Announcement - Call for Awarding of Doctoral Research Grants under the Protocol “Centro para a Valorização do Barroso – Património Agrícola Mundial - Valor Barroso”

The Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB) launches a call for applications for 12 (twelve) research grants, hereinafter referred to as Doctoral Research Grants, under the FCT Research Grant Regulations (RBI) and the Research Grant Holder Statute (EBI), in the areas and profiles described in section 5. Work Plans.

The grants will be funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the Protocol signed between FCT and the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, with a view to funding PhD research grants under the Centro Valor Barroso.

1. APPLICATION SUBMISSION

The call is open from 6 February until 23h 59 (Lisbon time) of 24 February 2023.

Applications and supporting documents to the application foreseen in this Call for Proposals must be submitted through the portal for submission of applications https://concursos.ipb.pt/.

Each candidate may submit only one application, under penalty of cancellation of all submitted applications.

False statements or plagiarism on the part of the applicants shall be grounds for cancellation of the application without prejudice to the adoption of other sanctionary measures.

2. TYPE AND DURATION OF GRANTS

Doctoral research grants are intended to finance research activities leading to a doctoral degree in Portuguese universities.

The research activities leading to a doctoral degree will be coordinated by the IPB (host institutions - CIMO, CeDRI and UNIAG) in partnership with the other partner institutions of the protocol, without prejudice of the fact that the work may involve collaboration with other institutions besides those mentioned above.

The research activities leading to the doctoral degree of the selected grantees must be framed in the activity plan and strategy of the collaboration contract of the ValorBarroso, with strong intervention and permanence in the Barroso territory, and be developed within the framework of a PhD Programme in a Portuguese University.

The duration of the grants is, as a rule, annual, renewable up to a maximum of four years (48 months), and no grant can be awarded for a period of less than three consecutive months.

3. Grants recipients

Doctoral Research Grants are intended for registered candidates or candidates who meet the necessary conditions to enrol in a Doctoral Programme and who intend to develop research activities with a strong intervention in the Barroso territory leading to a doctoral degree.

4. ADMISSIBILITY

4.1 Admissibility Requirements of the Candidate

You may apply to this competition:

- Nationals or citizens of other Member States of the European Union;

- Non-EU citizens;

- Stateless persons;

- Citizens benefiting from the status of political refugee.

To apply for a PhD Research Grant it is necessary:

- To hold a bachelor's or master's degree in the scientific areas in which the call is open or in areas considered to be related;

- To reside permanently and habitually in Portugal at the starting date of the work plan period abroad, if the proposed work plan includes a period in foreign institutions (mixed grants), a requirement applicable to both Portuguese and foreign citizens;

- Not to have benefited from a PhD or in-company PhD grant directly funded by FCT, regardless of its duration

- Not hold a doctoral degree.

4.2 Requirements for Admissibility of Application

It is essential, under penalty of not being admitted to the Competition, the following documents must be attached to the application:

• Elements of the identity card/citizen card/passport;
• Curriculum vitae of the candidate, in the CIÊNCIAVITAE model, with the email address for receiving notifications within the scope of the scholarship process. All the indicators (scientific articles, communications, book chapters, books, patents, etc.) mentioned in the CV and respective proofs must be accessible on the Internet, and for such the candidates must indicate a portal where the jury can access them;
• Certificates of the academic degrees held, specifying the final classification and, if possible, the classifications obtained in all courses taken, or alternatively, a declaration on the candidate's honour that he/she has concluded the degree of licenciado or mestre by the application deadline;
• Record of recognition of academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions and record of the conversion of the respective final classification into the Portuguese classification scale, or alternatively, declaration of honour by the applicant stating that he/she has obtained the recognition of the foreign degree equivalent to a licenciado or mestre by the application deadline;
•  Motivation letter. This should unequivocally state the profile for which you are applying;
• Two letters of recommendation;
• Declaration, under oath, signed by the candidate, stating that he/she intends to work as a research fellow under the exclusive dedication regime, under the terms established in article 5 of the Research Grant Holder Statute

With regard to the above admissibility requirements, the following should be noted:

• In the case of academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, and in order to guarantee the application of the principle of equal treatment to applicants holding foreign and national academic degrees, it is mandatory to recognize those degrees and to convert the respective final classification into the Portuguese classification scale.

The recognition of foreign degrees and diplomas as well as the conversion of the final classification into the Portuguese classification scale may be requested at any public higher education institution, or at the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES, only in the case of automatic recognition). Regarding this matter, we suggest consulting the DGES portal at the following address: http://www.dges.gov.pt;

• Only candidates who have completed the cycle of studies leading to a Bachelor or Master degree by the application deadline will be admitted. In case candidates do not yet have the certificate of degree completion, a declaration of honour will be accepted that they have completed the necessary qualifications for the competition by the application deadline. The awarding of the scholarship is always dependent on the presentation of the proof of academic qualifications.

5. Work plans

The work plans to be developed under the PhD scholarships of the Valor Barroso Centre will be distributed in the following areas and profiles (B1 to B12):

B1. Quantification of the beekeeping potential in the Barroso region: characterisation of honey pasture in PDO honey production areas and development of methodologies for rapid analysis of honey quality

Scientific Area: Biological Sciences, Food Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, and related areas

Work plan:

1. identification and characterization of the honey pasture of the production areas of me Mel DOP of Barroso and establishment of an apicultural aptitude chart. 

2. Analysis of quality parameters and differentiating properties of PDO honeys.

3. Development of calibration models applied to vibrational spectroscopy methodologies (NIR, FTIR-ATR and FT-RAMAN) for rapid analysis of honey quality.

4. Contribution to the updating of the specifications of the PDO of Barroso honey.

B2. Balancing crop rotations to promote the productivity of Barroso's farming systems

Scientific area: Agrobiodiversity; Barroso agricultural systems

Plano de trabalhos:

The work plan is based on experimental delineations with the traditional crops of the region, potato and rye, integrated in rotations and using cultivation techniques that ensure ecological sustainability and significantly increase productivity. The new crops to balance the rotations are grain legumes, spelt wheat and rapeseed. Together these crops will allow the establishment of harmonious cropping plans for irrigated and non-irrigated rotations and markedly increase the productivity of the land.

B3. Pyric herbivory and Barroso mountain pastures in times of change

Scientific Area: Sustainable agro-food chains

Work plan:

The patterns of disturbance by fire and herbivory, and the structure and function of the marshes and hill pastures (baldias) of Barroso have changed profoundly in recent decades. The aim of this thesis is to characterise, in the past and present, the disturbance patterns by fire and herbivory, and the structure and function of mountain pastures, private pastures (marshes) and baldias. In a second phase, we will evaluate the effect of prescribed fire and herbivory (pyric herbivory) on mountain pastures, and the restoration, with different techniques (e.g. application of lime and bush grinding), of the structure and productivity of sloughs, either abandoned (colonised by bush) or modified by recent changes in management and nutrient cycling.

B4. Conservation and socio-ecological management of aquatic systems in the Barroso área

Scientific Domain: Agrobiodiversity

Work plan:

Establishment of a protocol for monitoring and assessment of biodiversity in freshwater environments using macroinvertebrate and fish communities;

2. Characterization of freshwater habitats, integration with biodiversity data collected in T1 to identify the main environmental factors that explain the distribution and diversity of target communities;

3. Assessment of the attitudes and aspirations of local and non-local inhabitants of the region;

4. Management of aquatic systems oriented towards conservation of endangered species and sustained exploitation of aquaculture resources.

B5. Assessing the condition and ecological resilience of Barroso's forests

Scientific Domain: Forest Sciences

Plan of Work:

1.    Temporal and spatial dynamics analysis of Barroso's forests

2.    Identification of promoters of change and pressures and their impacts on the ecological resilience

3.    Assessment of forest condition based on structural indicators and of the capacity to supply ecosystem services

4.    Projections of condition and resilience to 2100

5.    Definition of management and adaptation measures to maintain the ecosystem service provisioning capacity of Barroso's forests

B6. Functional bio-ingredients for the beverage industry from endogenous aromatic and/or medicinal plant extracts from the Barroso region

Scientific Domain: Biotechnology/Microbiology

Plan of work:

1. Characterization and chemical composition of plant extracts;

2. Evaluation of bioactivities of extracts: anti-tumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial;

3. Formulation of the product;

4. Evaluation the in vitro effect of the formulation on probiotics and intestinal pathogens;

5. Evaluation of the impact of the formulation on the microbiota and intestinal pathogens in humans;

6. To promote the dissemination and exploitation of the results obtained in the project.

B7. The intangible cultural heritage of Barroso - from inherited traditions to contemporary rural practices

Scientific Domain: Social Sciences

Work Plan:

Associated with the farming systems of Barroso recognised by the United Nations as World Agricultural Heritage is a vast intangible heritage: traditions, beliefs and knowledge related to agriculture, nature and the universe; social practices, rituals and festive events. Knowledge of these aspects is urgent in view of the risk of disappearance of living memory. The aim is to systematically collect information in order to understand the expression of this heritage in past and present ways of life. To this end, extensive fieldwork is proposed, particularly through interviews (with multiple actors) and participant observation (in various activities and practices).

B8. Nature Sports in mountain areas of Barroso

Scientific Domain: Nature Sports.

Plan of work:

1. Qualitative, physiological and demographic classification of footpaths in Barroso.

2. Relation between demographic and physiological characterization with the satisfaction in pedestrian routes.

3. Creation of 2 new walking trails, one of short route and another one of long route (or to choose among the existing ones) and to add complementary information, to the "traditional" one, to provide to the promoting entities.

B9. Barroso's food base: eating patterns and lifestyles

Scientific Domain: Nutrition

Plan of work:

1. Evaluation of alimentary habits;

2. Definition of alimentary pattern of Barroso's territory;

3. Survey of endogenous products and their chemical and bromatological characterization;

4. Identification of co - factors of Barroso's food pattern;

5. Identification of traditional healthy and sustainable practices fighting food waste;

6. Elaboration and implementation of recommendations for healthy and sustainable food integrating endogenous products of the region.

B10. Environmental monitoring system to support decision-making in land management and fire fighting

Scientific Domain: Electrical Engineering

Work plan:

1. study of the state of the art and related works in the indicated area;

2. Development of a sensor network focused on the acquisition of variables specified in point 1);

3. Implementation of the network in strategically defined pilot sites;

4. Analysis of the data obtained using Big Data Analytics techniques;

5. Development of a decision support system using artificial intelligence algorithms.

B11. Carbon level assessment using advanced data processing systems and Artificial Intelligence

Scientific Domain: Transversal: Data Science | Computer Vision

Work Plan:

1. survey of the state of the art with respect to computer vision, deep learning and remote assessment of soil carbon level

2. Acquisition and processing of images to obtain environmental parameters

3. Study, development and evaluation of deep learning estimation models

4. Writing the thesis and dissemination of the results

B12. Strategies for socio-economic development and valorisation of the resources of the Barroso territory

Scientific Area: Economics or Business (or similar area)

Work Plan:

Regional development integrates economic, social and territorial cohesion components that make a territory more homogeneous, attractive and competitive. In other words, economic growth and social progress are necessary conditions for development. Thus, the student must develop a research plan to determine which strategies and value propositions for regional resources stimulate economic growth that enhances territorial development in the Barroso region.

6. EVALUATION CRITERIA AND BONIFICATIONS

6.1 Evaluation Criteria

The assessment takes into account the applicant's merit and suitability to the profile applied for, motivation letter and letters of recommendation.

Admissible applications will be scored on a scale of 0,0 to 5,0 in each of the following evaluation criteria:

• Criteria A - Merit of the applicant, with a weight of 60%;

Sub-critera A1 - Academic Track Record (which reflects academic degree classifications), with a weight of 50%.

Sub-criteria A2 - Personal Curriculum Vitae (reflecting the scientific and professional curricula, and academic background, when applicable), with a weight of 50%.Critério B – Grau de adequação ao perfil a que se candidata, com peso de 20%

Criteria C - Motivation letter and letters of recommendation, with a weight of 20

For the purposes of the decision on the award of the scholarships, the candidates will be ordered according to the weighted average of the classification obtained in each of the three criteria, translated by the following formula: Final classification =(0,60×A+0,20×B+0,20×C

For tie-breaking purposes, candidates will be ranked on the basis of the marks awarded for each of the evaluation criteria in the following order of precedence: criteria A, criteria B, and criteria C.

The score for subcriteria A1 is calculated on the basis of the final classifications appearing on the academic degree certificates submitted by the candidate in the application form: i) Undergraduate Degree + Master's Degree/Integrated Master's Degree; ii) Undergraduate Degree only; or iii) Master's Degree only, according to Table 1.

Tabela 1. Reference table for the definition of points for sub-criteria A1 - Academic background

Note: the classification to be considered is the one appearing in the respective degree certificates submitted at application. In the case of qualifications certificates whose final classification is presented with decimal places, it will be rounded up to the unit following the rule below: when the decimal place is equal or higher than 5, it will be rounded up; when the decimal place is lower than 5, the value will be maintained. In the case of the calculation of the simple arithmetic average between the bachelor's degree and the master's degree, the grades on the certificates will be considered (even if they have decimal points) and the rounding will be done after obtaining the result of such average.

IMPORTANT: if no valid degree certificates are submitted, the classification to be given to subcriterion A1 shall be zero (A1 = 0).

Important notice for applicants with diplomas issued by foreign higher education institutions:

• Applicants with diplomas issued by foreign higher education institutions may apply and will be evaluated according to the same criteria as applicants with diplomas issued by Portuguese institutions, provided that they submit, in their application, proof of the recognition of the academic degrees and of the conversion of the final classification into the Portuguese classification scale according to the applicable legislation.
• Candidates with foreign diplomas who do not present proof of conversion of the final classification into the Portuguese classification scale will be assessed with the minimum classification (0,0 points) in criteria A1.
• In any case, scholarship contracts with candidates with diplomas issued by foreign institutions will only be concluded upon presentation of the proof of recognition of the academic degrees and conversion of the final classification, as indicated above.

Candidates whose application is evaluated with a final mark of less than 3.5 points will not be eligible for a scholarship.

7. AVALIATION

The evaluation panel of candidates is composed of the following members:

- Lillian Bouçada de Barros (Panel Coordinator, SusTEC)

- Maria Filomena Filipe Barreiro (Panel Coordinator, SusTEC)

- Miguel Vilas Boas (Panel Coordinator, SusTEC)

- Amílcar Teixeira (Member, SusTEC)

- Carlos Aguiar (Member, SusTEC)

- Manuel Ângelo Rodrigues (Member, SusTEC)

- João Azevedo (Member, SusTEC)

- Maria José Alves (Member, SusTEC)

- Sílvia Nobre (Member, SusTEC)

- José Bragada (Member, IPB)

- Vera Lebres (Member, IPB)

- José Lima (Member, SusTEC)

- Rui Pedro Lopes (Member, SusTEC)

- Alcina Nunes (Member, UNIAGE)

The evaluation panel shall evaluate the applications in accordance with the evaluation criteria set out in this Call for Proposals, weighing the elements of appreciation.

All panel members, including the coordinator, commit to a set of responsibilities essential to the evaluation process, such as the duties of impartiality, declaration of any potential conflict of interest and confidentiality. At all times during the evaluation process, confidentiality is fully protected and ensured in order to guarantee the independence of all opinions produced.

For each application, the panel will produce a final evaluation sheet where the arguments that led to the classifications attributed to each of the evaluation criteria and sub-criteria are presented in a clear, coherent and consistent manner.

Minutes shall be produced of the meetings of the evaluation panel and shall be the responsibility of all its members.

The minutes and their annexes shall obligatorily include the following information

- Name and affiliation of all members of the evaluation panel;

- Identification of all excluded applications and respective grounds;

- Methodology adopted by the panel for cases considered particular;

- Final evaluation sheet for each candidate;

- Provisional ranking and seriation list of the candidates, in descending order of the final ranking, of all the applications evaluated by the panel;

- Declarations of conflict of interests of all the panel members;

- Possible delegation of vote and competencies due to justified absence.

8. DISSEMINATION OF RESULTS

The results of the evaluation are communicated via e-mail to the e-mail address used by the applicant to send the application/indicated in the application.

9. DEADLINES AND PROCEDURES FOR PRIOR HEARING, COMPLAINT AND APPEAL

After the communication of the provisional list of the results of the evaluation, the candidates have a period of 10 working days to, if they so wish, make their comments during a prior hearing of interested parties, under the terms of articles 121 and following of the Administrative Procedure Code.

The final decision will be issued after the analysis of the statements presented during the prior hearing of interested parties. A complaint may be filed against the final decision within 15 working days or, alternatively, an appeal may be filed within 30 working days, both counting from the date of notification of the decision. Candidates who choose to file a complaint must address their appeal to the member of the FCT Board of Directors with delegated authority. Candidates who choose to file an appeal must address their appeal to the FCT Board of Directors.

10. GRANTS REQUIREMENTS

Research grant contracts shall be signed directly with FCT.

The following documents must be submitted, when the grant is awarded, for contractualization purposes:

a) Copy of the civil, fiscal and, when applicable, social security identification document(s)

b) Copy of the academic qualifications certificates of the academic degrees held

c) Presentation of the register of recognition of the foreign academic degrees and conversion of the respective final classifications to the Portuguese classification scale, if applicable

d) Document proving enrolment and registration in a Doctoral Programme;

e) Statement from the supervisor(s) assuming responsibility for the supervision of the work plan, under the terms of article 5-A of the Research Grant Holder Statute (draft of the statement to be made available by FCT);

f) Document proving acceptance of the applicant by the institution where the research activities will take place, guaranteeing the necessary conditions for the proper development of the research activities, as well as fulfillment of the duties established in article 13 of the Research Grant Holder Statute (draft statement to be made available by FCT);

g) Up-to-date document attesting to compliance with the regime of exclusive dedication (draft statement to be provided by FCT);

h) Work plan.

The award of the grant is also subject to

- the fulfilment of the requirements set out in this Notice of Announcement;

- the result of the scientific evaluation

- the absence of unjustified breach of duty by the grant holder under a previous grant contract funded directly or indirectly by FCT;

- FCT budget availability.

Failure to submit any of the documents required to complete the grant contractualisation process within 6 months from the date of communication of the decision of conditional award of the grant shall result in the expiry of the grant and the closure of the process.

11. FINANCING

Payment of the grants will begin upon return of the duly signed grant contract by the applicants, which must occur within a maximum of 15 working days from the date of receipt.

Grants awarded under the scope of this call will be financed by FCT with funds from the State Budget and, when eligible, with funds from the European Social Fund, to be made available under the  PORTUGAL2020, through the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE 2020), Programa Operacional Regional do Centro (Centro 2020) e do Programa Operacional Regional do Alentejo (Alentejo 2020), in accordance with the regulations laid down for that purpose.

12. GRANTS COMPONENTS

The grant recipients will receive a monthly maintenance allowance under the terms of the table in Annex I of RBI.

The grant may also include other components, under the terms set out in article 18º do RBI and the values set out in its Annex II.

All grant holders benefit from a personal accident insurance policy related to research activities, supported by FCT.

All grant recipients who are not covered by any social protection scheme may exercise their right to social security by joining the voluntary social security scheme, under the terms of Código dos Regimes Contributivos do Sistema Previdencial de Segurança Social, FCT shall cover the costs resulting from the contributions under the terms and within the limits set forth in artigo 10º do EBI.

13. GRANTS COMPONENT PAYMENTS

Payments due to the grant holder shall be made by bank transfer to the account identified by the grant holder. The payment of the monthly maintenance allowance shall be made on the first working day of each month.

Payments of the registration, enrolment and tuition components shall be made by FCT directly to the national institution where the grant recipient is enrolled or enrolled in the doctoral program.

14. TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR THE RENEWAL OF THE GRANT

The renewal of the grant always depends on a request submitted by the grant holder within the 60 working days prior to the renewal start date, accompanied by the following documents

1. opinions issued by the supervisor/s and the host entity/s on the monitoring of the grant holder's work and the evaluation of his/her activities;;

b) up-to-date document attesting to compliance with the regime of exclusive dedication;

c) document proving that the enrolment in the cycle of studies leading to a doctoral degree has been renewed.

15. INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY ON FUNDING GRANTED

In all R&D activities directly or indirectly financed by the grant, namely in all communications, publications and scientific creations, as well as theses, carried out with the support provided by the grant, the mention of financial support from FCT ando f Fundo Social Europeu, through the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE 2020), Programa Operacional Regional do Centro (Centro 2020) e do Programa Operacional Regional do Alentejo (Alentejo 2020). To this end, the documents relating to these actions should include the insignia of the FCT, do MCTES, do FSE e da UE, according to the graphic standards of each operational programme.

Dissemination of research results funded under the RBI shall comply with the open access rules for data, publications and other research results in force at FCT.

In all grants, and particularly in the case of actions supported by Community funding, namely from the ESF, monitoring and control actions may be carried out by national and Community bodies, in accordance with the applicable legislation, the grant recipients are obliged to collaborate and provide the requested information, which includes carrying out surveys and evaluation studies in this area, even if the grant has already ended.

16. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY

The FCT promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, whereby no candidate may be privileged, benefited, prejudiced, or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty on the basis of ancestry, age, gender, 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, or union membership.

17. APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS

The Call is governed by this Opening Notice, by the FCT Research Grants Regulation, approved by Regulation No. 950/2019, published in the II Series of the DR of 16 December 2019, by the Research Grant Holder Statute approved by Law No. 40/2004, of 18 August, as amended, and by all other applicable national and EU legislation.