ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP (1 vacancy) 2C2T-BI-GIATEX-2-2024

A call for applications is now open for the attribution of (1) research grant within the scope of the R&D project “GIATEX – Gestão Inteligente da Água na ITV”, Project number 520404.PRR042, financed by National funds through Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and European funds through the Next Generation EU, under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Materials Engineering

Scientific Sub-Area: Textile Engineering, Chemistry Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related areas

Recipient category: Candidates must possess a Master's degree. The BI is intended for R&D activities in the area of Materials Engineering, Textile Engineering, Chemistry Engineering, Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related areas, who cumulatively meet the following requirements:

On the date of the respective hiring, candidates must prove enrolment in the following course:

• PhD on the specific area of this announcement or related areas;
• In a Course that do not confer an academic degree, integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution, in the area or area related to that requested in the tender (e.g.: postgraduate studies, advanced studies, specialized training).

Requirement for granting the fellowship:

• The applicants may apply without prior registration in the course for which the fellowship is open. The requirement to enrol 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. Mandatory requirements: Have a Master's degree in Materials Engineering, Textile Engineering, Chemistry Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Chemistry, Biochemistry, or related areas;
2. Preferential factors: Have experience in carrying out laboratory work, namely in the production of new fibers at the nano and microscale, experience in the electrospinning technique, experience in the synthesis of nanomaterials, experience in the development of non-woven structures and composites, development of polymeric formulations, experience in the characterization of fibers including the techniques of material characterization (ATR-FTIR, DSC, TGA, SEM, etc.). Experience in filtration and adsorption processes and photocatalytic processes.  Preference will be given to candidates who already have publications in the field; The candidate must be able to work individually and in a team, write scientific reports and publications, and be fluent in English;
3. Requirements in the contracting phase: Proof of enrollment in a PhD; proof of academic qualifications completed at the deadline for applications, including those resulting from academic degree recognition procedures.

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: It is intended that the grantee will be part of the research team of the Giatex Project. This project involves the synthesis, functionalization, characterization and evaluation of properties of fiber membranes produced by the electrospinning technique. The main activities of the scholarship holder will be: 1) Optimization of polymeric formulations and synthesis of fiber membranes by electrospinning; 2) Complete characterization of the membranes obtained; 3) Conducting microbiological tests and filtration efficiency of microorganisms; 4) Development of multilayer structures; and 5) Dissemination of the results obtained (writing reports, scientific articles, communications, etc.).

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 developed at the Textile Science and Technology Center of the University of Minho located on the Azurém Campus in Guimarães under the scientific supervision of Professor Raúl Manuel Esteves Sousa Fangueiro and Doctor Diana Sara Pereira Ferreira Conceição.

Fellowship duration: The grant will take place for a period of 12 months, with a provisional starting date in May 2024. The fellowship grant may eventually be renewed if the project budget allows it. Under no circumstances can scholarships exceed the maximum duration of the project and/or the applicable legislation.

Amount of the research grant: The value stipend (Monthly Maintenance Allowance) is 1259,64 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 contractualization process.

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: The jury will be composed of three effective members and two substitute members.

• President: Doctor Raúl Manuel Esteves Sousa Fangueiro (Full Professor at the Department of Textile Engineering at the University of Minho)
• Effective Members: Doctor Diana Sara Pereira Ferreira Conceição (Junior Researcher at the Center for Textile Science and Technology at the University of Minho) and Doctor Fernando Batista Nunes Ferreira (Associate Professor at the Department of Textile Engineering at the University of Minho)
• Substitute Members: Doctor António Manuel Dinis Ribeiro Marques (Assistant Professor at the Department of Textile Engineering at the University of Minho) and Doctor Ana Maria Moreira Ferreira Rocha (Assistant Professor at the Department of Textile Engineering at the University of Minho).

The first effective member will substitute the President of the Selection Panel in case of impediment, 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, following evaluation criteria, valued on a scale of 1 to 5 values:

Applicant Merit - AM (100%):

A.1. Academic path (considering the classifications of academic degrees), with a weighting of 50%;

A.2. Personal curriculum (considering professional and scientific background), with a weighting of 40%;

A.3. Motivation letter, with a weighting of 10%.

The Applicant Merit (AM) classification will be obtained by applying the following formula:

AM = (A1*0,50) + (A2*0,40) + (A3*0,10)

If the Selection Panel deems it necessary, an Interview will be held to decide the selected candidate. Only candidates classified in the first 3 positions, will be considered for the interview, which the Jury proceeding to evaluate the following sub-criteria: interpersonal skills (30%); demonstrated knowledge in the contest area (40%); motivation (20%); and language skills (10%). In this case, the Interview will have a weight of 30% in the final classification, and the Applicant’s Merit will have a weight of 70% in the final classification. The Jury reserves the right not to admit to the interview phase candidates who do not reach the minimum classification of 3 values, who do not present themselves to the competition candidates with the appropriate profile or who do not gather the documentation that certifies the listed requirements as mandatory.

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 honor 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 PhD. Candidates will be evaluated on the remaining parameters.

Disclosure of results: The provisional results of applications, based in the selection panel minutes, will be send to the applicants by email in accordance with article 12 of the RBI of FCT.

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 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 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, in the terms of the number 3 of article 13 of Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC) and the number 6 of article 12 of Regulation of Research Fellowships of FCT.

Application deadline and submission: The call for applications is open from 18/03/2024 till 03/04/2024.

Applications must be formalized, mandatorily, by sending an application letter accompanied by the following documents: detailed Curriculum Vitae; certificate of qualifications or declaration of the candidate (if applicable); letter of interest; other documents considered relevant to the assessment of the scientific and professional path.

Applications must be sent by email to emilia.goncalves@2c2t.uminho.pt, indicating the reference of the call for applications in Subject (2C2T-BI-GIATEX-2-2024). 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, including evidences of doctoral degree our its recognition in Portugal, under Decree-law no. 66/2018 of august 16th.

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.

Declaration of Honor

Academic habilitations

(Full name), applicant to the research fellowship vacancy under the I&D project (title or reference), published in the Euraxess Portal, reference (notice reference), hereby declares to have a degree on (name of the course), concluded in the University of (XXXX), on the (conclusion date), with the final grade of (XXXX).

I have submitted my diploma for recognition at the University of XXXXX, according to the Decree-Law nº 66/2018 of August 16th([1]), concluded in the XX/XX/XXXX, with the final grade of XXXXX out of YY.

I also declare that I commit to provide proof of my diploma recognition obtained under the Portuguese Law, until the date of the conclusion of the fellowship contract, in case of being selected for the vacancy in this competition.

As this is true, this declaration will be dated and signed by me.

(Place), (date).

_______________________________

(name)