ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP FOR MASTER STUDENTS

Lab2PT/NGS-BI/01

Title: Research Fellowship for master students; 3 vacancies

A call for applications is now open for the attribution of 3 (three) research fellowships for master students in Geosciences - Geological resource valorization branch, under the project NGS Agenda - New Generation Storage no. C644936001-00000045, investment project no. 58, of the "Agendas for Business Innovation" Incentive System, financed by the RRP - Recovery and Resilience Plan and the NextGeneration EU European Funds., under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Geology - geological resource valorization

Recipient category: The research grants are aimed at master's degree students in the field of Geosciences, more specifically in the field of geological resource valorization.

Requirement for granting the fellowship:

·       The applicants may apply without prior registration in the course for which the fellowship is open. The requirement to enroll in a degree course or non-academic degree course will be verified on the date of contracting the fellowship;

·       Only fellowships whose selected applicants present a valid proof of enrollment in a degree course or 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).

Candidates profile:

Applicants must hold a degree in the scientific area of Geology at the time of application.  They must also have:

·       experience in the practice of microscopy of rock and mineral petrology;

·       demonstrated knowledge of metallogenesis and mineral deposition;

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:

The NGS (New Generation Storage) project aims at empowering the battery sector, promoting its industrialization, with a primary component located at the level of evidence and characterization of natural sources of lithium in rock, especially in Portugal.

The tasks to be carried out fall within this scope, namely Work Package 1 - Valorization and Advanced Refining, contributing to project BP3 - Valorization and Prospecting (Determinants of hard-rock lithium recovery) and are as follows:

1.    Creation and optimization of analytical routines dedicated to ore petrology and MLA (mineral liberation analysis);

2.    Multi-scale conceptual (structural and paragenetic) modeling of individual deposits and sets of deposits in mineral deposit geology and surveying;

3.    Materialography of substances and massifs;

4.    Characterization of mining fronts in a territorial and local context, with a view to optimizing extractive practices in relation to the occupation and orderly use of suitable territories.

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 serie, 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 in the Landscapes, Heritage and Territory Laboratory, University of Minho, under the scientific supervision of the Professor Carlos Augusto Alves Leal Gomes.

Fellowship duration: Fellowships will have the duration of 6 months, predictably starting in September 2024, and may be renewed for equal periods, up to a maximum of 24 months or until the end of the project.

Amount of the research grant: The value stipend is 990,98€/month, according to the table of values of FCT, I.P. fellowships in the country (available for consultation at https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM_atualização-2024.pdf), and 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.

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

Doctor Carlos Augusto Alves Leal Gomes, Associate Professor with Aggregation at the School of Sciences, University of Minho.

Effective Members:

Doctor Carlos Alberto Simões Alves, Assistant Professor at the School of Sciences, University of Minho.

Doctor Vitor Patrício Rodrigues Ribeiro, Visiting Professor Equivalated to Assistant Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Minho.

Substitute Members:

Doctor Liliana Adelina Afonso Novo de Almeida Truta, Researcher at CeNTI - Center for Nanotechnology and Technical, Functional and Intelligent Materials.

Doctor Mariana Ivone Alves Ornelas Cardoso, Researcher at CeNTI - Center for Nanotechnology and Technical, Functional and Intelligent Materials.

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 0 to 5 values:

A.      Applicant Merit - AM (70%):

A1: Academic path (considering the classifications of academic degrees), with a weighting of 50%;

A2: Personal curriculum (considering professional and scientific background), with a weighting of 40%, evincing the following aspects: experience in the practice of microscopy of petrology of rocks and ores, knowledge of the practice of paragenetic analysis and the practice of mineralogical tests of industrial performance.

A3: Motivation letter, with a weighting of 10%.

The final classification of the applicant’s merit will be achieved through the following formula:

AM=(A.1*0,5) + (A.2*0,4) + (A.3*0,1)

If the number of applicants exceeds the number of available fellowships, the applicants ranked in the first 6 positions, sorted by the AM, will be admitted to the Interview stage, where the Jury will assess the following sub-criteria:

B.      Interview – INT (30%):

B.1: Interpersonal skills (30%);

B.2: Demonstrated knowledge in the field of the tender (40%);

B.3: Motivation (20%);

B.4: Language skills (10%).

The classification of the interview will be achieved through the following formula:

INT=(B1**0,3) + (B2**0,4) + (B3**0,2) + (B4**0,1)

The Final Classification (FC) will be achieved through the following formula:

FC= (AM*0,7) + (INT*0,3)

The jury reserves the right not to award the grant if no candidates with the right profile apply.

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 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 send 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).

[The hearing of the interested parties, if excluded, should be justified accordingly with article 124º of CPA]

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).

Constitution of a selection reserve list:  Candidates in the next positions on the tender's final ranking list will be included on a reserve selection list, which can be used up to 3 months after the final results have been announced.

Application deadline and submission: The call for applications is open from 04/07/2024 to 18/07/2024.

Applications must be formalized by sending an application letter with the following documents:

a) Detailed curriculum vitae;

b) Certificate(s) of qualifications specifying the final classification and, if possible, the grades obtained in all subjects taken, or, alternatively, a declaration of honour from the candidate.

c) For degrees obtained abroad, a record of recognition of the academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions and a record of the conversion of the respective final classification to the Portuguese classification scale, or, alternatively, a declaration of honour from the candidate;

d) a letter of motivation.

Applications must be sent by email to info@lab2pt.uminho.pt, indicating the reference of the call for applications in Subject “Lab2PT/NGS-BI/01”. 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 the academic degrees or diplomas and enrolment in degree courses or non-conferring courses, depending on the type of scholarship].

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. Contract model and final report model  (link).

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)

[1] DGES (Foreign Degrees and Diplomas): https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/degree-and-diploma-recognition?plid=1536; University of Minho: Recognition of foreign degrees and diplomas: https://www.uminho.pt/EN/education/Pages/recognition-of-foreign-qualifications.aspx