Call for Applications for PhD Research Grants

The Centre for Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Processes (CEMMPRE) hereby opens this Call for Applications for 3 research grants, hereinafter called PhD Research Grants, in the field(s) of Mechanical Engineering or related, in compliance with the provisions of the FCT Regulations for Research Grants and Fellowships (RBI) and the Research Fellowship Holder Statute (EBI).

The scholarships will be financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia) (FCT) under the Collaboration Agreement of the Multiannual Financing Plan for Doctoral Research Grants, signed between FCT and the R&D Research Unit UIDP/00285/2020 - CEMMPRE.

1. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

The Call for Applications is open from March 22th of 2023 on April 22th of 2023.

Applications and all the supporting documents described in this Call must be submitted by email to mmadeira@dem.uc.pt; cemmpre@uc.pt; rita.farinha@dem.uc.pt.

Each applicant can only submit one application, under penalty of cancellation of all the applications submitted.

Please note that false declarations or acts of plagiarism from the applicants will lead to the exclusion of the application notwithstanding the need to take other corrective or punitive disciplinary measures.

2. TYPE AND DURATION OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS

The PhD scholarships are intended to finance research activities carried out by the doctoral candidate that will lead to the attainment of the academic degree of doctor in Portuguese Universities.

The research activities leading to the attainment of the academic degree of doctor will take place at University of Coimbra - CEMMPRE, which will be the candidates’ host institution(s), notwithstanding that the research work may be carried out in collaboration with more than one institution.

The research activities leading to the attainment of the academic degree of doctor of the selected applicants must be framed within the activity plan and strategy of     University of Coimbra and CEMMPRE, and must be carried out within the following Doctoral Programmes:

PhD in Mechanical Engineering, of the University of Coimbra;

PhD in Chemical Engineering, of the University of Coimbra;

PhD in Biomedical Engineering, of the University of Coimbra;

PhD in Biosciences, of the University of Coimbra.

The work programme may be entirely or partially carried out on a national institution (national or blended scholarships, respectively).

As a rule, PhD scholarships are annual, renewable for up to the maximum of four years (48 months), and cannot be granted for a period less than three consecutive months.

In the case of a blended scholarship, i.e., carried out both in Portugal and abroad, the research period at the foreign institution cannot exceed 24 months.

3. RECIPIENTS OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS

PhD scholarships are intended for candidates who are enrolled or who comply with the requirements to enroll in one of the PhD Programs listed in point 2. of this call, who wish to carry out research activities as part of this degree in the University of Coimbra - CEMMPRE, or at another associated host institution.

4. ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

4.1 Admission requirements for applicants

The following candidates may apply to this Call:

•    National (Portuguese) citizens or citizens from other member states of the European Union;

•    Third-country nationals;

•    Stateless individuals;

•    Citizens with political refugee status.

     

To apply for a PhD scholarship, applicants must comply with the following requirements:

•    To have a Bachelor degree (Pré-Bolonha – five year of studies) or a master degree in Mechanical Engineering or in related areas

•    To be permanently and habitually resident in Portugal at the starting date of the period of the work plan abroad, if the proposed plan of work for the grant includes a period in foreign institutions (mixed grants), a requirement applicable to both Portuguese and foreign citizens.

•    Has not benefited previously from a PhD scholarship or a PhD Industry scholarship directly funded by FCT, regardless of its duration.

•    Does not hold a Doctor's degree.

4.2 Application requirements

The following documents are mandatory, under penalty of exclusion from the Call:

•    Elements from the identity card/citizen card/passport;

•    Curriculum vitae of the candidate;

•    Certificates of the academic degrees, necessarily specifying the final grade and, if possible, the grades obtained in all courses, or, alternatively, a declaration of honor by the candidate on how he/she completed the licentiate (Pré-Bolonha – five year of studies) or the master degree until the application deadline;

•    Register of the recognition of the academic degree awarded by foreign higher education institutions, including the conversion of the final grade to the Portuguese grading scale, or, alternatively, a declaration of honor by the candidate on how he/she obtained the recognition of the foreign academic degree equivalent to that of a licentiate (Pré-Bolonha – five year of studies) or master until the application deadline;

•    Motivation letter;

•    Recommendation letters;

•    Write the application and all documents associated with it, including the motivation and recommendation letters, in English.

Regarding the aforementioned admission requirements, the following should be noted:

In the case of academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, and to guarantee the principle of equal treatment among applicants with national and foreign academic degrees, the applicant must submit proof of recognition of such degrees and the conversion of the respective final average grade to the Portuguese grading scale.

The recognition of foreign academic degrees and diplomas and the conversion of the respective final average grade to the Portuguese grading scale, can be issued by a Portuguese public higher education institution, or by the Directorate-General for Higher Education (Direção Geral do Ensino Superior, DGES: only in the case of automatic recognition). Candidates should consult the DGES portal for more information at https://www.dges.gov.pt/en.

Only applicants who have completed the cycle of studies leading to a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree until the application deadline will be admitted. Applicants who have not yet received their degree certificate/diploma must submit a declaration of honour stating that they will conclude the Bachelor’s or Master's degree by the end of the application period. Granting the scholarship will depend on the presentation of proof of the academic qualifications required at the contracting stage.

5. WORK PLAN AND SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS

The themes proposed for the doctoral plans are available at https://www.uc.pt/cemmpre/news/phd-research-grants-2023/, all of which correspond to interdisciplinary work in the two major research areas of CEMMPRE: Materials and Processes and Mechanics and Intelligent Manufacturing. The applicant must select up to four of these themes and indicate the order of preference in the motivation letter. The motivation letter must be written in English and must clarify the reasons for selecting each of the four themes, as well as how the applicant professional experience can contribute to achieve his/her goals.

6. EVALUATION CRITERIA AND BONUSES

6.1 Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation will be based on merit of the applicants and their research experience

All admitted applications will be ranked according to the weighted average of the score obtained on 0-100 in each of the following evaluation criteria:

Criterion A – Curricular Evaluation – 60%:

       Subcriteria A1 - Academic qualifications - 40%, which reflects the classification of the academic degrees of bachelor and/or master. If the classification is qualitative, it will be converted into a quantitative classification, in accordance with the table of the University of Coimbra. For the purposes of applying this sub-criterion, equal treatment for candidates with Bachelors (Pre-Bologne) or Masters is considered. In the case of both degrees, the arithmetic average will be used. When candidates have more than one equivalent bachelor and/or master degree (equivalent number of credits (ECTS)), it is up to the jury to decide which degree(s) best suit(s) the work plan and should, therefore, be taken into account for the calculation of the classification for this sub-criterion.

       Subcriteria A2 – Professional and Research Experience: 20%;

Criterion B – Interview – 40%:

       Subcriteria B1 - Adequacy of the profile and skills for carrying out the selected doctoral plan proposal: 30%;

        Subcriteria B2 - Critical sense and responsibility, oral expression skills and mastery of the English language: 10%;

In order to decide the granting of a PhD scholarship, applicants will be ranked according to the weighted average of the score obtained in each of the two criteria, according to the following formula:

Final classification = (0,4 X A1) + (0,2 x A2) + (0,3 x B1) + (0,1 x B2)  

   

Taking into account the special characteristics of the positions to be granted, the evaluation of

criterion A will be carried out in a first stage. Only applicants who obtain a value equal to or

greater than 40 points in the criterion A have access to the interview.

 

For tiebreaking purposes, the final ranking list will be based on the scores assigned to each of the evaluation criteria in the following order: Criterion A, Criterion B.

     

Important note for candidates holding a degree issued by foreign higher education institutions:

•    In the case of academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, and to guarantee the principle of equal treatment among applicants with national and foreign academic degrees, the applicants must submit proof of recognition of such degrees and the conversion of the respective final average grade to the Portuguese grading scale under the terms of the applicable legislation.

•    Applicants with recognized foreign academic degrees who do not submit a proof of conversion of the final average grade to the Portuguese grading scale will be evaluated with the minimum grade of 65 points in criterion A1.

•    In any case, scholarship contracts with applicants whose diplomas have been issued by foreign institutions will only be concluded upon presentation of proof of recognition of academic degrees and conversion of the final average grade, as indicated above.

     

Applicants whose application is scored with a final grade lower than 75 points are not eligible for scholarship award.

     

6.2 Bonuses

n.a.

7. EVALUATION

The evaluation panel is composed of the following members:

• Marta Cristina Cardoso de Oliveira, University of Coimbra, President;

• Bruno Miguel Quelhas de Sacadura Cabral Trindade, University of Coimbra, effective vowel;

• Christopher Michael Ashton Brett, University of Coimbra, effective vowel;

• Paula Maria de Melim Vasconcelos de Vitorino Morais, University of Coimbra, effective vowel;

• Cristóvão Silva, University of Coimbra, effective vowel;

• Luís Filipe Martins Menezes, University of Coimbra, effective vowel.

The evaluation panel will assess applications based on the evaluation criteria described in this Call for Applications, considering the components of evaluation.

All panel members, including the coordinator, will make a commitment to respect the responsibilities of the evaluation process, such as the duties of impartiality, the declaration of any potential conflicts of interest, and confidentiality. At all times during the evaluation process, confidentiality is fully protected and ensured in order to guarantee the independence of all opinions produced.

For each application, a final evaluation form will be produced by the panel, in which the arguments that led to the scores attributed to each of the evaluation criteria and sub-criteria will be presented in a clear, coherent and consistent manner.

Minutes of the meetings of the evaluation panel will be taken under the responsibility of all its members.

The minutes and their attachments must include the following information:

•    Name and affiliation of all members of the evaluation panel;

•    Identification of all excluded applications and respective reasons ;

•    Methodology employed by the panel for particular cases;

•    Final Evaluation Sheets for each application;

•    Provisional list of the scoring and ranking of the candidates, in descending order of the final grade, of all applications evaluated by the panel;

•    Conflict of Interest (COI) statements from all members of the panel;

•    Delegations of voting and decision powers by reason of justified absence.

8. DISCLOSURE OF THE RESULTS

Evaluation results will be communicated by email to the address provided by the candidates in the application form.

     

9. DEADLINES AND PROCEDURES FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING, COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS

Once the provisional ranked list of the evaluation results has been communicated, applicants may request a preliminary hearing with the interested parties, under the terms of Articles no. 121 and following of the Code of Administrative Procedures (CPA).

The final decision will be announced after the analysis of applicants’ arguments presented in the preliminary hearing. Following the final decision, the applicant can file a formal complaint within 15 working days or, alternatively, file an appeal within 30 working days, counting after the communication of the final results.

Applicants who choose to file a complaint should address their request to the member of the FCT Board of the Directors with the delegated competence. Applicants who choose to file an appeal must address their request to the FCT Board of Directors.

     

10. REQUIREMENTS TO AWARD THE SCHOLARSHIPS

The research scholarship contracts are signed directly with FCT.

The following documents are mandatory, upon conditional awarding of the scholarship for the purposes of contract preparation:

a) Copy of the document(s) of personal identification, tax number and, if applicable, social security;

b) Copy of the academic degree certificates held by the applicant;

c) Recognition of the academic degrees obtained abroad and conversion of the final grade to the

Portuguese grading scale, if applicable;

d) Document proving acceptance and enrolment in the Doctoral Programme identified in the present Call for Applications;

e) Statement from the supervisor(s) declaring their acceptance to coordinate and supervise the work plan, as established in Article no. 5-A of the Statute for Research Fellowships (template will be made available by FCT);

f) Institutional document supporting the applicant, issued by the institution where the work plan will be carried out, guaranteeing the necessary conditions to its successful development, as well as the fulfilment of the duties established in Article no. 13 of the Research Fellowship Holder Statute (template will be made available by FCT);

g) Updated document proving the exclusive dedication regime (template will be made available by FCT);

h) Work Plan.

     

The granting of the scholarship is still dependent on:

• The fulfilment of all the requirements listed in this Call for Applications;

• The results of the scientific evaluation;

• The absence of unjustified non-compliance of the fellowship holder during previous directly or

indirectly funded FCT fellowships;

• The FCT's available budget.

     

The lack of any of the necessary documents to complete the contracting procedure implies the expiration of the scholarship granting and conclusion of the process; applicants have up to 6 months after the disclosure of the provisional granting to present all of the documents listed.

     

11. FUNDING

The payment of the scholarships will begin after the return, by the candidates, of the scholarship contract duly signed, which should occur within a maximum of 15 working days from the date of receipt.

The scholarships awarded under this competition will be financed by the FCT with funds from the State Budget and, where eligible, with funds from the European Social Fund, through the Demography, Qualifications and Inclusion Programme (PDQI), in accordance with the regulatory provisions set for this purpose.

     

12. SCHOLARSHIP COMPONENTS

A monthly maintenance allowance is granted to the fellows in accordance with the table in Annex I of the RBI.

The scholarship may also include additional allowances, according to RBI’s Article no. 18 and the values indicated in its Annex II.

All the scholarship holders have a personal accident insurance related to the research activities, which FCT will support.

All scholarship holders who are not beneficiaries of any social protection regime have the right to register for social security through the voluntary social insurance regime, under the terms of the Contributory Scheme of the Social Security System. FCT will ensure the charges resulting from contributions under the terms and the limits provided in Article no. 10 of the EBI.

     

13. PAYMENT OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

Payments due to the scholarship holder are made by bank transfer to the bank account indicated. The monthly maintenance allowance is paid on the first working day of each month.

Registration, enrolment and tuition fees are payed directly by FCT to the national institution where the scholarship holder has enrolled or is registered in a 3rd Cycle of Studies/PhD Programme.

     

14. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PhD SCHOLARSHIP RENEWAL

The renewal of the scholarship always depends upon the applicant’s request, within 60 working days prior to the renewal start date, which must include the following documents:

a) Declaration(s) issued by the supervisor(s) and by the host institution(s) attesting the work plan development and the evaluation of the respective activities;

b) Updated document proving compliance with the exclusive dedication regime;

c) Declaration proving enrolment renewal in the study cycle leading to the doctoral degree.

15. INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY OF THE GRANTED FUNDING

In all R&D activities directly or indirectly financed by the scholarship, in particular in all communications, publications and scientific creations, as well as theses, carried out with the support provided for in the scholarship, the mention of financial support from FCT and the European Social Fund, through, inter alia, the Demography, Qualifications and Inclusion Program (PDQI) should be expressed. For this purpose, the insignia of FCT, MCTES, ESF and EU logos should be entered in the documents relating to these actions, in accordance with the graphic standards of the Community support program.

The disclosure of research results funded according to the RBI provisions must comply with the open access guidelines, publications and other research results in accordance with FCT rules.

In all scholarship, and in particular in the case of actions supported by Community funding, in particular the ESF, follow-up and control actions may be carried out by national and Community bodies in accordance with applicable legislation in this area, with the scholarship holders supporting the obligation to collaborate and provide the requested information, which covers the carrying out of surveys and evaluation studies in this area, even if the scholarship has already ceased.

     

16. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY

FCT promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, thus no applicant may be privileged, benefited, damaged or deprived of any right or exempted from any duty, due to ancestry, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, economic status, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic disease, nationality, ethnicity or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs or trade union affiliation.

     

17. APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS

The present call is governed by this Notice of Opening, by the FCT Regulations for Research Fellowships approved by the Regulation no. 950/2019 (published in the Series II of the DR, of 16th December), by the Research Fellowship Holder Statute (approved by Law no. 40/2004, of 18th of August, in its current version), and by other applicable national and Community legislation.