Research Grant(s) - RG_09_DEM_TEMA_2024_BAFTHA

Reference: RG_09_DEM_TEMA_2024_BAFTHA

NOTICE FOR THE AWARD OF GRANTS IN THE SCOPE OF R&D PROJECTS AND INSTITUTIONS

A tender is hereby opened for the award of one Research Grant (RG)in the scope of R&D projects PTDC/EME-EME/1239/2021 - Biomechanical analysis of female traumatic head injuries and accidents,under the following conditions:

1. Scientific Area: Biomechanics, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedicine, Medical Sciences or similar

2. Funding Source: Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P./MCTES, through national funds (PIDDAC)

3. Admission Requirements: Masters in the area referred in point 1. enrolled in doctoral programs or in courses that do not confer academic degree integrated in the educational project of the University of Aveiro. The proof of enrolment must be made available until the contract is awarded, and the candidate may attach a declaration of honor to confirm that they meet the requirements for enrolment in a course that does not confer an academic degree.

If the qualification has been conferred by a foreign higher education institution it must be recognized by a Portuguese higher education institution, under the terms of the provisions of article 25 of Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of August 16th, which approves the legal regime of recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of Higher Education, attributed by foreign higher education institutions, and of paragraph e) of no. 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law no. 60/2018, of August 3rd, and any formalities established therein must be fulfilled by the date of the hiring act.

4. Eligibility:  Applicants are eligible if they comply with paragraph a) of no.1 of article 2, of the Research Fellow Statute as amended by Decree-Law no. 123/2019, of August 28th, as well as nos. 1 and 2 of article 6 of the Research Grant Regulations of the Foundation for Science and Technology. The RG(s) awarded to masters enrolled in courses that do not confer academic degree may only be granted to those who do not exceed, upon conclusion of the grant contract in question, including possible renewals, an accumulated period of two years in that type of grant, consecutive or interpolated, under the terms of no.5 of article 6 of the aforementioned Regulations.

5. Work plan: The work will focus on the biomechanical evaluation of injuries resulting from traumatic events in the head in female individuals, with particular emphasis on the chronical traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) and neuroendocrine dysfunctions. The following tasks will be addressed:

• Analysis of the morphology of the female brain, using medical images and specialized literature;

• Study of the tauopathy phenomenon, relating such events to the kinematics and dynamics of an impact to the head.

• Establishment of relationships between the results obtained in numerical simulations with medico-legal reports.

6. Applicable legislation and regulations: Statute of Scientific Research Grant Holder, as amended by Decree-Law no. 123/2019, of August 28th; Regulation no. 950/2019, of November 29th, published in Diário da República, no. 241, Series II, of December 16th (FCT, I.P. Research Grants Regulation); Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of August 16th (Legal regime for recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of higher education awarded by foreign higher education institutions).

7. Workplace: The work will be carried out at the Center of Mechanical Technology and Automation / Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, under the scientific supervision of Professor Ricardo José Alves de Sousa and co-supervision of Doctor Joaquim Alexandre Pinho da Cruz.

8. Duration of the grant(s): The grant duration will be 12 months, renewable until the limit of 36 months, starting in May of 2024. Under no circumstances shall it exceed the limits defined in nos. 3 and 4 of article 6, of Regulation no. 950/2019, of November 29th, published in Diário da República, no. 241, Series II, of December 16th (Research Grants Regulation of FCT, I.P.).

9. Amount of monthly maintenance allowance: The amount of the grant corresponds to €1259,64, according to the table of monthly maintenance allowance amounts set out in Annex I of Regulation no. 950/2019, subject to any updates that may be applicable, under the terms of no. 2 of article 18 of Regulation no. 950/2019, of November 29th, published in Diário da República, no. 241, Series II, of December 16th (Research Grants Regulation of FCT, I.P.). The fellow may also be reimbursed for the amount corresponding to the Voluntary Social Security, in case of adherence to this plan.

10. Selection methods: The selection methods to be used will be the following: The selection methods to be used will be the following: curricular evaluation (100%). In the curriculum evaluation, the following factors will be considered:

1. Academic qualifications in the scientific area of the competition attested by the degree classification and in curricular units relevant to the topics to be addressed (10 points)
2. Scientific merit in the relevant areas for the contest attested through scientific publications in the area of the research projecto(5 points)
3. Knowledge of software relevant to the activities to be carried out (5 points)

Candidates will be ranked on a final scale of 1 to 20 points. If the minimum grade of 12 points in the final assessment is not achieved by any of the candidates, the scholarship will not be awarded.

11. Composition of the Selection Jury: Ricardo José Alves de Sousa (Chair), Joaquim Alexandre Pinho da Cruz e Fábio António Oliveira Fernandes (permament members); António Manuel Bastos Pereira and Gabriela Tamara Vincze (alternate members).

12. Deadline for applications and how to submit applications: The call is open from 27^st March 2024, to 11^th, April 2024, and only applications submitted within the deadline will be admitted.

Applications must be formalized by sending a letter of application accompanied by the following documents: Curriculum Vitae, certificate of qualifications, declaration of honor and other supporting documents deemed relevant. They shall also indicate the e-mail address to which by such indication they accept to be notified for all purposes within this procedure.

Applications must be sent by email to the address of the Scholarships Area of the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Aveiro (dem.bolsas@ua.pt), by the deadline, indicating in the subject the reference “RG_09_DEM_TEMA_2024_BAFTHA". Additionally, candidates are asked to send the digitized documents to the president of the jury, Prof. Doctor Ricardo José Alves de Sousa, email rsousa@ua.pt.

13. Form of publication/notification of results: The final results of the evaluation will be published through an ordered list, by final mark obtained, posted on the University's website, within 90 working days after the final date of submission of the application, and the successful candidate will be notified by email. For the purposes of prior hearing of interested parties, the deadline of 10 working days is set, as provided for in the Code of Administrative Procedure. At the end of the period for hearing the interested parties, and in the absence of any response from them, the list of candidates will become final. Candidates may lodge a complaint against the final decision within 15 working days, or appeal to the maximum executive body of the funding entity within 30 working days after notification of the final decision, in accordance with the provisions of article 12 of the Research Grants Regulation of the Foundation for Science and Technology.

14. Tender duration: The final ranking list of candidates will be valid until 31^st October 2024 for the purpose of constituting a reserve list for selection.

The models of the grant contract and of the final report to be prepared by the grant holder and the supervisor are available at Research fellows - sgrh - Universidade de Aveiro (ua.pt).