Research Fellowship (CIPSI-BI-FBA-2023-01)

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Title: Research Fellowship - 1 vacancy

Reference: CIPSI-BI-FBA-2023-01

A call for applications is now open for the attribution of 1 (one) Research Fellowship within the scope of the project “Creating bilingual minds in early childhood: effects of an early exposure to a second language” (UMinho-FBA-2022) – PI: Ana Paula Soares, supported by Fundação Belmiro de Azevedo (FBA) under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Psychology……………………….……………………….

Recipient category: Masters enrolled in the PhD of Psychology at the University of Minho, and with availability to carry out their doctoral thesis within the project "Creating bilingual minds in early childhood: effects of an early exposure to a second language".

Requirement for granting the fellowship:

• The applicants may apply without prior registration in the course for which the fellowship is open. The requirement to be enrolled in a degree course will be verified on the date of contracting the fellowship;
• Only fellowships whose selected applicants present a valid proof of enrolment in a 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 (start and term).

Candidates profile:

1. Master or Integrated Master in Psychology or legal equivalent with a minimum final classification of 15 points (out of 20 points);
2. Research experience in Human Cognition with experience in the acquisition of both behavioural (reaction times, accuracy) and neural (namely electrophysiological) data, particularly with children/infants;
3. Experience in programming experiments to acquire behavioural and electrophysiological (EEG) data using different software (e.g., Qualtrics, SuperLab, PsychoPy);
4. Experience in behavioural and electrophysiological (EEG) data analysis using software such as SPSS, R, Matlab, Presentation, EEGLab, BrainVision or Analyzer;
5. Experience in applying neuro-cognitive and linguistic standardized tests for research purposes, namely with children/infants (e.g. SGS-II, Raven, BANC, CDI-I, CDI-II, CDI-III, TL-ALPE);
6. Experience in the dissemination of scientific information (e.g., presentations at conferences, publication of papers);
7. Fluency of both Portuguese (European) and English languages (spoken and written);
8. Availability to carry out data collection at the Colégio Efanor (Matosinhos, Porto) and at the Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto on days and at times when the nursery school teachers, parents/guardians find most convenient;
9. Availability to go to the University of Minho, Gualtar campus, Braga, to participate in the supervision meetings of the work developed;
10. Easy to relate to children/infants, parents/guardians and other professionals, namely nursery school teachers and other educational agents;
11. At contractualization, the selected candidate must prove their enrolment in the Doctoral Programme in Basic Psychology at the University of Minho.

Applicants eligibility:

Applicants must comply with the eligibility conditions laid down in Article 9 of the Regulation of Research Grants of the University of Minho published in the Diário da República, Order no. 6524/2020, 2^nd Series, No. 119, June 22, 2020, and rectified through Rectification Statement no. 447/2021, published in the Diário da República, No. 119, June 22, 2021 (https://dre.pt/dre/detalhe/despacho/6524-2020-136260476 e https://dre.pt/dre/detalhe/declaracao-retificacao/447-2021-165604886).

Workplan and objectives to be achieved:

The work plan seeks the consolidation of scientific training in the area of Basic Psychology, through the development of tasks foreseen in the Project, such as:

1. Recruitment of 04 to 36-months-old infants by conducting information sessions with their parents/guardians at the Colégio Efanor to obtain written informed consent allowing their infants to participate in the project;
2. Monitoring the implementation of the early exposure to a second language (English) programme along with the kindergarten teachers, educational assistants, and the teachers of the Colégio Efanor involved in the project;
3. Assessing children using cognitive and linguistic tests targeting 04 to 36-months-old infants (e.g. SGS-II, ICD-I, ICD-II and ICD-III, TL-ALPE) for research purposes;
4. Selection and validation of auditory and/or visual experimental materials to be used in the studies to be conducted with 04 to 36-months-old infants;
5. Collaboration in the construction of experimental tasks aimed at testing language production and comprehension skills (e.g., at the phonetic-phonological, lexical-semantic and morphosyntactic levels) in the second (English) and first (European Portuguese) languages targeting 04 to 36-months-old infants using different paradigms (e.g., oddball, presentation of semantic and grammatical anomalies) and programming software (e.g., PsychoPy, Matlab, Presentation);
6. Collaboration in the construction of experimental tasks aimed at testing cognitive functioning skills (e.g., inhibitory control, cognitive flexibility, working memory) targeting 04 to 36-months-old infants using different paradigms (e.g., go/no-go, Nebraska Barnyard, delayed alternation) and programming software (e.g., PsychoPy, Matlab, Presentation);
7. Planning and carrying out data collection both at the Colégio Efanor and at the Laboratory of Neuropsychophysiology of the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences of the University of Porto on days/times to be settled with children's parents/guardians (which may involve weekends);
8. Construction and management of research databases;
9. Preparation of behavioural (reaction times, accuracy of responses) and neural (EEG) data for data analysis using different software (e.g., Excel, SPSS, R, Matlab, EEGLab, BrainVision, Analyzer);
10. Submission of at least 3 (three) scientific papers to be included in the PhD thesis to be presented under the scope of the Project;
11. Participation in the scientific dissemination of the Project results (e.g., participation in scientific meetings, seminars and other types of events);
12. Collaboration in the writing of other papers and research reports.

Applicable legislation and regulations: Research Fellowship Holder Statutes, approved by Law no. 40/2004 of 18 August, in its current version published by Decreto-Lei no. 123/2019 of 28 August; Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho, published in Diário da República, 2^nd Serie, no. 119, through Order no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, in force.

Host institution, contracting institution and scientific supervision: The work plan will be developed at the Colégio Efanor of Fundação Belmiro de Azevedo (FBA), Matosinhos, Porto, as the host institution, where all the foreseen activities in Project will be implemented, having, as a contracting entity, the University of Minho, responsible for the Project and funding entity of the research grant. The work plan will be developed under the scientific supervision of Professor Ana Paula de Carvalho Soares from the School of Psychology at the University of Minho.

Fellowship duration: The fellowship grant will take place for 12 (twelve) months, with a provisional starting in January 2024. The fellowship grant may eventually be renewed for additional periods up to the legal maximum allowed and according to the budgetary allocation of the project that supports it.

Amount of the research grant: The value stipend (Monthly Maintenance Allowance) is 1199,64 €uros/per month, in accordance with the stipends values of the Research Fellowships in Annexe II of the Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho, published in Diário da República, 2^nd Serie, no. 119, through the Order no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, updated in 2022. Payment is made on the 23^rd of each month, through bank transfer to the Bank Identification Number of the fellow identified in the contractualization process.

Other benefits: Reimbursement of Voluntary Social Security (Social Security contributions), corresponding to the 1^st level of discounts (for research grants with a total duration of 6 months or higher) and personal accident insurance. Reimbursement will be made through bank transfer to the Bank Identification Number of the fellow identified in the contractualization process. The fellowship grant also includes the payment of the fees for attending the Doctoral Programme in Psychology at the University of Minho during the period of validity of the grant and up to the maximum limit of the project that supports it.

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: Helena Manuela Mendes Oliveira Baldassarre, Auxiliary Researcher, Psychology Research Centre, School of Psychology, University of Minho

Effective member: José Fernando Oliveira de Almeida Côrte-Real, Diretor, Fundação Belmiro de Azevedo (FBA).

Effective member: Emanuel Pedro Viana Barbas Albuquerque, Associate Professor with Habilitation, Department of Basic Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Minho .

Substitute member:. João Trigo, Diretor, Colégio Efanor.

Substitute member: Ana Paula de Carvalho Soares, Assistant Professor with Habilitation, Department of Basic Psychology, School of Psychology, University of Minho.

The first effective member will substitute the President of the selection panel in case of impediment, being nominated the first substitute member in the place of the first effective member. The Jury, including the President, undertakes the commitment to respect a set of responsibilities essential to the evaluation process, such as the duties of impartiality, of stating any potential situations of conflict of interest, and confidentiality

Criteria and procedures for applications assessment and selection: The applications assessment will focus on the candidate's Merit, following evaluation criteria, valued on a scale of 1 (insufficient) to 5 (excellent):

A. Candidate’s Merit (CM) - First, the evaluation of the applications will focus on the CM, with a weighting of 60%, by applying the following parameters and weightings:

A1 – Final classification on the Integrated Master/Master’s degree (40%);

A2 – Scientific and Professional curriculum (50%), including:

A2.1 Research experience in Basic Psychology/Cognitive Neurosciences (20%);

A2.2 Experience in programming experiments to acquire behavioural and electrophysiological data (20%);

A2.3 Experience in behavioural and electrophysiological data analysis (20%);

A2.4 Experience in applying neuro-cognitive and linguistic standardized tests for research purposes (20%);

A2.5 Fluency of both Portuguese (European) and English languages (spoken and written) (20%).

A3 – Motivation letter (10%) where the career objectives are clear with the awarding of the fellowship and a commented description of the most relevant aspects concerning the parameters defined in criterion A2.

The final classification of the Candidate’s Merit will be obtained by the following formula:

CM = (A1 x 0,4) + (A2 x 0,5) + (A3 x 0,1)

The 03 (three) candidates with the best evaluation in the MC or, being in ex aequo, the 04 (four) candidates will be interviewed.

B. Interview (INT) (40%)

The interview will be conducted in Portuguese (European) and/or English and a scale ranging from 1 (insufficient) to 5 (excellent) values will be applied, considering the following parameters and weightings:

B1. Attitude and critical sense, that reflects the attitude, language skills, interpersonal skills and argumentative ability of the candidate (30%);

B2. Candidate motivation, that reflects the motivation of the candidate for the functions (50%);

B3. Global assessment (20%).

The final classification of the interview will be obtained by applying the following formula:

INT = (B1 x 0,3) + (B2 x 0,5) + (B3 x 0,2)

The Final Classification (FC) of the candidates will be obtained by the following formula:

FC= (CM x 0,6) + (INT x 0,4)

The position may only be awarded to candidates whose final classification is 3,5 or higher, considering the weighted average between CM (60%) and INT (40%).

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 considered. 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. For 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 on the selection panel minutes, will be sent to the applicants by email until 60 working days from the applications deadline, under the terms of article 13 of the Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho.

In 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 121º and 122º of the Code of Administrative Procedure (DL no. 4 / 2015 of January 7^th).

Complaint and appeal procedures: The final results of the evaluation will be published through an ordered list (alphabetically, by final grade obtained), posted in a visible 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, as provided for in the legislation in force, article 13 of the RBIC of UMinho.

Application deadline and submission: The call for applications is open from December 21^st, 2023 to January 6th, 2024 (23:59 – Europe/Lisbon).

Applications must be formalized, mandatorily, by sending an application letter with the following documents, in PDF format (mandatorily):

1. Curriculum vitae of the candidate, in Portuguese (European) or English;
2. Certificates of the academic degree(s) required, specifying the final grading (mandatory) and, if possible, the grades obtained in all the attended curricular units, or, alternatively, the candidate's declaration of honour that the degree was obtained until the end of the term of application;
3. A statement proving the candidate meets the conditions for the grant typology, according to the application requirements;
4. Motivation letter in Portuguese or English;
5. Other documents that the candidate considers relevant to the evaluation process.

Note: The drafts of the declarations referred in the previous paragraphs may be consulted at: https://www.psi.uminho.pt/pt/CIPsi/Paginas/Oportunidades_Investigacao.aspx

Applications must be sent by email to bolsas@psi.uminho.pt, indicating the reference of the call for applications “CIPSI-BI-FBA-2023-01” 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, according with the contract minute (annexe IV of the Regulation of Research Fellowships of the University of Minho - Order no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021) in its updated version.

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 begin after proper authorization by the contracting entity.

Term and cancellation of fellowship contracts: Without prejudice to the other causes foreseen in the fellowship regulations of the Scientific Research Fellowships Regulation of the University of Minho, 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 together with the scientific advisor, within 30 days after the end of the fellowship. The final report must be prepared following Annexe I of the Scientific Research Fellowships Regulation of the University of Minho, Order no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021.

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For additional information, please contact:

Psychology Research Centre (CIPsi),

University of Minho,

cipsi@psi.uminho.pt

 (+351) 253 604 223