19/ECUM/CQUM/2023 - Res4ValOr

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Title: (Research Fellowship; 1 vacancy)

A call for applications is now open for the attribution of one grant of research fellowship (BI) within the scope of the R&D project Reducción, reutilización, reciclado y revalorización de residuos orgánicos (Res4ValOr) /Universidade do Minho, (0791_RES4VALOR_1_E), co-financed by Fundo Europeu de Desenvolvimento regional (FEDER) through the Programa INTERREG V-A Espanha-Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020, under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Biological Sciences

Candidates profile: The BI is intended for graduates in the area of Biology, Biochemistry and related areas who have an active enrolment in a master course in the areas of Biology and Biochemistry at the School of Sciences of UMinho and who cumulatively meet the following requirements: 

• Degree in Biology or Biochemistry or related areas 

• Have experience in scientific research, particularly in microbiology (handling in asepsis, preparation and monitoring of cultures and cultures of filamentous fungi), experience in statistical analysis of laboratory data and experience in laboratory work in a team 

• Have availability to start working as predicted for the beginning of the fellowship 

Candidates who do not cumulatively meet the requirements described will be excluded. 

Other requirements 

• Possess solid knowledge of microbiology and plant physiology and biochemistry 

Applicants eligibility: Applicants must comply with the eligibility conditions laid down in article 9 of the Research Grants Regulation of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (2019).

Workplan and objectives to be achieved:

i) Management of consumables, reagents and biological resources required for tests within the scope of the project 

ii) Maintenance of the collection of microorganisms to be used in biological tests 

iii) Preparation of cultures of bacterial and fungal microorganisms for viability tests in the presence of equilibrium solutions prepared from compost with and without retention of contaminating compounds prepared in other project lines 

iv) Quantification of the viability of microorganisms in the experiments described in the previous point 

v) Establishment of in vitro cultures of plants to evaluate the effects of the solutions referred to in point iii) 

vi) Establishment of tests in pots to assess the effects of the compounds referred to in point iii) 

vii) Evaluation of the growth and physiological responses of the plants in the tests described in v) and vi) 

viii) Collection and organization of data and statistical analysis 

Applicable legislation and regulations: Research Fellowship Holder Statutes, approved by Law no. 40/2004 of August 18, in its current version published by Decree-Law no. 123/2019 of august 28; Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República”, 2nd serie, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021 and Regulation of Research Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. - in force.

Host/Contracting institution and scientific supervision: The workplan will be carried out in the Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA) | Department of Biology of University of Minho, located in the Campus of Gualtar in Braga, under the scientific supervision of the Professor Doctor Ana Cunha (Assistant Professor of the Department of Biology of UMinho) and Professor Doctor Rui Oliveira (Assistant Professor of the Department of Biology of UMinho).

Fellowship duration: The grant will take place for a period of 3 months, non-renewable, with a provisional starting date on April of 2023.

Amount of the research grant: The value stipend (Monthly Maintenance Allowance) is 930,98 € per month, in accordance with the stipends values published by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT I.P.) in the country (Annex I – Monthly Stipends Values for the maintenance allowances of the FCT Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships) and Annex II of the Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República”, 2nd serie, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, according to the applicable regulation.

Payment is made on the 23st of each month, through bank transfer to the Bank Identification Number of the fellow identified in the contractualization process.

Other components of the research grant: (define the other components of the research grants, in accordance with article 18º of the FCT Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships, no. 950/2019 of 16-12-2019 or article 21º of the Regulation of Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), accordingly with the regulations applicable).

Other benefits: Reimbursement of Voluntary Social Security (Social Security contributions), corresponding to the 1st level of discounts (for research grants with a total duration 6 months or higher) and personal accident insurance.

Exclusivity regime: The grantee will perform the activities under exclusivity, as foreseen in article 5º of the Research Fellow Statutes and applicable regulations.

Selection panel:

President: Prof. Ana Cunha; Assistant Professor of the Biology Department of the School of Sciences of the University of Minho

Effective Members: Prof. Fátima Bento, Assistant Professor of the Chemistry Department of the School of Sciences of the University of Minho and Prof. Dulce Geraldo, Assistant Professor of the Chemistry Department of the School of Sciences of the University of Minho

Substitute members: Prof. Rui Oliveira, Assistant Professor of the Biology Department of the School of Sciences of the University of Minho and Prof. Paula Bettencourt, Assistant Professor of the Chemistry Department of the School of Sciences of the University of Minho.

The first effective member will substitute the President of the selection panel in case of impediment, being nominate the first substitute member in the place of the first effective member.

Criteria and procedures for applications assessment and selection: The evaluation of applications will focus on the merit of the candidate (MC), taking into account the academic path (A1), personal curriculum (A2) and letter of motivation and/or letters of recommendation (A3), valued on a scale of 1 to 5 values, and is calculated by the formula:

MC=(A1×0,5) + (A2×0,4) + (A3×0,1)

Candidate Merit (MC)

A1: Academic path, which reflects the classification obtained in the Degree (50%)

A2: Personal curriculum, which reflects the personal, scientific and professional path (and other academic degrees/ courses in the scope of the areas of the project) (40%)

A3: letter of motivation and/or letters of recommendation (10%)

The final classification (CF) of these candidates will be obtained on the basis of the Candidate Merit (MC) classification.

The academic degrees and diplomas documents, or their respective recognition when awarded by foreign higher education institutions are not mandatory in the application phase, being replaced by a declaration of honour of the candidate with the contents of academic results. The documents of academic qualification or respective recognition will be required in the contracting phase and must attest facts that occurred on a date prior to the application. In situations of divergence between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation submitted for contracting the grant, only the information contained in the latter will be consider. If the documents proving the ownership of the academic degree and diploma, or the respective recognition under the terms of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16, do not correspond to the classifications awarded in the evaluation of the academic path, which can change the candidate's ranking, the fellowship won’t be contracted.

Notes: Applicants with degrees obtained abroad must present proof of recognition of qualifications in Portugal and conversion of the final classification obtained in them to the Portuguese classification scale or declaration under the terms indicated in the previous point. Candidates who do not comply with one of these provisions, the selection panel will assign “0” in the grade of the graduation and/or master course. Candidates will be evaluated on the remaining parameters.

Disclosure of results: The provisional results of applications, based in the selection panel minutes, will be send to the applicants by email until 90 working days from the applications deadline.

Accordingly, to paragraph a) of nª1 of article 124 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (Decree-Law nº 4/2015 of January 7), a prior hearing for interested parties is waived in order to allow compliance with the financial execution of the project, since the concession period is 5 months and the project ends in June 2023. 

Complaint and appeal procedures: The final results of the evaluation will be published through an ordered list (alphabetically, by final grade obtained), posted in a visible and public place of the host unit, as well as by email to all applicants, enclosing for that purpose, the minutes of the jury deliberations.

The selected candidate must inform its willingness to accept the grant, in writing. In case of rejection, the fellowship will be awarded to the next candidate in the ordered list of applicants.

Application deadline and submission: The call for applications is open from 10 working days from the date of publication of the notice on the Euraxess portal.

Applications must be formalized by sending an application letter with the following documents: curriculum vitae; qualifications certificate or declaration of the applicant; motivation letter; recommendation letter; statement proving that meets the conditions for the grant typology, according to the application requirements; other documents important to the evaluation process).

Applications must be sent by email to (bolsas@ecum.uminho.pt), indicating the reference of the call for applications" 19/ECUM/CQUM/2023 - Res4ValOr" in Subject. Applications submitted by other means will not be accepted.

Fellowship contractualization: The fellowship will be attributed by signing a fellowship contract between the University of Minho and the fellow, accordingly with the contract minute (annex IV of the Regulation of Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in Diário da República, 2nd Série, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, as indicated in 2.4 of the FCT document: “Rules for Granting and Management of Grants within the scope of R&D projects, including infrastructure projects, the multi-annual financing program for R&D units and other FCT financing instruments (Version 2021)”.

The contract may only be concluded after all the documentation required is collected, which must take place within a maximum period of 6 months [including evidences of the academic degrees or diplomas and enrolment in degree courses or non-conferring courses, depending on the type of scholarship].

Once all the documentation has been received, the contracting entity has a period of 60 working days to conclude the scholarship contract. Once received, the fellow must return the contract duly signed within 15 working days.

The activities under the fellowship contract can only began after proper authorization by the contracting entity.

Term and cancellation of fellowship contracts: Without prejudice to the other causes provided the fellowship regulations (FCT and UMinho) and in the Statute of the Research Fellow, the fellowship ends with the completion of the work plan, as well as with the expiration date for which it was granted or renewed.

At the end of the fellowship, the grantee is obliged to present a Final Report of the work carried out, in accordance with the objectives and evaluation criteria defined with the scientific advisor, within 30 days after the end of the scholarship.

The final report must be prepared in accordance with Annex I of the Scientific Research Fellowships Regulation of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in Diário da República, 2nd Série, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021.

Note: The information above required should be submitted in the Euraxess Portal[1], in the fields reserved for those purposes[2].