scholarship is always dependent on the presentation of proof of the academic qualifications required for the award of the scholarship.

5. WORK PLANS AND SCIENTIFIC GUIDANCE FOR THE GRANT

The work plans and respective scientific advisors are those presented in the document "Call for applications" available on the website https://www.igot.ulisboa.pt/sites/default/files/documents/document/2023…;

6. EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation will take into account the merit of the candidate and their suitability for the work plan. A maximum of one grant will be awarded for each work plan.

Applications deemed admissible will be scored on a scale of 0 to 5 in each of the following evaluation criteria:

- Criterion A - Merit of the candidate, with a weight of 100%;

o Sub-criterion A1 - academic record, with a weight of 40%

o Sub-criterion A2 - curriculum vitae, with a weight of 50%

o Sub-criterion A3 - letter of motivation, with a weight of 10%

For the purposes of deciding on the grant, candidates will be ranked according to the weighted average of the classification obtained in each of the 3 sub-criteria, translated into the following formula: 𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂çã𝒐 𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 =(𝟎.𝟒 ×𝑨𝟏)+( 𝟎.𝟓 ×𝑨𝟐)+(𝟎.𝟏×𝑨𝟑)

7. EVALUATION

The panel assessing the candidates is made up of the following members:

Effective:

- Professor José Luís Zêzere, CEG-IGOT (panel coordinator)

- Professor José Manuel Simões, CEG-IGOT

- Professor Maria Lucinda Fonseca, CEG-IGOT

- Professor Mário Vale, CEG-IGOT

Alternates:

- Professor Gonçalo Vieira, CEG-IGOT

8

- Professor Margarida Queirós do Vale, CEG-IGOT

16. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY

The FCT promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, whereby no candidate may be privileged, benefited, disadvantaged or deprived of any right or exempted from any duty on the grounds of ancestry, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, social origin or condition, genetic heritage, reduced working capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological convictions and trade union membership.

17. The Call for Proposals is governed by this Call for Proposals, by the FCT Research Grant Regulations, approved by Regulation no. 950/2019, published in the II Series of the Official Gazette of December 16, 2019, by the Research Grant Holder Statute approved by Law no. 40/2004, of August 18, as amended, and by other applicable national and EU legislation.