NOTICE FOR 2 (TWO) RESEARCH STUDENTSHIPS FOR THE PROJECT “HFPT – HEALTH FROM PORTUGAL”, FUNDED BY PRR - RECOVERY AND RESILIENCE PLAN AND BY EUROPEAN FUNDS 'NEXTGENERATION EU' (REF. C630926586-00465198), AT FACULTY OF MEDICINE OF UNIVERSITY OF PORTO (FMUP)

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto hereby opens this call for applications for 2 (two) research studentships, enrolled in a master or in a non-academic degree course integrated in the educational project of the institution developed in association or cooperation with one or several R&D units, within the scope of the project “HfPT – Health from Portugal” (Ref. C630926586-00465198), financed by PRR - Recovery and Resilience Plan and European Union’s NextGeneration EU funds, at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, under the following conditions:

1. Research area: Interoperability – Health Information Systems.

2. Admission requirements:

To apply for the research studentships, applicants must comply with the following requirements, for which documentary evidence must be provided:

1. Degree in Computer Science or Informatics and related scientific areas[1];
2. To be a student enrolled in a master's programme in Computer Sciences, Informatics or related scientific areas, or be enrolled in a non-academic degree course integrated in the educational project of the institution developed in association or cooperation with one or several R&D units - this requirement must be proven at the time of contracting2;

3. Preferred requirements:

1. Experience in projects for the development of health information systems or health data analysis;
2. Professional experience in the area of ​​software development, web information systems, mobile applications, or similar;
3. Experience and practical skills in integration processes between information systems or in the use of health data definition and communication standards (e.g. FHIR, openEHR, SNOMED, ​​ICD);
4. Participation in (inter)national research projects in the health area;
5. Excellent written and spoken English proficiency;
6. Immediate availability (to be mentioned in the motivation letter).

4. Work Plan: 

4.1. The purpose of this contract is to perform the following tasks:

1. Conducting a literature review on approaches and methodologies for health data certification and standardization;
2. Developing health information standardization and certification processes;
3. Developing consensus processes aimed at harmonizing different data sources and mappings to/among relevant standards in the area of health information systems;
4. Implementing technical solutions for integrating different data sources following relevant standards in the area of health information systems.

5. Applicable Legislation and Regulations: 

The call for applications and the respective award of the studentships are governed by the provisions of the University of Porto's Research Studentship Regulations - approved by Regulation no. 184/2021, published in Diário da República, 2.ª Série, n. 43, 03rd March, hereinafter referred to as the Regulations no. 43, of 03rd March, hereinafter referred to as the Regulation; the legal framework for the recognition of academic degrees and higher education diplomas awarded by foreign higher education institutions; the Code of Administrative Procedure (CPA), approved by Decree-Law no. 4/2015, of 7th January; the Research Fellow Statute (EBI), approved by Law no. 40/2004, of 18th August, in the current wording published by Decree-Law no. 123/2019, of 28th August and; other applicable rules.

6. Workplace: 

The work plan will be developed at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) Unit, or other locations necessary for implementation, under the scientific supervision of Doctor Pedro Manuel Vieira Marques.

7. Duration: 

The studentship will have a duration of 6 months, on an exclusive dedication basis, possibly renewable for identical or different periods, following a positive evaluation, up to the limit of the period of execution of the work plan or funding, and may in no case have a duration of more than one year, when the scholarship has been awarded to Bachelor’s or master’s students enrolled in non-academic degree study programmes or two years, when the scholarship has been awarded to students enrolled in master’s programmes, under the terms of no. 3 of article 10 of the Law on the Research and Technological Development.

8. Monthly maintenance allowance amount: 

8.1. The monthly maintenance allowance for the studentship is 1040,98€, in accordance with Annex I of the Regulations.

8.2. Payment will be made by FMUP by bank transfer. In addition to this allowance, the studentship holder will be covered by personal accident insurance.

8.3. The studentship holder can join the Voluntary Social Insurance Scheme (valid for a studentship contract of six months or more), which is optional (not compulsory) and the reimbursement corresponds to the 1st step of the contribution base.

9. Evaluation methods: 

9.1. The selection methods are as follows: curricular assessment (AC – abbreviation in Portuguese) with a weighting of 70% and, optionally, complemented by an interview (ENT – abbreviation in Portuguese) with a weighting of 30%, which will only take place when the Jury considers that the AC does not allow it to clarify, in the intended manner, the real competences of the candidates or to distinguish which candidate is best suited to the position and functions to be performed. If this is the case, the interview will be carried out with the 5 (five) candidates best classified in the AC.

9.2. Each member of the Jury will assess the selection methods on a scale of 0 to 100 points.

9.3. The criteria and weighting factors for the curricular assessment (AC) are:

Curricular assessment (70%)

1. Proven knowledge in development processes and/or integration between information systems (0 to 30 points);
2. Professional experience in the area of ​​software development, web information systems, mobile applications, etc. (0 to 15 points)
3. Experience and practical skills in software development, integration processes between information systems or in the use of health data definition and communication standards (e.g. FHIR, openEHR, SNOMED, ​​ICD); (0 to 35 points);
4. Participation in funded research projects (0 a 15 points);
5. Experience in the authorship of scientific articles in knowledge areas relevant to this notice (de 0 a 15 points).

9.4. The candidates who have scored 30 points or less will be excluded from the AC stage.

9.5. The following are the criteria and weighting factors for the interview (ENT), should it be held:

Interview (30%)

1. Ability to demonstrate the relevance of previously acquired knowledge and the adequacy of skills for the work to be performed (0 to 50 points);
2. Motivation and availability to carry out the planned activities (de 0 to 50 points).

9.6. The candidates may ask the President of the Jury to authorize their interview by videoconference, stating the reasons for this.

9.7. Failure to attend the interview stage of the selection process is equivalent to withdrawing from the competition, and applicants will be excluded from the competition.

9.8. The Final Classification (CF - abbreviation in Portuguese) will be obtained by applying the following formula: CF = (0,7×AC) + (0,3×ENT). If the Jury waives the need for an Interview (ENT), the CF = AC.

9.9. The candidates who score 50 points or less in the CF will be excluded from the competition.

9.10. This competition is intended exclusively to fill the vacancy indicated. If no candidate demonstrates that they have the profile required to fulfill the work plan described above within the scope of this project, the Jury reserves the right not to award the position.

10. Selection panel: 

President – Doctor Pedro Manuel Vieira Marques, Affiliated Professor and Intermediate Manager of the Technology Management Unit of the Common Resources Department at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto; 

1st effective member – Doctor José Alberto da Silva Freitas, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto;

2nd effective member – Doctor Mariana Fernandes Lobo, Entry Level PhD Researcher at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto;

Substitute member – Doctor Ricardo João Cruz Correia, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto;

Substitute member – Doctor Rute Alexandra Borges de Almeida, Assistant Researcher at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto.

11. Submission of applications: 

11.1. The candidates must be submitted by 8th of april 2025 (23:59 – local time - Lisbon).

11.2. The candidates must be formalized using the online application submission system available on the FMUP website: https://sigarra.up.pt/fmup/pt/CNT_CAND_GERAL.CONCURSOS_LIST(Ref.ª 2025/20, Pr. 290).

11.3. The application must be accompanied by documents proving the conditions set out in this Notice, namely: 

1. Updated curriculum vitae in Portuguese or English;
   1. Copy of the required degree certificate(s) and recognition of degree if obtained from a foreign higher education institution (this recognition may be submitted until the contract signing);
   2. Proof of enrollment in a study cycle leading to a master’s degree or a non-degree course developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units (proof of enrollment must be submitted until the contract signing);
   3. Motivation letter indicating availability to start the work plan;
   4. Declaration of eligibility (attached).

11.4. The candidates may also attach any other documents they feel are relevant to assessing their merit.

11.5. Failure to comply with the application submission deadline, failure to submit or late submission of the documents referred to in points a) to d) of paragraph 11.3. will result in the application being excluded. 

11.6. The documents must be attached directly to the application message, without links to external platforms/disks. In order to ensure that all documents can be read, the preferred saving format is "Portable Document Format" (.pdf). The files must be labeled with the name and surname of the applicant and must not exceed 5 MB in total. These files can be compressed into .zip format. 

11.7. The Jury may, whenever it deems it necessary, ask applicants to submit additional documents relating to the facts mentioned in the curriculum vitae submitted, setting a deadline for this, in the following terms:

1. the documentation referred to is not intended for the presentation of elements not mentioned in the curriculum vitae, nor for the addition of missing documents required by this Notice;
2. all applicants are informed that additional documentation has been requested.

12. False declarations:

False statements made by candidates will be penalized in accordance with the law.

13. Notification of results:

13.1. Applicants will be notified of the minutes relating to the application assessment phase(s) sent to them by email, to the address they provide for this purpose, with a receipt of delivery.

13.2. Notifications are made by email, under the terms of articles 112(1)(c) and 113(5) of the CPA.

13.3. Under the terms of article 121 et seq. of the CPA, once notified, candidates have 10 working days to comment in writing.

14. Booking list:

A booking list will be drawn up based on the final ranking list, which may be used in the event of the first-placed candidate withdrawing. The Faculty's highest authority reserves the right to call the next candidate, and so on, until the vacancy is filled. This reserve list may be used for a maximum period of 6 months from this Notice's publication date.

15. Non-Discrimination and Equal Access Policy

The University of Porto actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, so that no applicant may be privileged, benefited, disadvantaged or deprived of any right or exempted from any duty on the grounds of ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, social origin or condition, genetic heritage, reduced working capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological convictions and trade union membership.

DECLARATION

For the purposes of complying with the provisions of article 10 of the Research Studentship Regulations of the University of Porto, I declare that: 

€ I have not signed any research studentship contracts to date under the Research Fellow Statute. 

€ To date, I have signed the following research studentship contract(s) under the Research Fellow Statute: 

Type of studentship:

Start Date:

End Date:

Contracting Organisation:

I further declare that I fulfil the eligibility conditions to take part in this studentship, as required under the terms of the aforementioned regulation.

As it is true, I declare and sign this declaration. 

Date ____/_____/_____ 

Signature __________________________________

[1] If the academic degree was awarded by a foreign higher education institution, it must be recognized by a Portuguese higher education institution, under the terms of article 25 of Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of August 16, which approves the legal framework for the recognition of academic degrees and higher education diplomas awarded by foreign higher education institutions, and article 4(2)(e) of Decree-Law no. 60/2018, of August 3, and any formalities set out therein must be fulfilled by the date of the act of hiring. The recognition of foreign academic degrees and diplomas, as well as the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese classification scale, can be requested at any public higher education institution, or at the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES, only in the case of automatic recognition). For more information, please visit the DGES portal at the following address: http://www.dges.gov.pt.

2 Proof of registration must be submitted by the date of recruitment and applicants may attach a declaration on their honor that they meet the registration conditions for the purposes of their application.