Announcement for the attribution of one Research Fellowship 59/ECUM/CQUM/2023-UIDB/00686/2020

59/ECUM/CQUM/2023-UIDB/00686/2020

Research Fellowship; 1 vacancy

A call for applications is now open for the attribution of 1 (one) grant of research fellowship within the scope of the Strategic Project of the Centre of Chemistry of the University of Minho, UIDB/00686/2020, financed by national funds through Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia I.P., under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Chemistry

Recipients: The research fellowship (BI) is intended for the pursuit of R&D activities by holders of a Master degree enrolled in a credited non-academic degree course, integrated in the educational project of the institution.

Requirement for granting the fellowship:

1. Applicants may apply without prior registration in the course for which the fellowship is open. The requirement to enroll in a credited non-academic degree course will be verified at the date of contract of the fellowship;
2. Only fellowships whose selected applicants present a valid proof of enrolment in a non-academic degree course will be contracted, according to the type of the fellowship, issued by the academic services of the Higher Education Institution, indicating, respectively, the academic year or its duration (star and term);
3. Enrolment in a non-credited non-academic degree course will not be considered as proof of enrolment.

Applicants’ profile:

1. The applicants must possess a Master degree in the areas of chemicalanalyses and characterization techniques.
2. In the contract phase, the candidate must present proof of the academic qualifications completed by the application deadline, including those resulting from academic degree recognition processes;
3. Preferential factors to be considered: previous experience in chemical characterization and analysis techniques (nuclear magnetic resonance, elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, chromatography).

Applicants’ eligibility: Applicants must comply with the eligibility conditions laid down in article 9 of the Research Grants Regulation of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (2019).

Workplan and objectives to be achieved:

[G1] 

The work plan is related to the objectives of the Strategic Project of the Centre of Chemistry of the University of Minho, as well as to the support to the various ongoing projects of the Centre of Chemistry, namely:

- synthesis, purification and preparation of samples for analysis;

- carrying out analyses with chemical characterization and analysis equipment (nuclear magnetic resonance, elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, chromatography, infrared spectroscopy, among others);

- compilation of results and preparation of reports.

Applicable legislation and regulations: Research Fellowship Holder Statutes, approved by Law no. 40/2004 of August 18, in its current version published by Decree-Law no. 123/2019 of august 28; Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República”, 2nd series, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021 and Regulation of Research Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P., in force.

Host/Contracting institution and scientific supervision: The workplan will be carried out at the Centre of Chemistry of University of Minho, located at the Campus de Gualtar, Braga, under the scientific supervision of Professor Pier Parpot and Maria Alice Gonçalves Carvalho.

Fellowship duration: The grant will take place for a period of 12 months, with a provisional starting date on January of 2024. The fellowship grant may eventually be renewed in accordance with project execution and applicable legislation.

Amount of the research grant: The value stipend (Monthly Maintenance Allowance) is 1.199,64 euros, per month, in accordance with the stipends values published by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT I.P.) in the country (Annex I – Monthly Stipends Values for the maintenance allowances of the FCT Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships) and Annex II of the Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República”, 2nd series, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, according to the applicable regulation.

Payment is made on the 23st of each month, through bank transfer to the Bank Identification Number of the fellow identified in the contract process.

Other fellowship components: the value of the registration or tuition fee related to non-academic degree courses to be attended by the fellowship holder, if applicable to the contracting of the scholarship, as provided for in the Rules for Attribution and Management of Scholarships within the scope of R&D Projects of the 2020-23 FCT R&D units multi-annual financing program.

Other benefits: Reimbursement of Voluntary Social Security (Social Security contributions), corresponding to the 1st level of discounts (for research grants with a total duration 6 months or higher) and personal accident insurance.

Exclusivity regime: The grantee will perform the activities under exclusivity, as foreseen in article 5º of the Research Fellow Statutes and applicable regulations.

Selection panel:

President: Maria Manuela Silva Pires Silva, Associate Professor with Habilitation at the Department of Chemistry of the School of Sciences of the University of Minho

Effective members: Pier Parpot, Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry of the School of Sciences of the University of Minho and Maria Alice Gonçalves Carvalho, Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry of the School of Sciences of the University of Minho.

Substitute members: Luís Miguel Oliveira Sieuve Monteiro, Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry of the School of Sciences of the University of Minho and Rui Francisco Gonçalves Pinto Fernandes Pereira, Junior Researcher at the Centre of Chemistry of the University of Minho.

In case of impediment of the President of the selection panel, it will be substituted by the first effective member, being nominate the first substitute member in the place of the first effective member.

Criteria and procedures for applications assessment and selection: The applications assessment will focus on the candidate's merit and an interview, applying the following evaluation criteria, valued on a scale of 1 to 5 values:

A. Applicant Merit - AM (70%):

A.1: Academic background (considering academic degrees), with a weighting of 40%

A.2: Personal curriculum (considering professional and scientific background), with a weighting of 60%

The classification of the applicant merit will be obtained with the formula:

AM = (A1*0,4)+(A2*0,6)

Candidates that obtain the minimum classification of 4,0 will proceed to the interview phase (INT), with evaluation of the following sub criteria:

B. Interview - INT (30%):

B.1: Interpersonal skills (20%);

B.2: Demonstrated knowledge in the contested area (50%);

B.3: Motivation (20%);

B.4: Language skills (10%).

The classification of the interview will be obtained with the formula:

INT = (B1×0,3) + (B2×0,5) + (B3×0,2) + (B4×0,1)

The final classification (FC) of the candidate will be obtained with the formula:

FC = (AM×0,7) + (INT×0,3)

The academic degrees and diplomas documents, or their respective recognition when awarded by foreign higher education institutions are not mandatory in the application phase, being replaced by a declaration of honour of the candidate with the contents of academic results. The documents of academic qualification or respective recognition will be required in the contracting phase and must attest facts that occurred on a date prior to the application. In situations of divergence between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation submitted for contracting the grant, only the information contained in the latter will be consider. If the documents proving the ownership of the academic degree and diploma, or the respective recognition under the terms of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16, do not correspond to the classifications awarded in the evaluation of the academic path, which can change the candidate's ranking, the fellowship won’t be contracted.

Notes: Applicants with degrees obtained abroad must present proof of recognition of qualifications in Portugal and conversion of the final classification obtained in them to the Portuguese classification scale or declaration under the terms indicated in the previous point. Candidates who do not comply with one of these provisions, the selection panel will assign “0” in the grade of the graduation and/or master course. Candidates will be evaluated on the remaining parameters.

Disclosure of results: The provisional results of applications, based in the selection panel minutes, will be sent to the applicants by email until 90 working days from the applications deadline.

If case of unfavourable results, the candidates have a period of 10 working days to comment, if desired, in a prior hearing to interested parties, pursuant to articles 121 and 122 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (DL no. 4 / 2015 of January 7th).

Complaint and appeal procedures: The final results of the evaluation will be published through an ordered list by final grade obtained, posted in a visible and public place of the host unit, as well as by email to all applicants, enclosing for that purpose, the minutes of the jury deliberations.

The selected candidate must inform its willingness to accept the grant, in writing. In case of rejection, the fellowship will be awarded to the next candidate in the ordered list of applicants.

The final decision can be contested within 15 working days, by sending to the President of the jury the corresponding claim. Interested parties may also submit an optional hierarchical appeal, addressed to the Pro-Rector for Research and Projects, Professor Sandra Paiva.

Constitution of a selection reserve list: The applicants ranked in the next positions on the ordered list will be included in a selection reserve list, which can be used until 30/06/2024[G1] .

Application deadline and submission: The tender is open for a period of 20 working days, counting from the date of publication of the advertisement on the Euraxess portal.

Applications must be formalized, mandatorily, by sending an application letter accompanied by the following documents: curriculum vitae and certificate of qualifications.

Applications must be sent by email to bolsas@ecum.uminho.pt, indicating the reference of the fellowship 59/ECUM/CQUM/2023-UIDB/00686/2020 in Subject. Applications submitted by other means will not be accepted.

Fellowship contractualization: The fellowship will be attributed by signing a fellowship contract between the University of Minho and the fellow, accordingly with the contract minute (annex IV of the Regulation of Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in Diário da República, 2nd Série, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, as indicated in 2.4 of the FCT document: “Rules for Granting and Management of Grants within the scope of R&D projects, including infrastructure projects, the multi-annual financing program for R&D units and other FCT financing instruments (Version 2021)”.

The contract may only be concluded after all the documentation required is collected, which must take place within a maximum period of 6 months.

Once all the documentation has been received, the contracting entity has a period of 60 working days to conclude the scholarship contract. Once received, the fellow must return the contract duly signed within 15 working days.

The activities under the fellowship contract can only began after proper authorization by the contracting entity.

Term and cancellation of fellowship contracts: Without prejudice to the other causes provided the fellowship regulations (FCT and UMinho) and in the Statute of the Research Fellow, the fellowship ends with the completion of the work plan, as well as with the expiration date for which it was granted or renewed.

At the end of the fellowship, the grantee is obliged to present a Final Report of the work carried out, in accordance with the objectives and evaluation criteria defined with the scientific advisor, within 30 days after the end of the scholarship.

The final report must be prepared in accordance with Annex I of the Scientific Research Fellowships Regulation of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in Diário da República, 2nd Série, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021.