A CALL IS NOW OPEN FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SELECTION OF 1 (ONE) PH.D. HOLDER FOR THE POSITION OF ASSISTANT RESEARCHER UNDER PRIVATE LAW, IN THE DISCIPLINARY AREA OF PSYCHOLOGY, SUB-AREA NEUROSCIENCE UNDER FCT TENURE - 1ST EDITION (NO. 02/C06-I06/2024)

The Rector of ISPA – Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida (hereinafter, ISPA), has opened an international call to appoint 1 (one) Full-Time Assistant Researcher, under private law, with exclusive dedication, in the disciplinary area of Psychology, sub-area Neurosciences, with a special focus on the neurobiological bases of behaviour and cognitive processes.

The position is open under the FCT-Tenure Funding Programme/instrument, co-funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology/Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia – FCT, I.P./MECI, taking into account the results of FCT’s Tenure - 1st Edition (No. 02/C06-i06/2024) for positions in the Scientific Research career in the area of Psychology, Neurosciences, following on the application submitted by ISPA, CRL, the founding entity of ISPA – Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida, hereinafter referred to as ISPA. The position is intended to hire a researcher who will assume the “WJCR Chair: Assistant Researcher in Neuroscience_2”, with reference 2023.14590.TENURE.012.

The call is governed by the terms of the Statutes of the Research Career of ISPA  and other regulations and statutes associated to the first FCT Tenure call, and applicable labour legislation. 

The successful applicant will be offered a permanent contract as an Assistant Researcher at ISPA, in accordance with the Portuguese Labor Code, Law No. 7/2009 of February 12, as amended, SCRS, and other applicable legislation and regulatory standards.

1. Call and Position Details:

1.1. Scientific Field: The competition is open in the field of Psychology – Neurosciences.

1.2. Place of employment: The place of employment is located at ISPA, Rua Jardim do Tabaco, 34, 1149-041 Lisbon, Portugal, and, eventually, other locations necessary for the execution of the planned scientific and educational activities.

1.3. Salary: The gross monthly base salary is in accordance with Index 195 (Level 1) for Full-Time of Assistant Researcher, as defined in Notice No. 02/C06-i06/2024.

1.4. Employment Regime: The contract is for a tenure position, under exclusive dedication regime, and according to article 22 of RCPI

1.5. Position Description:

a) The Assistant Researcher, in the area of Psychology, subarea Neurosciences, will be responsible for developing his/her research agenda on topics focused on the neurological mechanisms of behaviour and cognition, using a combination of behavioural, physiological and neuroimaging methodologies and techniques to study the relationship between genetic, environmental and developmental factors that impact social behaviour of various typical and atypical populations.

b) The hired researcher will be integrated into the William James Center for Research (WJCR) and will participate in the following scientific research, knowledge dissemination, and strategic development activities:

b1) Develop research projects addressing emerging and relevant issues in their area of expertise, in alignment with the focus of this call, able to attract external and competitive funding;

b2) Produce and disseminate research findings, including peer-reviewed publications in international journals, and actively engaging in public outreach beyond academic audiences;

b3) Collaborate with academic and non-academic institutions, fostering future partnerships and community engagement, while also participating in university outreach, scientific dissemination, and socio-economic valorisation of knowledge;

b4) Supervise and mentor research fellows, assistants, and interns, contributing to their training and scientific development;

b5) Contribute to the strategic development of the Social, Cognitive, and Applied Neuroscience research focus of the WJCR.

c) Supervise master’s dissertations and doctoral theses.

d) Develop and teach curricular units and courses, including specialization courses, actively participate in the renewal and improvement of curricula and educational practices. 

These activities will be carried out in accordance with the FCT Tenure – 1st Edition Call and Scientific Research Career Statute (SCRS), which assigns up to 4 weekly teaching hours to the recruited researcher, to be allocated by ISPA.

2. Admission Requirements:

2.1 Eligible candidates include:

a) National, foreign, and stateless candidates who hold a doctorate degree in Psychology, Neurosciences, or other related areas (under the terms set forth in paragraph j) of § 2 of article 24 of the SCRS), in accordance with the provisions of article 21 of the FCT Scientific Employment Regulation, Regulation no. 607-A/2017, published in the Official Gazette, 2nd series, no. 225, of 22 November 2017, as amended on 12 October 2023.

b) Have enjoyed a fixed-term contract or scholarship, as a doctorate, at an Institution of the National Science and Technology System (Institutions as described in Decree-Law No. 63/2019, May 16th);

c) Eligible candidates must not hold a permanent employment position in the careers of Scientific Research, University Teaching, or Polytechnic Higher Education Teaching, nor a permanent position in national institutions not covered by the Career Statutes

2.2. Absolute Merit Requirements:

Candidates must meet the following minimum absolute merit criteria:

- Bachelor’s degree in Psychology or Psychological Sciences and Master's degree in Psychology

- Doctorate degree in the area of the competition: Psychology

- Evidence of specialization in the area of the competition, Psychology, sub-area Neuroscience, with a special focus on the neurobiological bases of behavior and cognitive processes;

- A publication record in the field of specialization at both national and international levels (e.g., peer-reviewed journals, books, book chapters), compatible with the year of completion of the doctorate;

- Proven teaching experience at multiple academic levels and supervision of master’s and/or doctoral students in the competition’s field;

- Proficiency in English, spoken and written.

3. Application Procedure:

3.1 Applications should be addressed to the Rector of ISPA, contain the candidate’s full name, and be submitted by email to candidaturas.investigadores@ispa.pt, with the reference of the call Investigador/07/CT/2025 in the subject line. 

3.2 Documentation. Applications must include supporting documentation, in PDF format, confirming the candidate’s eligibility and relevant track-record, namely:

3.2.1     Detailed Curriculum Vitae (in Portuguese or English) that should:

a)  Include a 50–100-word preamble summarizing the candidate's employment history, identifying the respective research and/or higher education institution, period of employment, position held, type of contract, and disciplinary field;

b)  Contain a 50-150-word substantiated synopsis demonstrating the candidate’s specialization in the disciplinary field(s) of the call;

c)  Be structured according to the evaluation criteria outlined under Relative Merit (see 4. below) – failure do so will deem the application ineligible;

d)  Identify 3-6 articles (in Portuguese or English) that best represent the candidate’s most significant contributions to the advancement of knowledge in the disciplinary field(s) of the call and provide a 15-25-word justification per article.

e)  Document proving that the candidate has benefited from a fixed-term contract or scholarship, such as a doctorate, at an institution of the National Science and Technology System (as indicated in item b) of item 2.1 of this Opening Notice).

3.2.2     Career Development Plan (max. 800 words) for the duration of the position (3 years), specifying:

a) research lines in the disciplinary field(s) of the call;

b) principal issues where the candidate intends to focus their future research, duly contextualized in the current state of the art;

c) short and systematic description of the research strategies that the candidate intends to adopt to develop their research and resolve or contribute to the resolution of the issues stated;

d)     Well-founded reasoning for their choices and how they fit with ISPA’s mission and, in particular, WJCR objectives.

3.2.3     Supporting documents relating to the candidate’s education:

a) Copies of diplomas for undergraduate, master's, doctorate degrees, in Portuguese, English or Latin. If the original is issued in a different language, a certified translation should be provided;

b) For degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, the diploma(s) must be accompanied by the respective recognition or proof of application for such recognition by the call’s submission deadline, pursuant in accordance with Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16.

3.2.4. Separate PDF copies of (one per document), or hyperlink to:

a) 3-6 published works (see 3.2.1. above)

b) other publications or other elements that the candidate deems relevant

3.2.5.    Motivation Letter (max. 1 page, in Portuguese or English) explaining how the candidate’s scientific activities, namely the most relevant of the past 5 years, and their skills align with ISPA’s and WJCR’ strategic objectives;

3.3. Exclusion criteria. An application will be deemed ineligible if:

a) it does not meet the requirements outlined herein; 

b) the supporting documentation is submitted after the call’s deadline;

c) it does not meet the language requirements outlined herein nor does it provide a well-founded justification for failing to meet such requirements.

3.4. Additional documentation. The Selection Committee may ask the candidate to submit additional documentation in support of their statements, when it deems appropriate.

3.5. False statements. False statements by any candidate shall be punished in accordance with the law.

3.6. Call deadline: Applications must be submitted from April 11th to 13 rd May 2025 (11:00 pm Lisbon time).

4. Evaluation Criteria on Relative Merit 

4.1.     Relative merit evaluation criteria includes: Curricular evaluation (80%) + Interview (20%).

4.1.1.    All applications that meet admission requirements are subject to curricular evaluation

4.1.2.    The 3 (three) candidates with the highest score in the curriculum evaluation will be called for an interview.

4.2. Curricular evaluation (CA) will be based on the following percentages and parameters:

4.2.1.    Scientific Performance (60%) in the disciplinary field of the call (Neurosciences) with the following parameters: 

4.2.1.1.   Scientific production (50%): Quality and quantity of scientific outputs in the disciplinary field of the call, namely, editorial activity, books, book chapters, publications in peer-reviewed journals, and conference proceedings, poster and workshop presentations, technical reports, technological prototypes. Renowned public indexes (e.g., SCImago/Scopus and ISI Web of Science) will be weighed along with a qualitative evaluation of the publications highlighted by the candidate.

4.2.1.2.   Coordination of and participation in scientific projects (10%): Experience in the coordination and/or participation in scientific or technological development projects in the disciplinary field of the call. The quality and quantity of scientific projects subject to competitive public funding, through national or international agencies, will be taken into consideration. Projects leading to technological developments in the disciplinary field of the call through contracting by external entities are also relevant. Quality assessment will consider the awarded amount, type and competitiveness of the call/tender.

4.2.2.    Pedagogic capacity (20%) with the following parameters:

4.2.2.2.1.  Teaching experience (10%): Teaching experience in the disciplinary field of the call will be assessed based on, namely number and diversity of curricular units (UC) taught, role and responsibility in each UC, development and supervision of curricular projects, available pedagogic assessment mechanisms and other relevant indicators, such as awards or other distinctions.

4.2.2.2.   Supervision and mentoring experience (10%): Evaluation of the candidate's experience as supervisor of master's and/or doctoral students.

4.2.3.    Career development plan (20%): The career development plan will be assessed for clarity, ethics and feasibility, and in particular its alignment with ISPA’s mission and WJCR’s objectives especially regarding the neurobiological bases of behaviour and cognitive processes. Additionally, the clear systematization of the proposed research strategies will be taken in account.

4.3. Curriculum evaluation process. The Selection Committee will evaluate eligible applications on a scale of 0-100, according to the criteria defined under 4.2 for curricular evaluation (AC).

4.3.1. The classification that each member of the Selection Committee awards individual candidates in each of the parameters corresponds to the weighted arithmetic mean of the classifications awarded under each criterion.

4.3.2. The formula for calculating the AC punctuation on a scale of 0 – 100 is the following:

AC = Scientific performance 60% [Scientific production (50%) + Coordination and participation in scientific projects (10%)] + Pedagogical capacity 20% [Teaching activity (10%) + Guidance and monitoring activity (10%)] + Career development plan 20%

4.4. The interview will be assessed based on the following percentages and parameters regarding the candidate’s:

4.4.1. Scientific knowledge;

4.4.2. Motivation;

4.4.3. Ability to demonstrate their suitability for the position.

4.4.4. The interview evaluation is expressed on a scale of 0 – 100.

4.5 Final classification (FC). The final classification of candidates admitted to the interview corresponds to the weighted average of the selection and evaluation criteria, as follows:

F = AC (80%) + Interview (20%)

4.5.1. In the event of a tie, the Chair of the Selection Committee has the casting vote.

4.6. The call shall be cancelled should the Selection Committee establish that no candidate meets the level established in the call (i.e., where curricular evaluations all fall below 50 points).

5. Selection process:

5.1. Preparatory Meeting. During the first meeting, the Selection Committee makes decisions regarding:

a)  Application eligibility, based on documentation presented;

b)  Absolute merit requirements;

c)  Ineligible candidates or eligible candidates who do not meet the minimum requirements of absolute merit shall be excluded from consideration.

5.2. Ineligible candidates and candidates admitted on absolute merit will be notified through Public Notice (i.e., Edital).

5.3. Curricular Evaluation Meeting. Selection Committee members provide their independent evaluations, and the final evaluation and subsequent candidate ranking is carried out.

5.3.1. Ranking and voting process 

5.3.1.1. Selection Committee members present and discuss their individual evaluations, with room to introduce changes should any member wish to do so. After reaching consensus, each member will present their proposed candidate ranking duly based on relative merit criteria, in a written document to be attached to the minutes of the meeting.

5.3.1.2. Voting begins to determine which candidate should be ranked first. If a candidate gets more than half of the votes, they are ranked in first place. If no candidate gets more than half the votes, candidates with zero votes and the candidate with the fewest votes in the first round who received at least one vote are all removed. If more than one least voted candidate with at least one vote in the first round exists, a vote is held only on those tied for last to decide which one to eliminate. For this vote, the members vote for the candidate placed lowest in their ranking and the candidate with the most votes is eliminated. If they still reach a tie between two or more candidates, the Chair of the Selection Committee shall decide which among these to eliminate. After this elimination, the first vote resumes for the remaining candidates. The process is repeated until one candidate obtains more than half the votes, placing them in first place.

5.3.1.3. Once the candidate ranking first is removed from the vote, the process as described in 5.3.1.2 above is repeated for the second place and so on, until a ranked list for the admitted candidates is reached.

5.3.1.4. Selection Committee members are not allowed to abstain from voting.

5.4. Notification of excluded candidates and those admitted for the interview is made by notice.

5.5. Interview with the 3 (three) top candidates according to Curricular Evaluation results

5.5.1. Interviews will be conducted in person. Under special circumstances, at the request of the candidate, and with the unanimous approval of the Selection Committee members interviews may be conducted via teleconference.

5.5.1. The Selection Committee Chair is responsible for conducting the interview. Any members of the Selection Committee can ask the candidates questions and evaluate each candidate independently.

5.5.3. Each interview shall last up to 30 minutes with the possibility of 30-minute extension to be granted at the discretion of the Chair.

5.5.4. The interview shall be held in Portuguese unless the candidate or a member of the Selection Committee do not speak Portuguese, in which case the Chair may decide to conduct the interview in English.

5.5.5. Failure to attend the interview at the duly scheduled time and place (in person or by teleconference) shall result in exclusion from consideration.

5.6. Selection Committee meeting for final evaluation and ranking of the candidates.

5.7. The final list ranking the candidates is published through Public Notice (i.e., Edital).

6. Process completion:

6.1. Candidates are notified of the results throughout the evaluation process according to the process established under item 5 of this Call.

6.2. After being notified of the final results, candidates have 10 (ten) working days to appeal the decision (i.e., audiência prévia), in accordance with articles 121 et seq. of the Code of Administrative Procedure. The final decision will be made after analysing the pronunciations appealing the decision. The Selection Committee’s final decision will be made within 90 days of the call’s filing deadline.

6.3. After the period for audiência prévia according to item 6.2 above, the Selection Committee will submit the decision for approval by the Rector;

6.4. The selected candidate has 10 (ten) working days to accept the proposed position, in writing, after which, if no well-founded reason is provided within said period, the candidate will be considered as having renounced the offer or withdrawn from consideration. In the event of renunciation or withdrawal by the selected candidate, the Selection Committee reserves the right to notify and grant said position to the candidate subsequently ranked, if applicable, and in accordance with the final ranking list.

7. Selection Committee Members:

The Selection Committee is chaired by Professor Manuela Veríssimo, PhD, Full Professor and Vice-Rector of ISPA – Instituto Universitário, and is composed of the following five members:

Professor Rui Oliveira, PhD, Full Professor, ISPA – Instituto Universitário;

Professor Teresa Garcia Marques, PhD, Full Professor, ISPA – Instituto Universitário;

Professor Luis Faísca, Associate Professor, University of Algarve;

Professor Ana Luísa Raposo, Associate Professor, University of Lisbon;

Prof. Doctor Marco Vasconcelos, Associate Professor, University of Aveiro

8. Publication of the call for applications:

This notice is published on the following platforms:

a)            EURAXESS in Portuguese and English;

b)            ISPA website

c)            ISPA social networks

9. Non-Discrimination and Equal Access Policy:

Ispa actively promotes a policy of gender equality, diversity, and inclusion, taking thorough measures to prevent any and all forms of discrimination. In this regard, the terms ‘candidate’, ‘researcher’, ‘PhD holder’*, and similar are not used in this document to refer to a person’s gender.

Pursuant to Decree-Law no. 29/2001, of February 3, candidates with disabilities are given preference in the event of equal classification, which prevails over any other legal preference. Candidates must declare, in the application form and under oath of honor, their degree of disability, the type of disability, and the means of communication/expression to be used during the selection process, in accordance with the aforementioned decree.

April, 09th, 2025, Rector of ISPA – Instituto Universitário, Isabel Leal.