Announcement for the attribution of a Post-Doctoral Research Grant - 1 Vacancy

A call is now open for the attribution of one (1) Research Grant within the scope of the project “Connected Manufacturing - Digital Transformation”, ref. 179826, co-financed by national funds, through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (POCI) - COMPETE 2020, in the terms of the “Aviso de Abertura de Concurso n.º 11/SI/2021” as defined in paragraph a) of no.1 of article 62nd of “Regulamento Específico do domínio da Competitividade e Internacionalização (RECI)” Ordinance No. 57 -A/2015, of February 27th, in order to execute, develop and participate in the research and development project indicated above.

Scientific area: Information and Computer Science

Specific Scientific Area: Information Systems and Technology

Recipient category: The BIPD are intended for doctorates in the area of Information Systems and Technology, Computer Science or related areas, who cumulatively meet the following requirements:

• Holders of a PhD degree obtained in the three years prior to the date of submission of the fellowship application*;
• Have carried out the research work that led to the attribution of a PhD degree in an entity other than the host unit (ALGORITMI Center)**;
• Do not exceed, with the conclusion of the contract in question, including possible renewals, a cumulative period of three years in this type of fellowship, consecutive or interpolated.

Candidates who do not cumulatively meet the requirements described will be excluded.

*Documents proving the ownership of academic degrees and diplomas, or their respective recognition when they have been awarded by foreign higher education institutions, when applicable for the type of research grant in the call for applications, may be waived at the application stage, being replaced by declaration of honor of the candidate, with the verification of this condition occurring only in the phase of contracting the research grant. This statement 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 the purpose of contracting the grant, only the information contained in the latter will be considered. If it is verified that 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 and may, consequently, change the candidate's ranking, the fellowship contracting will not be done.

** Different R&D Units are included, even if located in the same Organic Unit (UOEI) of UMinho (no. 4 and 5 of article 7 of the FCT I.P Research Grant Regulation, in force)

Specific Requirements

Priority will be given to candidates with consolidated knowledge in:

Bachelor's and Master's degrees in the area of Information Systems, Computer Science or related areas, as well as consolidated knowledge in Machine Learning, Data Science, database technologies, and R and Python programming environments.

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 work plan is included in the Subprograma 4 - “Adaptive Intelligent Enterprise”, Activity 15 of the project “Connected Manufacturing - Digital Transformation”, in the profile “PhD Ciência de Computadores #1”, which corresponds to the initial period established for the research grant, to be added in any renewals, in a specific document (work plan).

The work plan consists of supporting Activity A15 of the project, namely in the design, programming and execution of Machine Learning and Data Science tasks associated with the construction of the Business Analytics for Manufacturing laboratory prototype.

The evaluation of the work carried out will be verified through the results obtained and expressed in the activities report, which will be elaborated by the researcher.

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. https://www.fct.pt/financiamento/programas-de-financiamento/bolsas/.

Host/Contracting institution and scientific supervision: The workplan will be carried out in the ALGORITMI Center of University of Minho, located in the Campus Azurém, under the scientific supervision of the Doctor Paulo Alexandre Ribeiro Cortez, Full Professor of the Information Systems Department, Engineering School, University of Minho.

Fellowship duration: The grant will take place for a period of 3 months, with a provisional starting date on September of 2024. The research grant contract will eventually be renewable for additional periods up to a maximum period of 3 years, if these periods do not exceed the maximum duration of the project and/or the applicable legislation.

Remunerationof the research grant: The remuneration (Monthly Maintenance Allowance) is 1801 euros, per month, in accordance with the remuneration 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. (https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM_atu…)

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 Insurance (Social Security contributions), corresponding to the 1st Echelon of the IAS (Indexante dos Apoios Sociais - Index of Social Support), 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 is composed by the following elements:

President, Doctor Paulo Alexandre Ribeiro Cortez, Full Professor of Department of Information Systems of School of Engineering of University of Minho;

Effective member, Doctor Maribel Yasmina Campos Alves Santos, Full Professor of Department of Information Systems of School of Engineering of University of Minho;

Effective member, Doctor Rui Manuel Ribeiro Castro Mendes, Assistant Professor of Department of Informatics of School of Engineering of University of Minho;

Substitute member, Doctor Manuel Filipe Vieira Torres dos Santos, Associate Professor with Habilitation of Department of Information Systems of School of Engineering of University of Minho;

Substitute member, Doctor Luís Gonzaga Mendes Magalhães, Associate Professor with Habilitation of Department of Information Systems of 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 merit of the candidate, following the selection methods, valued on a scale of 0 to 20 values.

Merit of the Candidate (MC) – 100%

1. Personal Curriculum, with a weighting of 100%;
   1. Academic formation field (Bachelor and Master degree),  with a weighting of 20%;
   2. Knowledge in Machine Learning, Data Science, database technologies, and R and Python programming environments, with a weighting of 40%;
   3.  Arithmetic final grade of the master degree, with a weighting of 20%;
   4.  Arithmetic final grade of the bachelor degree, with a weighting of 20%;

The degree field will be evaluated according to the table established in the criteria definition minutes, previously drawn up.

Final classification formula: The final ranking of candidates who complete the procedure will be expressed on a scale from 0 to 20 values ​​and will result from the weighted arithmetic average of the quantitative classifications obtained in each selection method, according to the following formula:

MC = = (a.1*0.2) + (a.2*0.4) + (a.3*0.2) + (a.4*0.2)

Candidates who obtain a valuation lower than 9.50 values in any of the selection methods are considered excluded from the final valuation.

The jury reserves the right not to award the research grant if candidates with the appropriate profile are not presented to the competition.

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.

The degree recognition must include the respective conversion of the final classification obtained in the foreign qualification, to the Portuguese classification scale. Candidates who do not comply with these terms, when there is a selection method in which the final grade of the course is indicated as an evaluation criterion, the jury will assign a classification of 0 (zero) values in that component.

In the application stage, when a declaration of honor is presented in replacement of degree recognition by a Portuguese higher education institution, and the degree recognition process has not yet been completed, the indication of the final grade of the academic degree will not be admitted as evidence for evaluation, when there is a selection method in which the final course grade is indicated as an evaluation criterion. Thus, in this situation, or when presenting only a certificate of qualifications from a foreign institution, the jury will assign a classification of 0 (zero) values ​​in the aforementioned selection method.

Disclosure of results: The provisional results of applications, based in the selection panel minutes, will be sent to applicants by email, within a maximum period of 90 working days from the term of submission of applications, pursuant to article 12 of the RBI of FCT.

If case of unfavorable 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).

Complaint and appeal procedures: The final results of the evaluation will be published through an ordered list, 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).

Application deadline and submission: The call for applications is open from July 8th till July 22nd, 2024.

Applications must be formalized, mandatorily, by sending an application letter accompanied by the following documents: Curriculum Vitae, qualifications certificates necessary for evaluating the requirements and selection criteria mentioned in the call or declaration of honor of the candidate (if applicable). Optionally, the candidate may send other documents considered relevant (for example: document indicating the R&D Unit where he carried out the research work that led to the attribution of the Doctor degree).

The example of declaration of honor can be found in the call in Portuguese, accessible through the URL https://crossmappingthefuture.com/#jobopportunities.

The selected candidate must certify that he/she has a qualified digital signature until the contracting phase of the research grant. More information is available on the UMinho portal: https://www.uminho.pt/PT/Teletrabalho/Paginas/AssinaturaDigital.aspx or on the Portal: https://www.autenticacao.gov.pt/.

Applications must be sent by email to divulgacao.innovativecarhmi@eng.uminho.pt, indicating the reference of the call in “Subject”. Applications submitted by other means will not be accepted.

Failure to indicate the call reference, the lack of any of the documents required in the application, or sending/delivering it to a location other than the one indicated above, may imply its exclusion. The call reference should resemble something like NS/XXXX/YEAR.

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)”. https://former.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/docs/Normas_de_Atribuicao_de_Bolsas…

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 or 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 research grant 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 obligated 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 working days after the end of the research grant.

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.

Non-discrimination and equal access policy: UMinho promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, whereby no candidate may be privileged, benefited, harmed or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty due to, in particular, of ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological convictions and union membership.