CMU Portugal Program: Open call for up to 6 Dual Degree Ph.D. Scholarships

The Carnegie Mellon Portugal (CMU Portugal) opens a call for applications for up to six (6) Ph.D. Scholarships (Bolsas de Investigação para Doutoramento, BD). The Ph.D. will take place in Portugal and at Carnegie Mellon University under the FCT Regulation for Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) and the Research Fellowship Holder Statute (EBI), and within the scope of the CMU Portugal Dual Degree Ph.D. Programs in the following fields:

• Computer Science (CS)
• Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE)
• Engineering and Public Policy (EPP)
• Human-Computer Interaction (HCI)
• Language Technologies (LTI)
• Robotics (CS/R)
• Software Engineering (SE)

Successful candidates to the CMU Portugal Dual Degree Ph.D. Programs spend up to two years at CMU and up to three years at a University in Portugal. At the end of their successful program, the candidates are awarded two Ph.D. degrees, one awarded by CMU and the other by the partner University in Portugal. Details of the Dual Degree Ph.D. programs are available in the url´s above, for additional information regarding each Dual Degree Ph.D. Program see the CMU Portugal website.

Under the “Research and Education Collaboration Agreement” signed between FCT and the Carnegie Mellon University the scholarship will be financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) while in Portugal and financed by CMU while at CMU

 1. ADMISSIONS

The admissions period will be open from October 19^th 2022 at 11:59 a.m. (EST) to December 15^th 2022 at 11:59 a.m. (EST). Applications for the School of Computer Science Ph.D. Programs close on December 12th, 2022 (11:59 a.m. EST); applications for the College of Engineering Ph.D. Programs close on December 15th, 2022 (11:59 a.m. EST).

False statements or plagiary acts by the candidate will constitute a motive for the application withdrawal and other possible disciplinary measures. Applications submitted before the call deadlines and until a specific date may present reduced application fees. More information is available in the CMU applications page of each Ph.D. Program.

2. SCHOLARSHIPS TYPE AND DURATION

The scholarship type will be Bolsa de Investigação (País), for Doctoral Students who are pursuing a Doctoral Degree. Following the "Research and Education Collaboration Agreement" between FCT and Carnegie Mellon University, the Ph.D. funding has the duration of one year, renewable up to a maximum of 5 years with satisfactory progress, of which at most two years are at CMU and up to three years are at the partner University in Portugal. . From the 5 years of funding, 2 years must be carried out at CMU and 3 years at the partner University in Portugal. The scholarship cannot be granted for a period of less than 3 consecutive months. The starting date is September 2023.

3. ADMISSIBILITY AND APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS

In accordance with articles 6 and 9, from the FCT Regulation for Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) the following candidates can apply:

• National citizens or citizens from another member states of the European Union;
• Citizens of third States;
• Stateless persons;
• Citizens enjoying political refugee status.

To apply for the Ph.D. scholarships, it is necessary:

• Hold a Licenciatura or master´s degree, preferably in the CMU Portugal research areas identified in the current announcement;
• Not having benefited, for the same purpose, from scholarships of the same type of this agreement and directly funded by FCT, such has Ph.D. scholarship “bolsa de doutoramento” and Ph.D. in companies scholarship “bolsa de doutoramento em empresas”, regardless of its duration;
• Not have been awarded a Ph.D. degree.

Applications are to be submitted directly to CMU, through a specific admissions website and online application form for each Ph.D. Program. To apply and to know in detail all the information required for each Ph.D. program application please visit the CMU Portugal Program website at “Admissions and Scholarships”.

Research areas available for Ph.D. scholarships, as well as the supervisors at CMU and in Portugal, are defined by the CMU Portugal Program. Hence, candidates do not need to present a work program or a supervisor´s support letter and CV at the time of application. It is mandatory to present the following attachments (other documents/information may be requested by the CMU department to which the candidate is applying to):

• Candidate’s CV;
• Certificates of qualification of the academic degrees held, specifying the final classification and, if possible, the classifications obtained in all subjects taken, or, alternatively, the candidate's declaration of honor on how (s)he completed the licenciatura’s or master's degree by the end the application deadline;
• Registration of recognition of the academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions and registration of the final classification conversion to the Portuguese classification scale for those degrees, or, alternatively, the candidate´s declaration of honor on how (s)he obtained the recognition of the foreign degree equivalent to a graduate or master´s degree until the end of the application period;
• Statement of purpose;
• Letters of Recommendation (the number of letters may vary according to the CMU department);
• If required by the Ph.D. Program, the “GRE” (general exam of the Graduate Record Examination) should be submitted;
• If required by the Ph.D. Program, candidates should submit the results of the “TOEFL” (Test of English as a Foreign Language). While TOEFL is usually preferred the “IELTS” (International English Language Testing System) or the “DET” (Duolingo English Test) may be accepted.

For more information on the registration and final classification conversion of foreign degrees to the Portuguese scale, and also on the GRE and TOEFL requirements please read the call´s announcement.

The scholarship will only be granted if the candidates are accepted by CMU and by one of the Portuguese Universities Ph.D. programs eligible under the CMU Portugal Program Dual Degree Ph.D. Programs agreement. Information on the Ph.D. Programs in Portugal under this agreement is available here.

4. EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation takes into account the candidate´s merit, alignment with the CMU Portugal Program, GRE (when required) and English Language Test scores. Applications considered admissible will be scored on a scale of 0-5 in each of the following evaluation criteria:

• Criterion A – Candidate´s merit (55%),
  • Subcriterion A1 – Academic curriculum (20%), namely the score(s) of the main academic degree(s); and academic activities in which the candidate participated and/or organized such has non-degree educational programs, training programs, workshops, and other courses. Relevant international educational experiences will be valorized. This criterion will be assessed via the candidate´s academic degree(s) certificate(s) and also the CV;
  • Subcriterion A2 – Professional curriculum (15%), namely professional experience; and/or development of scientific activities such has publications published as author or co-author (in scientific journals, books, book chapters, other), presentations at scientific conferences, participation in scientific research projects, and others. This criterion will be assessed via the candidate´s CV and recommendation letters;
  • Subcriterion A3 – Statement of Purpose (20%), which should clearly describe the candidate´s skills, what are the goals that the candidate wants to achieve with the Ph.D., and how the CMU Portugal Program is the appropriate initiative to fulfill those goals.

The classification of Criterion A will be obtained by applying the formula: 

Criterion A= (0,20×A1+ 0,15×A2 + 0,20×A3)

• Criterion B – Alignment with the CMU Portugal Program initiatives (20%) namely the alignment of a candidate to one of the research projects funded by the CMU Portugal Program under the “Large-scale collaborative research projects ” or “Exploratory Research Projects” (available on this page) or/and participation in other CMU Portugal Program initiatives;
• Criterion C – Alignment with the CMU Portugal Program main areas (15%), namely the alignment of the candidate´s application to one or more CMU Portugal Program research areas (more information available here);
• Criterion D – GRE (5%) when required, being that for candidates who have not presented the GRE and are applying to CMU Ph.D. Programs where the GRE is considered an optional or a non-eligible criterion, the GRE will not be considered as an independent evaluation criterion. In these cases the criterion “Academic Curriculum” will correspond to 25% of the evaluation;
• Criterion E – English Language Test (5%), namely the TOEFL, IELTS, or Duolingo test. The candidate will need to have a minimum score equal or higher to the ones required by the corresponding CMU department.

For the purpose of deciding on the awarding of scholarships, candidates will be ranked according to the weighted average of the classification obtained in each of the 5 criteria, calculated according to the following formula:

Final score= ( 0,55×A + 0,20×B + 0,15×C + 0,05×D + 0,05×E)

For tie-breaking purposes, candidates will be ranked according to the scores assigned to each of the evaluation criteria in the following order of precedence: criterion A, criterion B, criterion C, criterion D and criterion E.

Important notes for candidates with diplomas issued by foreign higher education institutions:

• Candidates with diplomas issued by foreign higher education institutions can apply and will be evaluated using the same criteria as candidates with diplomas issued by Portuguese institutions, provided that they present, in their application, proof of recognition of academic degrees and the conversion of final classification for the Portuguese classification scale under the applicable terms of legislation;
• Candidates with foreign degrees who do not show proof of conversion from the final classification to the Portuguese classification scale will be evaluated with the minimum classification of 3,00 points in subcriterion A1;
• In any case, scholarship contracts with candidates with diplomas issued by foreign institutions will only be concluded upon presentation of proof of recognition of academic degrees and conversion of the final classification, as stated above.

Candidates with a final score of < 3,50 points will not be eligible for scholarship awarding. Candidates who attain the required minimum final score for scholarship awarding but aren´t recommend for scholarship, will be ranked in a waiting list should one or more of the best ranked candidates refuses the position.

5. EVALUATION

The application, selection, and admission of the candidates are in accordance with the procedures adopted by the corresponding Department at Carnegie Mellon University as well as the Regulations for Studentships and Fellowships (article 11). Evaluation is based on the merit and motivation of the applicant as assessed through the application.

Once the set of students that meet the minimum requirements to be considered eligible for admission in the dual degree program at CMU is found, then these candidates are ranked by the jury for scholarship´s awarding and recommended for admission in the corresponding Portuguese University in the scope of the CMU Portugal Program Dual Degree Programs initiative.

The elements of the jury that will evaluate the applications will be disclosed on the CMU Portugal website shortly after the applications period and before the start of the evaluation.

The jury will assess applications in accordance with the evaluation criteria contained in this Call for Proposals, considering the elements of evaluation.

The jury will produce, for each application, a final evaluation report where it is clearly stated the reasoning for the scores given in each criterion and subcriterion.

All the jury members, including the chairs, have committed to respect a set of responsibilities essential to the evaluation process, such as the duties of impartiality, the declaration of any potential conflict of interest situations and confidentiality. At all times during the evaluation process, confidentiality is fully protected and ensured to guarantee the independence of all opinions produced.

The jury will be composed of committees for each area available in the current announcement. Each committee will have at least 3 faculty members, and from those, at least 1 should be affiliated with CMU and the remainder from Portuguese Universities affiliated with the CMU Portugal Program. The CMU Portugal Program Directors will chair the jury. The jury will be composed by a minimum of 3 effective members and 2 alternate members.

From the jury meetings, a selection report will be produced that will be the responsibility of all members. More information in the call´s announcement.

6. DISCLOSURE OF RESULTS

The list of candidates to be considered for scholarship will be published in the CMU Portugal webpage. All candidates will be notified via email of the evaluation results.

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

After communication of the preliminary list of results of the evaluation, the candidates have 10 working days to give their opinion at the prior hearing of interested parties, under the terms of articles 121 and following the Code of Administrative Procedure. The final decision will be rendered after analyzing the pronunciations presented at the previous hearing of interested parties. From the final decision, a complaint can be filed within 15 working days, or, alternatively, an appeal may be filed within 30 working days, both counted from the respective notification. Candidates who choose to submit a complaint must address their pronunciation to the FCT Board of Directors with delegated competence. Candidates who choose to submit an appeal must address the same to the FCT Board of Directors.

8. SCHOLARSHIP AWARDING REQUIREMENTS

The scholarship contracts are celebrated directly with FCT. After the candidate´s scholarship awarding, and for the contract to be issued, the documents to be sent are available in the call´s announcement.

9. FUNDING

The payment of the scholarships will begin after the applicants return the duly signed scholarship contract, which must occur within a maximum period of 15 working days from the date of reception. The grants awarded under this call for proposals will be financed by the FCT with funds from the State Budget and, when eligible, with funds from the European Social Fund, to be made available under PORTUGAL2020, through the Northern Regional Operational Program (NORTE 2020), The Regional Operational Program of the Center (Centro 2020) and the Regional Operational Program of Alentejo (Alentejo 2020), in accordance with the regulatory provisions established for this purpose.

10. SCHOLARSHIP

While in Portugal, the scholarship recipients receive a monthly maintenance allowance in accordance with the table in Annex I of the “Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowship” (RBI). The scholarship may also include other components, under the terms set out in article 18 of the RBI and at the amounts provided for in its Annex II. All scholarship holders benefit from personal accident insurance for research activities, supported by FCT. The scholarship holder can adhere to the voluntary social insurance regime (“Seguro Social Voluntário”), which is supported by FCT under the terms and with the limits provided for in article 10 of the EBI. More information regarding the monthly stipend, social security and other allowances that can be provided through the scholarship is available on the FCT webpage. The scholarship holders will pursue their scholarship under the exclusive dedication regime, under article 5 of the RBI.

11. SCHOLARSHIP PAYMENT

Payments due to the grantee are made by bank transfer to the account listed by the grantee. The monthly maintenance allowance is paid on the first business day of each month. The payments for the registration, enrollment or tuition components are made by FCT directly to the national institution where the fellow is enrolled in the Ph.D.

12. SCHOLARSHIP RENEWAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The renewal of the scholarship always depends on a requirement submitted by the fellow, within 60 working days prior to the renewal start date, accompanied by the following documents:

• statements issued by the supervisors and by the host institutions with an assessment of the scholarship holder work;
• updated document proving compliance with the exclusive dedication regime;
• document stating the active registration of the scholarship holder in the host institutions.

13. INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

In all R&D activities directly or indirectly financed by the scholarship, namely, in all communications, publications and scientific creations, as well as theses, carried out with the support provided by the scholarship, the mention of financial support from FCT and the Social European Fund must be expressed. More information in the call´s announcement.

14. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY

FCT promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, so that no candidate can be privileged, benefited, harmed or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty due, namely, to ancestry, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, economic status, education, origin or social status, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic or race origin, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs and affiliation union.

15. APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATION

The call is governed by the present Announcement, by FTC´s Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowship (RBI), approved by Regulation No. 950/2019, published in the II Series of the DR of December 16, 2019, by the Research Fellowship Holder Statute (EBI) approved by the Law 40/2004, of August 18, in the current wording, and by other applicable national and community legislation.

Additional information may be requested to the email apply@cmuportugal.org .