Applicants to the current call must comply with the following:

• Be a national citizen or a citizen from other European Union Member States;
• Be a citizen from third-party states;
• Be a stateless citizen;
• Be a citizen who may benefit from the political refugee status.

Application Admissibility Requirements

It is essential, under penalty of non-admission to the call, to attach to the application the following documents:

• Curriculum vitae;
• Certificates of the previous academic degrees held, specifying mandatorily the final classification and, if possible, the classifications obtained in all the curricular units performed. Alternatively, the candidate must submit a declaration of honour, declaring that he/she has completed the degree and the master’s degree, at the time of the application deadline;
• For degrees obtained abroad, proof of recognition of academic degrees assigned by foreign higher education institutions and registration of the conversion of the final classification (GPA) to the Portuguese classification scale, or, alternatively, the candidate's declaration of honour declaring that he/she has obtained the recognition of the foreign degree equivalent to that of a degree or a master’s degree, at the time the application deadline;
• Proof of proficiency in Portuguese, if the candidate does not have Portuguese as a first language / Proof of proficiency in English if the candidate does not have English as a first language. Alternatively, a declaration of honour by the candidate;
• Proof of research experience;
• Motivation Letter.

Preferential requirements

• Research experience using qualitative and/or quantitative methodologies for data collection, processing and analysis, namely uni and multivariate models and social network analysis (SNA);
• Creation of models and application of statistical indicators;
• Ability to operate with different quantitative and qualitative research software (especially SPSS, NVivo and Netlogo domain);
• Domain of videoconferencing and webinar platforms (ZOOM, Teams);
• Experience in developing scientific dissemination activities for different audiences;
• Experience in production and reviewing of scientific reports;
• Publications as author or co-author.

The fellowship will take place for 3 months and may, eventually, be renewed up to the applicable legal limit.

Monthly maintenance allowance amount: The value stipend (Monthly Maintenance Allowance) is 1905€ per month, by the stipend values published in Annex II of the Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República”, 2nd serie, 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 23rd of each month, through bank transfer to the Bank Identification Number of the fellow identified in the contractualization process.

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.

Applicants must comply with the eligibility conditions in Article 9 of the Research Grants Regulation of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (2019).

Note:

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 to facts that occurred on a date before the application. In situations of divergence between the information in the declaration and the documentation submitted for contracting the grant, only the information 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.

The application assessment will focus on the Candidate's Merit (MC), taking into account several subcriteria. The evaluation subcriteria to be used will be as follows:

• a. Academic trajectory: 40 points;
• b. Personal and professional curriculum: 40 points;
• c. Motivation letter: 20 points.

The Candidate Merit (MC) classification will be obtained by applying the following formula: MC = a + b + c

In the event of a tie between the candidates with the highest score, they may be subject to an Interview (ENT), in which the jury will assess the following sub-criteria:

• a. Interpersonal skills: 30 points;
• b. Knowledge demonstrated in the contest area: 40 points;
• c. Motivation: 20 points;
• d. Language skills: 10 points

The interview classification (ENT) will be obtained by applying the following formula: ENT = a + b + c + d

In the case of an interview, the Final Classification (CF) of the Candidate Merit (MC) and the Interview (ENT) will be obtained by applying the following formula: CF = (MC*0,7) + (ENT*0,3)

If the interview does not take place, the final classification (CF) will correspond to 100% of the evaluation obtained in the Candidate Merit (MC).

The jury may not attribute the fellowship if the quality of the candidates is inferior to that intended.

Jury composition

President of the Jury

Manuel Carlos Lobão de Araújo e Gama, Investigador Júnior, CECS, Universidade do Minho

Effective Members

Maria Elsa Sousa Costa Silva Morais, Professora Auxiliar, CECS, Universidade do Minho

Sara Margarida da Silva Matos, Técnica Superior, Doutorada, CECS, Universidade do Minho

Substitute Members

José Gabriel Oliveira Andrade Júnior, Professor Auxiliar, CECS, Universidade do Minho

Rita Maria Gonçalves Ribeiro, Professora Associada, CECS, Universidade do Minho

The first effective member will substitute the President of the selection panel in case of impediment, being nominated as the first substitute member in the place of the first effective member.

Reserve/substitute list: in case of cancellation of the fellowship, up to 5 months after its attribution, the vacancy(s) will be filled by the candidate(s) from the list of substitutes, according to the final ordering.

Publication of results

The final results of the evaluation will be publicized through a list sorted by the final grade obtained, posted in a visible and public place of the host institution, as well as by email to all candidates, attaching the minutes with the deliberations of the jury, within 90 working days after the deadline for submission of applications. The notification will be sent to the email address used by the applicants for the submission of the application/indicated in the application, with receipt of delivery of the notification.

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.

Complaint and Appeal Procedures

After the notification, applicants have a period of 10 working days to produce their arguments at a prior hearing of interested parties, under Articles 121 and 122 following the Code of Administrative Procedure (CPA).

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).

Contract template and final report template

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.