Research Scholarship for Bachelor's Degree

There is an open call for applications for the attribution of a Research Grant for Bachelor's Degree, under the project “Map explanatory drivers of persistent high undernutrition in the Sahel, using Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning", financed by the European Commission, within the scope of Nutrition Research Facility (NRF).

Reference: Map_Explanatory_BI_Licenciado2023

Scientific Area: Geography

Specific Area: Geographic Information Science

Admission Requirements: Graduates in Geography or related areas, who are enrolled in Master's programs at the Institute of Geography and Land Planning of the University of Lisbon, may apply for this call.

The selected candidate must meet the following requirements:

- Be enrolled in a Master's program at IGOT-Ulisboa, in Geography or related areas;

- Degree in Geography or related areas;

- Experience with Geographic Information Systems;

- Knowledge of programming languages ​​(python/R);

- Experience with data analysis in risk assessment;

- Knowledge of health issues;

- Mastery of the Portuguese and English languages ​​(fluency and rigor in the expression oral and written).

Eligibility of candidates:

Applicants must meet the eligibility conditions set out in Article 9 of the FCT I.P Research Grant Regulations (Regulation no. 950/2019, published in Diário da República, 2nd Series, no. 241 of 16 December 2021).

Project Summary:

The project aims to understand what are the conditioning factors of the high rates of malnutrition that persist in the Sahel region of the African continent. Using data related to biophysical and environmental, sociodemographic, of health and nutrition, a model will be developed from methods of machine-learning and artificial intelligence, to obtain metrics representative of main factors that influence the levels of malnutrition in the region, and contribute to define the most appropriate strategies and initiatives to fight malnutrition to existing conditions.

Work objectives:

The work plan of the scholarship holder to be hired is as follows:

- Analysis of geographic data from diverse sources, representative of the region of the Sahel, such as statistical data relating to demography and conditions of health, malnutrition indicators, socioeconomic characteristics of households relatives;

- Application of artificial intelligence and machine-learning methods to spatial modeling of the conditioning factors of malnutrition in the region of Sahel;

- Application of automated routines with programming tools in python/R;

- Analysis and mapping of the results of the developed model;

- Contribution to the outputs (deliverables) of the project, including reports of progress, final technical report and scientific article.

Applicable legislation:

"Estatuto do Bolseiro de Investigação"; "Regulamento de Bolsas de Investigação da Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P." -  in its actual redaction, and "Regulamento de Bolsas de Investigação da Universidade de Lisboa" - in its actual redaction.

Workplace

The work will be developed at the Center for Geographical Studies of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning at the University of Lisbon (IGOT-ULisboa), under the scientific guidance of Doctor Paulo Morgado, Professor Assistant at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning of University of Lisbon and Doctor Sandra Oliveira, Assistant Researcher, from the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning at the University of Lisbon.

Duration:

The scholarship will have a duration of 9 (nine) months, starting in February 2023, on an exclusive basis. 

Monthly salary:

The amount of the grant corresponds to €875,98, according to the table of values of the grants directly awarded by FCT, I.P. in Portugal (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores).

Selection criteria:

The applicable selection method will be the curricular evaluation of the candidates.

The curricular assessment (CA) includes the following parameters following parameters:

- Degree Classification (25%);

- Curriculum Vitae, namely experience in functions described in the work plan and technical requirements (65%);

- Mastery of the Portuguese and English languages ​​(fluency and rigor in the oral expression) (5%);

- Letter of motivation (5%).

The jury may, if deemed necessary, call the candidates placed in the 3 first positions for an interview. In this case, the interview has a weight of 30%, to be added to the score obtained in the first selection phase, which will enter with a weight of 70%.

The jury may not award any scholarship if the candidates do not match the desired profile.

Jury:

The selection board for applications for this scholarship is composed of the following elements:

President of the Jury: Doctor Paulo Morgado, Assistant Professor, IGOT-ULisboa;

1st effective member: Doctor Sandra Oliveira, Assistant Researcher, IGOT- ULisboa;

2nd Effective Member: Doctor César Capinha, Assistant Professor, IGOT-ULisboa;

1st alternate member: Doctor Jorge Rocha, Assistant Professor, IGOT-ULisboa;

2nd Alternate Member: Doctor Cláudia Viana, Junior Researcher, IGOT-ULisboa.

Results

The final results of the evaluation will be communicated to the candidates by means of a notification sent to the e-mail address indicated for this purpose. If the result is unfavourable to the award of the scholarship requested, the candidates have a period of 10  working days to respond if they wish, under the terms of articles 121 and 122 of the Administrative Procedure Code (DL nº 4/2015 of January 7 and its amendments).

The selected candidate must express his/her intention to accept the scholarship in writing acceptance of the scholarship. In the event of non-acceptance, the scholarship will be awarded to the candidate in order of final ranking.

Application deadline and form of submission of applications:

The call is open for the period of January 26th to February 8th 2023.

Applications must be sent by e-mail to to bolsas-ceg@igot.ulisboa.pt, accompanied by the following documents:

a) Letter of motivation;

b) Curriculum Vitae;

c) Qualification certificate. With regard to the qualification certificate, in case the degree was obtained in a foreign institution, the same must be recognized by a Portuguese institution in accordance with the Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16th and Ordinance No. 33/2019, of August 25th of January, in its wording in force at the date of application);

d) In the case of foreign citizens, a document proving residence in Portugal, namely residence permit or other document legally equivalent;

e) Proof of enrollment in a Master's program;

f) Other supporting documents considered relevant;

g) Declaration of prior consent by electronic means.

The reference to the competition Ref.ª Map_Explanatory_BI_Licenciado2023 should be indicated in the subject of the of the application e-mail.