Call for 1 Research Fellowship

Ad summary

A call is now open for 1 (one) Research Fellowship (call reference: WJCR/019/BI/2022) in the scope of the research-related activities in Psychology of the R&D Unit William James Center for Research (UIDP/04810/2020) at Ispa – Instituto Universitário, funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) – FCT, I.P./MCTES, through national funds (PIDDAC).

1. Scientific field: Psychology

2. Funding source: Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) – FCT, I.P./MCTES, through national funds (PIDDAC), via the Multiannual Funding of R&D Units 2020-2023 – Programmatic Budget (reference: UIDP/04810/2020).

3. Applicant’s profile

Mandatory requirements: Master’s degree in Psychology; proficiency in the Portuguese language.

Preferred factors:

. Previous experience in data collection, both in person and via digital platforms;

. Previous experience in research projects focused on the same topic of the project/work plan;

. Previous experience in quantitative and qualitative data analysis;

. Proficiency in the English language, spoken and written.

4. Requirements for admission to the competition

The following documents must be submitted:

1. Master’s (or Integrated Master’s) degree in Psychology with the final classification and academic transcript;
2. Detailed curriculum vitae (CV);
3. Motivation letter.

Candidates that do not submit the academic transcript of the degree (that is, curricular courses taken and concomitant classifications of the Master’s, or Integrated Master’s, in Psychology) will not be admitted.

If the academic degree has been conferred by a foreign higher education institution, it must be recognized by a Portuguese higher education institution, and the final classification must be converted into the Portuguese evaluation scale, under the terms of the provisions of Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of August 16th, which approves the legal regime of recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of Higher Education, attributed by foreign higher education institutions, and of paragraph e) of no. 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law no. 60/2018, of August 3rd.

If the candidate has already requested but is waiting on the recognition of the academic degree conferred by a foreign higher education institution to be issued, he/she can submit a declaration of honor clarifying that the recognition was requested and will be dated within the application period.

The recognition of foreign academic degrees and diplomas and the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese classification scale may be requested in any Portuguese public higher education institution or at the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES, for automatic recognition only). Please consult the DGES portal for details: http://www.dges.gov.pt.

5. Requirements for signing the fellowship contract

The candidate must be enrolled in a Ph.D. degree in Health Psychology. This registration must be completed until the time of contracting the research fellowship.

In the case of diplomas issued by foreign higher education institutions, the recognition of these academic degrees must be presented until the time of contracting the research fellowships and the date of recognition must fall within the application period (as indicated in point 4).

For the purposes of signing the contract, a form with personal information, Ciência ID, a copy of the identification document, and a declaration on exclusive functions exercise might also be requested.

False declarations are reason to cancel the candidacy without prejudice to the application of other sanction measures.

6. Work plan

The work plan will be developed in the context of the research activities of the Multiannual Funding of R&D Units 2020-2023 – Programmatic Budget of the R&D Unit William James Center for Research, awarded by FCT. Specifically, the fellow will be involved in research-related activities examining the effects of co-parenting and work/family conflict on the father involvement (Dyadic approach to father involvement). The fellow will:

- Establish contacts and articulate between social and education institutions to collect data from parents;

- Collect quantitative and qualitative data (e.g., hand out questionnaires, and interview parents);

- Create and structure data bases;

- Transcribe interviews/focus groups;

- Conduct quantitative and qualitative data analysis;

- Prepare reports for writing of scientific manuscripts.

The fellow might also collaborate in other activities as long as these are aligned with the goals of the project/work plan, such as literature review, promotion and outreach activities in scientific events.

7. Applicable legislation

Law No. 40/2004, of August 18th, as amended by the Decree-Law No. 123/2019, of August 28th, in its current wording (Research Fellowship Holder Statute/Estatuto do Bolseiro de Investigação - EBI); Regulation No. 950/2019, of November 29th, published in Diário da República, No. 241, Series II, of December 16th (FCT’s Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships/Regulamento de Bolsas de Investigação da FCT - RBI); Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16th (Legal regime of recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of hugher education awarded by foreign higher education institutions); Regulation for Scientific Research Fellowships of Ispa – Instituto Universitário; and other applicable legislation.

8. Workplace and scientific supervision

The research fellowship contract will be signed with ISPA, CRL (contracting entity). The place of work is located at the William James Center for Research (host institution), located at Ispa – Instituto Universitário and, eventually, other locations necessary for the execution of the planned activities, under the scientific supervision of Doctor Eva Diniz.

9. Duration of the fellowship

The fellowship will have a duration of 06 months, eventually renewable for periods not exceeding the eligible period of the project, conditioned by the project's budget, and in accordance with the maximum period for research fellowships as indicated in points 4 and 5 of Article 6 of FCT’s Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships.

The fellowship is expected to start in December 2022.

10. Remuneration and other components

1144,64€, in accordance to the table of monthly maintenance stipend in Portugal set by FCT for activities in exclusive dedication regime (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/docs/Tabela_de_Valores_SMM_2022.pdf), subject to any updates that may apply, to be paid monthly through bank transfer. Each fellow is also entitled to the applicable voluntary social security system (Seguro Social Voluntário, Decree-Law No. 40/89, of February 1st; EBI – art. 10º), and a personal accidents insurance.

11. Submission of applications

The call is open from November 14th 2022 to November 30th 2022, 11PM (Lisbon time). Only applications received within the specified application period will be considered.

Applications must be formalized via e-mail to ediniz@ispa.pt, copied (Cced) to wjrc@ispa.pt, and must clearly state the reference of this call in the “Subject” of the e-mail: WJCR/019/BI/2022.

Applications must include the following mandatory documents (as indicated in point 4):

1. Copy of the Master’s, or Integrated Master’s, degree certificate/diploma with the final classification and academic transcript;
2. Detailed curriculum vitae (CV);
3. Motivation letter.

All documents must be submitted in PDF format.

The non-compliance with these requirements may determine the rejection of the application.

12. Evaluation and selection criteria

The evaluation process will consist of two stages: 1) The evaluation of the submitted documents, and 2) an interview.

Stage 1

In Stage 1 candidates will be evaluated and ranked by their curriculum according to the following (weighted) criteria:

Criterion A: Academic degree (20%), based on the final classification indicated in the Master’s, or Integrated Master’s, diploma/certificate;

Criterion B: Previous experience in research projects in the scientific field of the project/work plan, especially in data collection and analysis; and knowledge and experience in digital data collection platforms, as indicated in the candidate’s CV (60%);

Criterion C: Motivation and interest in the scientific area, as indicated in the candidate’s motivation letter (20%).

Applications will be evaluated, and candidates ranked, on a 0,00 – 20,00 scale. The final classification will result from the application of the formula:

Stage 1 = (Criterion A x 20%) + (Criterion B x 60%) + (Criterion C x 20%)

Stage 2

Candidates ranked in the first 3 positions of Stage 1, that is, with the highest score in descending order, will be interviewed. Candidates tied in the first 3 positions will be interviewed.

In the Interview, the Evaluation Panel will assess: The motivation of the candidate; the candidate’s knowledge relative to the information indicated in the motivation letter and CV, specially theoretical and methodological knowledge of the topic of the project/work plan; experience in data collection, analysis, and dissimination via digital platforms; skills of statistical and thematic analysis; and communication skills (including Enhlish proficiency). Each criteria will be evaluated on a 0,00 – 20,00 scale.

The final classification will result from the formula:

Final Classification = (Stage 1 x 50%) + (Stage x 50%)

For tie-breaking purposes, the ranking of the candidates will be based on the classifications assigned to each of the evaluation criteria in the following order of precedence: Stage 2 – Interview; Stage 1 – B) Previous experience demonstrated by the candidate; C) – Motivation letter; and A) – Academic degree.

If none of the candidates presents the appropriate and/or necessary skills and competences required for the position and respective work plan, despite fulfilling all the requirements for admission, the Evaluation Panel has the right to not attribute the fellowship(s).

Note for the evaluation of Criterion A – Stage 1:

1 – The Evaluation Panel will award the minimum score (10 points on a 0 – 20 scale) required for obtaining a degree in Portugal when degree certificates/diplomas issued by foreign institutions are not recognized in Portugal and/or do not have the respective final classifications converted to the Portuguese evaluation scale (as indicated in point 4 of the call for applications);

2 – When candidates submit more than one equivalent Master's, or Integrated Master’s, degree (equivalent number of ECTS), the Evaluation Panel will decide which academic degree is best suited for the pursuit of the research plan and which should, therefore, be considered for Criterion A. Other course(s) presented by the candidate can eventually be considered for Criterion B.

13. Composition of the Evaluation Panel

Doctor Eva Diniz (Integrated Researcher in the William James Center for Research at Ispa – Instituto Universitário; President)

Professor Doctor Manuela Veríssimo (Full Professor at Ispa – Instituto Universitário, Integrated Researcher in the William James Center for Research at Ispa – Instituto Universitário; effective member)

Professor Doctor Carla Fernandes (Assistant Professor at Ispa – Instituto Universitário, Integrated Researcher in the William James Center for Research at Ispa – Instituto Universitário; effective member)

Professor Doctor Tânia Brandão (Assistant Professor at Ispa – Instituto Universitário, Integrated Researcher in the William James Center for Research at Ispa – Instituto Universitário; alternate member)

Doctor Marília Fernandes (Integrated Researcher in the William James Center for Research at Ispa – Instituto Universitário; alternate member)

14. Communication of results

The results will be notified no later than 90 working days after the closing date for submission of applications to the e-mail address provided by the applicants.

15. Deadlines and procedures for preliminary hearing, complaint, and appeal

After communicating the provisional list of the results, applicants who want to dispute the results have a period of 10 working days to request a preliminary hearing, per Articles 121 and following of the Administrative Procedure Code (CPA). The final decision will be communicated after examining the arguments presented at the preliminary hearing. After this communication, the selected candidate has 10 working days to accept, in writing, the awarded fellowship. Otherwise, withdrawal or renouncement of the fellowship will be considered, unless a proper justification is presented.

After the final decision, a complaint may be placed within 15 working days or, alternatively, an appeal within 30 working days, both counting from the notification date. Applicants who wish to submit a complaint or an appeal should address their complaint to the Board of the funding agency.

In case the selected candidate renounces or withdraws from the fellowship, the Evaluation Panel can notify and award the fellowship to the candidate(s) in the subsequent position(s), if applicable, and according to the final ranking list.

16. Templates for the research fellowship contract and for the final reports by the fellow and by the supervisor

The template for the research fellowship contract as well we the template for the final reports to be created by the fellow and by the supervisor, and concomitant evaluation criteria, can be found in the Ispa – Instituto Universitário’s Regulation for Scientific Research Fellowships (Appendices 2, 3, and 4) at:

https://intranet.ispa.pt/sites/default/files/users/531/rg102_bols_invest_cient_v4.0.pdf