Research Fellowship - CENTER OF BIOLOGICAL ENGINEERING - CEB-BI-32-2022(4)

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE AWARD OF  RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPS

Research Fellowship (4 vacancies)

CEB-BI-32-2022(4)

A call for applications is now open for the attribution of 4 (four) research grants within the scope of the R&D project MarPlas - Evaluation and valorization of plastics and microplastics in marine environment (ref. NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000080), Centre of Biological Engineering, financed by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through NORTE2020 program and European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) - SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH SUPPORT SYSTEM - “STRUCTURED R&D&I PROJECTS, under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Environmental Biotechnology

Recipient category: Students enrolled in a doctoral programme on Chemical and Biological Engineering, or related areas, preferentially at the University of Minho, or MSc degree holders attending a non-academic degree course integrated in the educational project of the University of Minho.

Requirement for granting the fellowship:

• The applicants may apply without prior registration in the course for which the fellowship is open. The requirement to enrol in a degree course or non-academic degree course will be verified on the date of contracting the fellowship;
• Only fellowships whose selected applicants present a valid proof of enrolment in a degree course or non-academic degree course will be contracted, according to the type of the fellowship, issued by the academic services of the Higher Education Institution, indicating, respectively, the academic year or its duration (star and term);
• Enrolment in non-certified courses (without curricular units) will not be considered as proof of enrolment.

Candidates profile: The candidates must:

1. have a MSc in the field of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Bioinformatics, Biotechnology or related areas;
2. have not benefited from a non-conferring degree research grant for a cumulative period of 2 years followed or interpolated, in the case of masters enrolled in non-academic degree courses;
3. display evidence of interest and curiosity for Environmental Biotechnology and should have a very good to excellent academic record (Profile A and B);
4. display evidence of interest and curiosity for Bioinformatics applied to Environmental Biotechnology and should have a very good to excellent academic record (Profile C and D);

1. indicate doctoral enrolment in the area of Chemical and Biological Engineering or enrolment in a non-academic degree course integrated in the educational project of the University of Minho (until the contractualization date), as well as proof of academic qualifications completed at the deadline for applications, including those resulting from academic degree recognition processes;
2. demonstrate eventual research experience and/or previous laboratory experience.

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: The scientific work to be developed will be integrated into Research Line 3 activities of MarPlas project, namely in tasks 1 and 2, according to the following profiles:

Profile A: Research Line 3, Task 1 – Screening the potential of naturally occurring microbial communities for plastics biodegradation; and Task 2 - Identification, enrichment and isolation of marine plastic’s degrading microorganisms and enzymes. It is expected that the research fellowship holder will be able to autonomously perform plastic biodegradation experiments under aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The selected candidate will also be responsible for reviewing and reporting on the ongoing investigation.

Profile B: Research Line 3, Task 1 – Screening the potential of naturally occurring microbial communities for plastics biodegradation; and Task 2 - Identification, enrichment and isolation of marine plastic’s degrading microorganisms and enzymes. It is expected that the research fellowship holder will be able to autonomously perform microbial enrichment cultures of plastic degrading microorganisms. The selected candidate will also be responsible for reviewing and reporting on the ongoing investigation.

Profile C: Research Line 3, Task 1 – Screening the potential of naturally occurring microbial communities for plastics biodegradation; and Task 2 - Identification, enrichment and isolation of marine plastic’s degrading microorganisms and enzymes. It is expected that the research fellowship holder will be able to autonomously apply bioinformatics tools to analyse metagenomics data from plastic biodegradation assays. The selected candidate will also be responsible for reviewing and reporting on the ongoing investigation.

Profile D: Research Line 3, Task 1 – Screening the potential of naturally occurring microbial communities for plastics biodegradation; and Task 2 - Identification, enrichment and isolation of marine plastic’s degrading microorganisms and enzymes. It is expected that the research fellowship holder will be able to autonomously analyse sequencing data to identify enzymes related to plastic biodegradation. The selected candidate will also be responsible for reviewing and reporting on the ongoing investigation.

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 Biological Engineering of University of Minho, located in the University of Minho, Campus of Gualtar - Braga, under the scientific supervision of Doctor Ana Júlia Viana Cavaleiro.

Fellowship duration: The grant will take place for a period of 6 months, with a provisional starting date on January 2023.

Amount of the research grant: The value stipend (Monthly Maintenance Allowance) is 1.144,64 € 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 benefits: Reimbursement of Voluntary Social Security (Social Security contributions), corresponding to the 1st level of discounts 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: The selection panel shall consist of three effective members and two substitute members.

President: Ana Júlia Viana Cavaleiro (Junior researcher, Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho)

Effective members: Maria Alcina Alpoim de Sousa Pereira (Assistant professor, Department of Biological Engineering, University of Minho) and Gilberto Jorge da Silva Martins (Junior researcher, Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho)

Substitute members: Daniela Patrícia Bernardino Mesquita (Junior researcher, Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho) and Joana Teresa Rodrigues Martins (Junior researcher, Centre of Biological Engineering, 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 applications assessment will focus on the candidate's Merit, following evaluation criteria, valued on a scale of 1 to 5 values:

Applicant Merit - AM (100%):

A1. - Academic path (considering the classifications of both BSc and MSc academic degrees), with a weighting of 50%;

A2. - Personal curriculum (considering professional and scientific background), with a weighting of 30%

A3. - Motivation letter, with a weighting of 20%.

The final classification of the applicant’s merit will be achieved through the following formula:

AM = (A1 x 0,50) + (A2 x 0,30) + (A3 x 0,20)

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 (annex I). 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 (annex I) 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.

If case of unfavourable results, the candidates have a period of 10 working days to comment, if desired, in a prior hearing to interested parties, pursuant to articles 121 and 122 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (DL no. 4 / 2015 of January 7th).

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.

The final decision can be contested within 15 working days, by sending to the President of the jury the corresponding claim. Interested parties may also submit an optional hierarchical appeal, addressed to the Pro-Rector for Scientific Projects and Research Management.

Constitution of a selection reserve list: The applicants ranked in the next positions on the ordered list will be included in a selection reserve list, which can be used until the end of the project.

Application deadline and submission: The call for applications is open during 10 working days after the notice publication on the European Scientific Mobility Portal Euraxess.

Applications must be formalized by email, sending an application letter with the following documents:

• curriculum vitae;
• Bachelor and Master qualification certificates indicating classification of both BSc and MSc or declaration of the applicant (annex I);
• motivation letter; statement proving that meets the conditions for the grant typology (annex II), according to the application requirements;
• other documents important to the evaluation process.

Applications must be sent by email to bolsas@ceb.uminho.pt , indicating the reference of the call (CEB-BI-32-2022) for applications 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.

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.