1 Research Grant Announcement (M/F)

Call open for applications for a research grant within the framework of the project REESOURCE – Unlocking The Supply Of Rare Earth Elements In Europe Through Responsible, Sustainable And Decarbonised Innovative Technologies, with the Grant Agreement number 101138460, funded by the European Union, in the scope of Horizon Europe Framework Programme, under the following conditions:

Scientific Area:  Mining Engineering

Admission requirements: Candidates who cumulatively meet the following two requirements may apply for this grant:

Requirement 1:

- Be a student enrolled in a doctoral program in the area of Mining Engineering or Environmental Engineering. The requirements are to be duly proven upon recruitment.

or

- Holder of an academic degree enrolled in a non-academic degree course integrated into the educational project of a higher education institution, developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units, a requirement to be duly proven at the time of signing the contract.

and

Requirement 2:

- Hold a master’s degree in Mining Engineering and Geo-Environment, Environmental Engineering, or a related field. 

If the degree has been awarded by a foreign higher education institution, it must comply with the provisions of the Decree-Law no. 66/2018 of August 16th and any formalities established there must be fulfilled by the time of signing the contract. 

Activity Outline: 

The grant envisages that the work plan will cover the following activities:

1. Research carried out as part of the REESource project. Integration into the project's research team, with lines of research associated with the Center for Natural Resources and Environment - CERENA.

2. Development and implementation of a PhD project in a line of research directly related to the REESource project, from a holistic perspective addressing the various technical, environmental, social, economic and ethical aspects that have to be balanced and integrated in the exploitation of a mineral resource. The work carried out should contribute to meeting the objectives of the following project WPs:

• WP4: Development of an innovative mining technology to boost the European extraction of Raw Materials (Task 4.1 - Guidelines on key rock engineering aspects of raise mining);
• WP5: Responsible supply of REEs through environmental impact minimisation: towards zero waste European mineral extraction (Task 5.1 - Greener beneficiation approaches for a Zero-Pollution mining; Task 5.2 - Water management under a circular economy approach);
• WP6: Novel sustainable approaches for tailing management (T6.2. - Tailings reduction and innovative uses of co-products and tailings);
• WP7: Integration of innovative mining technology for Raw Materials extraction (T7.2 - Development of a roadmap and a standardization strategy for the sustainable and responsible exploitation of REE in Europe, promoting the use of UNFC and UNRMS)
• WP8: Environmental and Social Sustainability (T8.1 - Environmental feasibility of the mineral exploitation and Life Cycle Assessment).

Legislation and regulations: Law Nº. 40/2004, of 18th August, in its current wording (Statutes of Scientific Research Fellow) and Regulation of Research Grants of the University of Porto.

Work place: The work will be developed at the Department of Civil and Georesources Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), under the scientific supervision of Professor Maria Cristina da Costa Vila and Maria de Lurdes Proença de Amorim Dinis.

Grant duration: Initial duration of 12 months, with the predicted starting date on November 2024, on an exclusive basis, eventually renewable but always within the project duration.

If it is not possible to ensure the duration of 12 months estimated in the previous paragraph, this duration will be adjusted according to the end date of the project and provided that the minimum duration of 3 consecutive months is guaranteed by paragraph 2 of article 10 of the Research Regulation of Research Grants of University of Porto.

The eventual renewal of the scholarship will be carried out as determined in paragraph 2 of article 10 of the Research Regulation of Research Grants of the University of Porto.

Stipend: The monthly amount of the grant varies between 1.259,64 euros according to the table of values in the University of Porto's Research Grant Regulations and 1.599,64 euros depending on the candidate's profile and previous experience in the project area.

Payment will be made by bank transfer.

Selection procedure: 

The curriculum of the candidates (60%) will be evaluated based on the merit of the candidate, and the following factors will be weighted:

a) Academic training (Master in Mining Engineering or Environmental Engineering - 10 points; Master in Chemical Engineering – 5 points; Others Masters – 2 points)

b) Publications in the area of Mining Engineering - 5 points; Publications Environmental Engineering or Chemical Engineering – 3 points; Publications in other areas – 1 point.

c) Research Experience in the project area – 5 points; in related areas – 3 points; Other areas – 1 point

The curriculum of each candidate will be evaluated on a 1-20 points scale. Candidates with less than 10 points in the curricular evaluation will not be invited for the interview. 

In the interview (40%), topics related to the work plan, experience and the candidate’s CV will be discussed with the invited candidates. 

If none of the candidates achieves a minimum final score of 10 points, the scholarship will not be awarded.

Selection Jury: 

President:  Professor Maria de Lurdes Proença de Amorim Dinis

Effective member:  Professor Maria Cristina da Costa Vila

Effective member:  Professor Rui Jorge Coelho Sousa

Supplementary member:  Professor António Manuel Antunes Fiúza

Supplementary member:  Professor António Carlos Pinheiro Fernandes

Advertisement of final decision: The results of the evaluation will be released to the candidates

by email to the email address indicated in the application process.

Deadline for applications and form of presentation of the applications: 

The call is open from 08/11/2024 to 21/11/2024 (until 23h59m, GMT time).

Applications must be formalised by email to recursoshumanos@fe.up.pt and to mldinis@fe.up.pt clearly stating the reference FEUP-REESource/GBD1_Out and including the following pdf documents: Motivation letter, Copy of certificates evidencing academic degree (referring the classification of each separated or integrated degree), detailed Curriculum Vitae; and other documents considered relevant by the applicant. 

The preferred saving format is the Portable Document Format (.pdf) to ensure that all documents can be read.