Title: Research Initiation Grant under the project BE.NEUTRAL; 2 positions.
Open call for the attribution of a research initiation grant (BII) within the scope of the R&D project “BE.Neutral – Agenda de Mobilidade para a neutralidade carbónica nas cidades” (Ref C644874240-00000016), at Associação Laboratório Colaborativo em Transformação Digital – DTx, funded by PRR – Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência and by European Funs NextGenerationEU, through incentive systems «Agendas para a Inovação Empresarial», under the following conditions:
Scientific Areas: Electronic and Computer Engineering or related fields.
Category of recipients: The BI is aimed at students enrolled in a bachelor’s degree, professional higher technical course, integrated master’s or master’s degree, in the areas of Electronic and Computer Engineering or related fields.
The documents proving the ownership of academic degrees and diplomas, or the respective recognition when awarded by foreign higher education institutions, may be waived during the application phase, being replaced by a declaration of honor of the candidate, with verification of this condition only occurring in the contracting phase of the research grant. This declaration must attest to facts that occurred on a date prior to the application. In situations of discrepancy between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation delivered for the purposes of contracting a research grant, only the information contained in the latter will be considered. If it turns out that the documents proving 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 attributed in the evaluation of the academic path and may, consequently, change the candidate’s ranking, the contracting of the research grant will not be effective.
Note: 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.
Research grant typology: R&D initiation activities (BII)
Requirements for awarding the research grant:
- Students enrolled in a professional higher technical course, a bachelor’s degree, an integrated master’s degree or a master’s degree, in the area of Electronic and Computer Engineering or related fields, a requirement to be proven at the time of hiring.
- In accordance with article 5 of the “Regulamento de Bolsas de Investigação” of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.:
- The grant can only be awarded to those who, upon conclusion of the grant contract in question, including any possible renewals, do not exceed an accumulated period of one year in that type of grant, consecutive or interspersed;
- The grant cannot be awarded to anyone who has already benefited from research grants directly or indirectly funded by FCT, awarded under the terms of the Research Grant Holder Statute.
- Candidates may apply without prior enrollment in the course for which the scholarship is open. The requirement of enrolment in a degree or non-degree course will be verified on the date of contracting the scholarship. When applying, if no proof of enrollment is available, a sworn statement proving eligibility and intention to enroll is required.
- Scholarships will only be contracted if the selected candidates present valid proof of enrollment in the degree or non-degree course, according to the type of scholarship being applied for, issued by the academic services of the Higher Education Institution, respectively indicating the academic year in progress or its duration (start and end).
- Enrollment in non-credited non-degree courses will not be considered as proof of enrollment.
Recipient profile:
- Be or will be enrolled in a course in the area of Electronic and Computer Engineering or related fields;
- Preferential factors: knowledge in microcontroller programming and instrumentation and measurement equipment.
Applicants eligibility: Applicants must comply with the eligibility conditions laid down in article no. 9 of “Regulamento de Bolsas de Investigação” of FCT I.P (2019).
Work plan and objectives to be achieved: As part of the Agenda’s work, microcontroller code will be documented and tested. The objectives to be achieved relate to the metrology of electronic circuits and documentation of the code developed.
Applicable legislation: “Estatuto do Bolseiro de Investigação (EBI)”, according to Law no. 123/2019, dated August 28, in its current redaction, and also byFundação para Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. “Regulamento de Bolsas de Investigação (RBI)” of Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. – in effect.
Host Institution: The work plan will be developed at Laboratório Colaborativo em Transformação Digital – DTx, under the scientific guidance of Researcher Vítor Alberto Teixeira da Silva.
Duration: The grant will have a duration of 6 months, expected to begin in April 2023. The grant may eventually be renewed up to a maximum of 1 year, the Agenda’s budget allocation, the duration of the Agenda and/or applicable legislation.
Monthly salary: The monthly maintenance allowance is 541,12€/month, according to the table of grant amounts awarded directly by FCT for positions held in Portugal(www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores). The payment will be made by bank transfer.
Other benefits: Reimbursement of the Voluntary Social Security, corresponding to the 1st Echelon of the contribution base and Personal Accident Insurance.
Exclusivity: The performance of duties as a research grant holder is exercised on an exclusive basis, under the terms set out in article no. 5 of “Estatuto do Bolseiro de Investigação” and applicable research grant regulations.
Selection Jury:
- Doctor Vítor Alberto Teixeira da Silva (President of the Jury);
- Doctor Jorge Miguel Santos Cabral (Effective Member);
- Doctor Adriano Dídimo Machado Carvalho (Effective Member);
- Doctor Duarte Manuel Azevedo Fernandes (Substitute Member);
- Doctor Nelson Ricardo Martins Rodrigues (Substitute Member).
In case of impediment of the President of the Jury, they will be replaced by the first effective member, and the substitute member will be appointed to replace the effective member.
Evaluation and selection criteria: The evaluation of applications will focus on the Candidate’s Merit (CM), applying the following evaluation criteria, valued on a scale of 1 to 5 values:
Candidate’s Merit – CM (100%):
- Academic background (scientific adequacy of the academic training, number and adequacy of course units and their classifications are valued), with a weighting of 50%;
- Personal curriculum vitae (reflecting scientific and professional background, and knowledge in microcontroller programming, with a weighting of 40%;
- Letter of motivation and/or letter of recommendation, with a weighting of 10%.
The final ranking of the candidate’s merit will be obtained by applying the following formula:
CM=(a×0,5) + (b×0,4) + (c×0,1)
The jury reserves the right not to award the grant in the event that candidates with the appropriate profile do not apply for the contest. In addition, the jury also reserves the right to call one or more candidates admitted to an informal interview to clarify additional aspects.
Communication of results: The provisional results of applications, based in the selection panel minutes, will be sent to the applicants by email, under the terms of article no. 12 of the RBI of the FCT.
If case of unfavorable results, the candidates have a period of 10 working days to comment, if desired, in a prior hearing to interested parties, pursuant to articles no. 121 and 122 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (CPA) (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 research grant 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 Executive Board Director of Laboratório Colaborativo em Transformação Digital – DTx.
Application deadline and form of submission of applications: The call is open from March 16th to March 30th, 2023.
Applications must be formalized, obligatorily, by sending an application letter accompanied by the following documents: curriculum vitae; proof of registration or declaration of honor proving the intention to register, detailed study plan with mention of the classification obtained in each curricular unit; motivation and/or recommendation letter; other documents relevant to the evaluation process.
Applications must be sent by email to recrutamento@dtx-colab.pt, indicating the reference of the call in subject. Applications sent by other means will not be accepted. The lack of any of the documents required in the application, or sending/delivering it to a location other than the one indicated above, may lead to its exclusion.
Research grant contractualization: The contractualization of the research grant takes place through the signing of a contract between Laboratório Colaborativo em Transformação Digital – DTx and the research grant holder, according to the draft provided by FCT I.P.
The contract can only be celebrated after reception of all required documentation depending on the type of grant, which must occur within a maximum period of 6 months.
After receiving all the documentation, the contracting entity has a period of 60 working days to sign the research grant contract. Once received by the research grant holder, it must be returned duly signed contract within 15 working days.
Research grant contracts can only begin after due authorization from the contracting entity.
Expiration and cancellation of research grants contracts: Without prejudice to the other causes provided for in the applicable research grants regulation (FCT) and in the EBI, the research grant ceases with the conclusion of the contracted work plan, as well as with the end of the period for which it was granted or renewed.
At the end of the research grant, the grant holder is obliged to present the 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 the provisions of the “Estatuto do Bolseiro de Investigação (EBI)”, approved by Law no.40/2004 of August 18th, in the current wording published by Decree-Law no. 123/2019 of August 28th; and “Regulamento de Bolsas de Investigação”, no. 950/2019 of12-16-2019, from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. – in effect.