1. Research Grant Announcement (M/F)

Call open for applications for a research grant within the framework of project THEIA: Automated Perception Driving, with reference POCI-01-0247-FEDER-047264, co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalization (COMPETE 2020), under the Portugal 2020 Partnership Agreement, under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Systems Verification and Functional Validation

Admission requirements: Candidates who cumulatively meet the following two requirements may apply for this grant:

Requirement 1:

- to be a student enrolled in a doctoral program in the areas of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Informatics and Computing, Data Science or similar in engineering, mathematics or physics domains, a requirement to be duly proven at the time of signing the contract.

or

- to be enrolled in a non-academic degree course integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution, developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units, a requirement to be duly proven at the time of signing the contract.

Note: In the case of masters who are enrolled in non-academic degree courses, the scholarship can only be awarded to those who do not exceed, with this scholarship contract, including possible renewals, an accumulated period of two years in that typology of the scholarship, followed or interpolated.

and

Requirement 2:

- to hold a master’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Electronics, Informatics and Computing, Data Science or another engineering or hard sciences domain with a relevant education on similar areas.

If the degree has been awarded by a foreign higher education institution, it must comply with the provisions of the Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of august 16th, and any formalities established there must be fulfilled until the time of signing the contract.

Activity Outline: To collaborate in the creation of performance validation tests for the operation of LIDAR sensors and perception algorithms, and in the establishment of classification metrics. Specifically, participate in the development and technical specification of reproducible laboratory tests, in the implementation of prototypes, and in the experimental validation and proof of concept of reproducible laboratory tests. These tasks require the development of test algorithms and statistical analysis of machine learning-based perception results. Participate in the management of the sub-project and in publicizing the results.

Profile 283: Tasks SP4.A21.T4; SP4.A22.T4; SP4.A23.T4; SP4.A24.T1.

These tasks might be adjusted depending on the feasibility and needs of the project. All changes that imply the assignment to other tasks will be subject to a request for approval by the Agência para o Investimento e Comércio Externo de Portugal (AICEP).

Legislation and regulations: Law Nº. 40/2004, of 18th August, in its current wording (Statutes of Scientific Research Fellow) and Regulation of Research Grants of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, in force (https://www.fct.pt/financiamento/programas-de-financiamento/bolsas/) and Regulation of Research Grants of University of Porto, in force.

Work place: The work will be developed in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Porto under the scientific supervision of Professors José Machado da Silva and Miguel Velhote Correia.

Grant duration: The grant will last until 30 June 2023, with the predicted starting date in March 2023, on an exclusive basis, eventually renewable, but never exceeding the project duration.

The eventual renewal of the scholarship will be carried out as determined in article 6 of the Research Grants Regulation of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P.

Stipend: The grant stipend amounts to 1.144,64€ according to the table of values of the grants awarded directly by FCT, I.P. in the Country (https://www.fct.pt/financiamento/programas-de-financiamento/bolsas/ ). The payment will be made by bank transfer.

Selection process:

The selection assessment process comprises two steps: evaluation of the curriculum vitae (60%) followed by an interview (40%).

The curriculum will be evaluated based on the merit of the candidate:

a) Academic training (Master in Electrical and Computer Engineering, Electronics, Informatics, Data Science, Applied Mathematics, Physics, or in engineering areas with training in similar or related fields - 10 points, Other Masters - 2 points);

b) Publications in the fields of data science, testing and verification of circuits and systems, computer vision or deep learning - 5 points; Publications in other areas – 2 points;

c) Research experience in the project area, in particular image analysis and use and evaluation of scanning sensors – 5 points; in areas related to the project – 3 points; outside the project area – 1 point.

The candidates will be evaluated in a 1-20 points scale. Candidates with less than 13 points in the curricular evaluation will not be invited for the interview.

The topics subject of discussion in the interview will be related with the work plan, experience and the CV, as well as the candidate’s career perspectives.

Selection Jury:

President: Professor Dr. José Machado da Silva

Effective member: Professor Dr. Miguel Velhote Correia

Effective member: Professor Dr. Vítor Grade Tavares

Surrogate member: Professor Dr. João Canas Ferreira

Advertisement of final decision: The results of the evaluation will be communicated to the candidates through the email address indicated in the application process.

Deadline for applications and form of presentation of the applications:

The call is open from 27/01/2023 to 09/02/2023(until 23h59m, GMT time).

Applications must be formalized by email to jms@fe.up.pt and to recursoshumanos@fe.up.pt, clearly stating the reference FEUP-THEIA-SP4-WP4-BolsaMSc2 and including the following PDF documents:

- Motivation letter;

- Copy of certificates evidencing academic degree (referring the classification of each separated or integrated degree);

- Detailed Curriculum Vitae;

- Declaration on honor that the candidate fulfills the requirement contained in article 6 of the Regulation for Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. (model below, for student enrolled in a non-academic degree course integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution, developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units);

and

- other documents considered relevant by the applicant.

In order to assure that all documents can be read, the preferred saving format is the Portable Document Format (.pdf).

________________________________________

Declaration on honour

I, (identification of the applicant), holder of the Citizen Card / Visa / Residence Permit nr. _____valid until _____, declare under honour, to comply with the conditions set in no. 5 of article 6th of the Research Grants from FCT, IP - Regulation Nr. 950/2019, of 16 December.

(location), ___/___/_____

__________________________________

(applicant’s signature)