The Mountain Research Centre (CIMO) is calling for 4 (four) research grants, hereinafter referred to as Doctoral Research Grants, in the areas of Social-ecological resilience (1), Sustainable agriculture and innovative agri-food chains (1) and Climate change (2), under the FCT Research Grants Regulations (RBI) and the Research Grant Holder Statute (EBI).

The grants will be funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the Collaboration Protocol for Funding the Multi-Annual Research Grant Plan for PhD Students, signed between FCT and the CIMO R&D Unit (UIDP/00690/2020).

1. APPLICATION SUBMISSION

The call is open between 15th February 2023 and 23h 59 (Lisbon time) of 03rd March 2023.

Applications and supporting documents for the application foreseen in this Call for Proposals must be submitted at https://concursos.ipb.pt.

Each applicant may submit only one application, under penalty of cancellation of all submitted applications. The application must be submitted in the area to which the supervisor belongs, with the exception of the area "Climate Change". All applications must be aligned with the area for which they are applying.

The provision of false statements or plagiarism by the applicants is 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 fund research activities leading to a doctoral degree in Portuguese universities.

The research activities leading to a doctoral degree will take place at CIMO, which will be the host institution for the grantees, notwithstanding the fact that the work may be carried out in collaboration with more than one institution.

The research activities leading to a doctoral degree for the selected grantees must fit into the activities and strategy plan of CIMO, which acts as the grantee's host institution, and be developed within the framework of a Doctoral Programme in Portuguese Universities.

The work plan may take place in full or in part at a national institution (in-country fellowship or mixed fellowship, respectively).

The duration of the scholarships is, as a rule, annual, renewable up to a maximum of four years (48 months), and the grant cannot be awarded for a period of less than three consecutive months.

In the case of mixed grants, the period of the work plan taking place in a foreign institution cannot exceed 24 months.

3. GRANTS RECIPIENTS

Doctoral Research Grants are intended for enrolled candidates or candidates who meet the necessary conditions to enroll in a Doctoral Programme and who wish to develop research activities leading to a doctoral degree at CIMO as a host institution.

4. ADMISSIBILITY

4.1 Candidate Admissibility Requirements

The following are eligible to apply to this call for proposals:

• - National citizens 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 Doctoral Research Grant it is necessary:

• - Hold a degree or master's degree in the scientific areas in which the call is open or in areas considered to be related;
• - Reside permanently and habitually in Portugal if the work plan associated with the grant is partially carried out in foreign institutions (mixed grants). This requirement is 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 allocation process. All the indicators (scientific articles, communications, book chapters, books, patents, etc.) referred to in the CV and respective proofs must be accessible through the Internet;
• Certificates of academic qualifications, specifying the final grade and, if possible, the grades obtained in all courses taken, or, alternatively, a declaration of honour from the candidate stating that he/she has completed 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 from the applicant that he/she has obtained the recognition of the foreign degree equivalent to a licenciado or a mestre by the application deadline;
• Letter of motivation;
• Two letters of recommendation, one of which from the advisor;
• Work plan to be developed, following the indications of the attached model, indicating the main supervisor and the area of the scholarship that is being applied for;
• Declaration of agreement and opinion of the supervisor appointed to monitor the applicant's activity;
• Declaration, under oath, signed by the candidate, stating that he intends to work under an exclusive dedication regime, under the terms established in article 5 of the Research Grant Holder Statute;
• To write the application form and compile all the documents associated with it, including the letters of motivation and recommendation, in Portuguese or English.

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 ensure 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 academic degrees and diplomas as well as the conversion of the final classification into the Portuguese classification scale may be requested in any public higher education institution, or in the Directorate General of Higher Education (DGES, only in the case of automatic recognition). Regarding this matter, we suggest that you consult 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 AND SCIENTIFIC ORIENTATION OF THE GRANTS

The grantees' work plan will be the development of a research project associated with obtaining a doctoral degree, under the scientific coordination of an integrated doctoral member of CIMO. The supervisors and co-supervisors may not be associated to more than one application under penalty of cancellation of all applications submitted.

6. EVALUATION CRITERIA AND BONUSES

6.1 Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation takes into account the applicant's merit, letter of motivation, letters of recommendation and work plan submitted by the applicant.

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

• - Criterion A - Merit of the applicant, with a weight of 50%;

-o Sub-criterion A1 - Academic Track Record (reflecting the classifications of the academic degrees), with a weight of 50%.

- o Sub-criterion A2 - Personal Curriculum Vitae (reflecting the scientific and professional, and academic, where applicable), with a weight of 50%.Critério B – Carta de motivação e cartas de recomendação, com o peso de 20%;

• Criterion B - Motivation letter and letters of recommendation, with a weight of 20%.
• Criterion C - Work plan merit, with a weight of 30%.

For the purpose 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=(0,50×A)+(0,20×B)+(0,30×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: criterion A, criterion B, and criterion C.

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.
•  Applicants with foreign degrees who do not present proof of the conversion of the final classification into the Portuguese classification scale will be assessed with the minimum classification (0,0 points) in criterion A1.
•  In any case, the grant contracts with applicants 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 grant.

7. EVALUATION

The candidate evaluation panel is composed as follows:

- Maria Filomena Filipe Barreiro, CIMO (Panel coordinator)

- Lillian Bouçada de Barros, CIMO (Panel co-coordinator)

- Úrsula Gonzalez-Barron, CIMO

- Maria Alice da Silva Pinto, CIMO

- Rui Miguel Vaz de Abreu, CIMO

- Helder Teixeira Gomes, CIMO

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 moments of 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.

All the members of the evaluation panel will take minutes of the meetings of the evaluation panel.

A ata e os seus anexos devem incluir, obrigatoriamente, a seguinte informação:

• 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 assessment 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 notification of the provisional list of the results of the evaluation, the candidates have a period of 10 working days to, if they 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 lodged against the final decision within 15 working days, or alternatively an appeal may be lodged within 30 working days, both counting from the respective notification. 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. GRANT REQUIREMENT

Research grant contracts are concluded directly with FCT.

The following documents must be submitted, at the time of the eventual award of the scholarship, for the purposes of contracting it:

1. Copy of the civil, fiscal and, when applicable, social security identification document(s) [1](The availability of these documents may be substituted, at the option of the candidate, by their face-to-face presentation to the funding entity, which will keep the elements contained in them that are relevant for the validity and execution of the contract, including the civil, tax and social security identification numbers, as well as the validity of the respective documents)
2. Copy of the academic degree certificates of the academic degrees held;
3. Presentation of the recognition record of the foreign academic degrees and conversion of the respective final classifications to the Portuguese classification scale, if applicable;
4. Work Plan (referenced at the end of the document);
5. Document proving enrolment and registration in a Doctoral Programme;
6. Statement from the supervisor(s) assuming responsibility for supervising 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);
7. 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 the fulfillment of the duties set forth in article 13 of the Research Grant Holder Statute (draft statement to be made available by FCT);
8. Up-to-date document proving compliance with the regime of exclusive dedication (draft declaration to be made available by FCT).

The award of the grant is still dependent:

• of the fulfilment of the requirements foreseen in the present Call;
• the result of the scientific evaluation
• the absence of unjustified non-compliance with the duties of 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 of the date of communication of the decision to award a conditional grant will result in the forfeiture of the award and the closure of the process.

11. FINANCING

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

The grants awarded under 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 programme, namely through the Regional Operational Programme of the North (NORTE 2020), the Regional Operational Programme of the Centre (Centro 2020) and the Regional Operational Programme of the Alentejo (Alentejo 2020), according to the regulations established for this purpose.

12. GRANT COMPONENTS

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

The grant may also include other components, under the terms set forth in article 18 of the BPR and in the amounts provided for in Annex II.

All grant recipients shall be covered by personal accident insurance for research activities, borne 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 insurance scheme, under the terms of the Social Security Contributions Code.

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;;
2.  up-to-date document proving compliance with the regime of exclusive dedication;
3.  document proving renewal of enrolment in the cycle of studies leading to a doctoral degree.

15. INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY ON FUNDING GRANTED

In all R&D activities directly or indirectly funded by the grant, namely in all communications, publications and scientific creations, as well as theses, carried out with the support provided by the grant, mention must be made of financial support from FCT and the European Social Fund, through, namely, the Regional Operational Programme of the North (NORTE 2020), the Regional Operational Programme of the Centre (Centro 2020) and the Regional Operational Programme of the Alentejo (Alentejo 2020). To this end, the insignia of the FCT, the MCTES, the ESF and the EU shall be included in the documents relating to these actions, in accordance with the graphic standards of each operational program.

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

In all scholarships, 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 cooperate and provide the requested information, which includes the carrying out of 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 and trade union membership.

17. APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS

The Call is governed by this Notice of Announcement, by the FCT Research Grants Regulation, approved by Regulation, publicado na II Série of DR of 16th December of 2019, by the Research Grant Holder Statute approved by Law n.º 40/2004, of 18th August, as amended, and by the other applicable national and community legislation.

Annex

Work plan

Title

Main Supervisor

Area to which it applies

Summary (max. 150 words)

Keywords (max. 6)

State of the art (500 words)

Objectives (max. 300 words)

Plan and Methods (max. 1000 words)

References (max. 30 references)

Suitability of the Steering Team (max. 500 words)

Integration of the plan into CIMO's strategy (max. 150 words)

[1] A disponibilização destes documentos pode ser substituída, por opção do candidato, pela apresentação presencial na entidade financiadora, a qual guardará os elementos constantes dos mesmos que sejam pertinentes para a validade e execução do contrato, incluindo os números de identificação civil, fiscal e de segurança social, bem como a validade dos respetivos documentos.