CIIMAR – Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, R&D unit of the national science and technology system (hereinafter referred to as CIIMAR) opens a national Call for granting fifteen (15) PhD studentships (BD), complying with the provisions of the FCT Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) and the Research Fellowship Holder Statute (EBI). The PhD studentships will be financed by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., through State Budget funds of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, and by the European Social Fund under the Regional Operational Programs of Portugal 2020, within the scope of the Collaboration and Financing Protocol to support a pluriannual plan for PhD studentships of the R&D Unit No. 4423, under the following conditions:
1. APPLICATION
The call is open from 6th until 29th May 2020 (limit 5:00 pm Lisbon time).
Applications, and all the supporting documents described in this Notice of the Call, must be submitted online using the available application form at: http://byt.ciimar.up.pt/inscricoes-byt-phd/.Applications submitted by other means will not be accepted.
Each applicant may submit one application only, under penalty of cancellation of all applications submitted.
Providing false declarations or committing acts of plagiarism by applicants leads to the exclusion of the application without prejudice of taking other corrective and punitive disciplinary measures.
2. TYPE AND DURATION OF STUDENTSHIPS
The PhD studentships are intended to finance research and development activities, carried out by the applicant, aiming at the consolidation of his scientific training, leading to obtaining the academic degree of doctor at the University of Porto.
The research activities leading to obtaining the academic degree of doctor will take place at CIIMAR, which will be the host institution of the applicants, without prejudice to the work being able to be carried out in collaboration between more than one institution. All selected applicants will be integrated into the complementary activities program of CIIMAR, BYT – Blue Young Tallent PhD.
The research activities leading to obtaining the academic degree of doctor of the selected applicants must be framed on the activity plan and strategy of CIIMAR, and must be carried out within the scope of the following Doctoral Programs: Marine Biotechnology and Aquaculture (FCUP), Environmental Contamination and Toxicology (ICBAS/FCUP/FFUP), Animal Science (ICBAS), Aquatic Sciences (ICBAS), Biology (FCUP), Environmental Sciences and Technology (FCUP), Science, Technology and Management of the Sea (FCUP) and Civil Engineering (FEUP).
The work plan may be developed entirely or partially in a national institution (studentship in the Portugal or both in Portugal and abroad, respectively).
As a rule, the duration of PhD studentships is annual, renewable up to the maximum of four years (48 months) and cannot be granted for a period less than 3 consecutive months.
In case of a studentship carried out both in Portugal and abroad, the work plan period in a foreign institution cannot exceed 24 months.
3. RECIPIENTS
PhD studentships are aimed at applicants enrolled or that comply with the requirements to enrol in one of the Doctoral Programs indicated in point 2 of this Notice of the Call and who wish to carry out research at CIIMAR towards this degree.
4. ADMISSIBILITY
4.1 Applicants’ admissibility requirements
The following citizens may apply to this call:
• National citizens or citizens from other member-states of the European Union;
• Third-party states citizens;
• Stateless individuals;
• Citizens holding a political refugee status.
To apply for a PhD studentship it is necessary:
4.2 Application’s admissibility requirements
Applications will be made by filling in the online application form at: http://byt.ciimar.up.pt/inscricoes-byt-phd/. The applicant must select from among the proposed topics available on the platform mentioned above, a topic of his preference, for which he must prepare a proposal for a work plan. The applicant will be able to choose other topics as secondary choices (for which he/she will not have to present a work plan). The work plan prepared by the applicants will be used only as an evaluation criterion, and, after selecting the applicants, they must prepare a definitive work plan with the help of the respective supervising team, to be submitted to the respective doctoral programs.
It is mandatory, under penalty of non-admissibility, to include the following documents in the application:
Regarding the admissibility requirements mentioned above, the following should be noted:
Applicants with diplomas issued by foreign higher education institutions can apply and will be evaluated using the same criteria as applicants with diplomas issued by Portuguese institutions, provided that they present, in their application, proof of recognition of academic degrees and conversion of final classification for the Portuguese classification scale under the terms of the applicable legislation.
The recognition of foreign academic degrees and diplomas, and the conversion of the respective final 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 case of automatic recognition).
Regarding this subject, it is suggested to visit the DGES portal at https://www.dges.gov.pt/pt/pagina/reconhecimento or the University of Porto webpage: https://sigarra.up.pt/up/pt/web_base.gera_pagina?p_pagina=equival%c3%aancia%20e%20reconhecimento%20de%20graus%20estrangeiros%20na%20u.porto
Applications that are not complete by the end of the submission period will not be considered.
5. STRUCTURE OF THE WORK PLAN
The Work Plan must be written in English and must define the main objectives of the thesis project to be developed, as well as the main research questions to be answered, taking into account the first theme that was chosen by the candidate. The Plan should also include a review of the state of the art on the subject in question, the methodologies to be used and the expected results, highlighting the relevance of the proposed research work and its innovative contribution. The plan should also include a brief summary of the proposal and a work schedule.
6. EVALUATION CRITERIA
Admitted applications will be scored from zero (0,000 minimum score) to five (5,000 maximum score) in each of the four evaluation criteria:
Criterion A – Academic curriculum;
Criterion B – Scientific curriculum;
Criterion C – Merit of the work plan;
Criterion D – Motivation letter.
In order to decide the conditional granting of the PhD studentships, applicants will be ranked according to the weighted average of the score obtained in each of the four criteria, following the relative weighting of: 40% Academic curriculum (A); 30% Scientific curriculum (B); 20% Merit of the work plan (C) and 10% Motivation letter (D), converted into the following formula:
Final Grade= (0,40 × A) + (0,30 × B) + (0,20 × C) + (0,10 × D).
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 (Academic curriculum), criterion B (Scientific curriculum), criterion C (Merit of the work plan) and criterion D (Motivation letter).
Grades in any of the evaluation criteria shall be awarded with three decimal digits. Values resulting from the application of formulas shall be rounded to the third decimal digit using the following rule: when the fourth decimal digit is equal to or greater than 5 (five) it shall be rounded in excess; if lesser, the value of the third decimal digit shall be upheld.
Applicants whose application is scored with a final grade lower than 3.000 are not eligible for studentship granting.
The entire evaluation will be made in a clear, concise and sufficient manner.
6.1. Criterion A – Academic curriculum
The academic curriculum criterion is calculated according to the final classification stated in the academic degree certificate, submitted in the application form: i) Graduate + Master/Integrated Master; ii) Graduate degree only; or iii) Master degree only, following Table 1.
Table 1. Reference table to score the criterion A – Academic curriculum
Note: to calculate the score of criterion A, the prevailing grade is the one stated in the respective degree certificate(s). Certificate final grades presented with decimal digits shall be rounded to the third decimal digit using the following rule: when the fourth decimal digit is equal to or greater than 5 (five) it shall be rounded in excess; if lesser, the value of the third decimal digit shall be upheld. To calculate the arithmetic average between the graduate and master degrees’ grades, the original grades indicated in the certificates (even if presented with decimal digits) shall be considered, rounding only the final grade average.
IMPORTANT: if the degree certificates obtained abroad are not accompanied by the respective recognition, the classification to be attributed to criterion A will be one (A = 1).
In order to apply the scoring system presented in Table 1 it is mandatory to submit, in the application form, the following documents:
a) Academic degree certificates, indicating the final grade and, if possible, the final classification of the disciplines completed. Applicants with post-Bologna education shall present both 1st and 2nd study cycles academic degree certificates or an integrated master certificate, while applicants with pre-Bologna education should present the graduate and/or master degree certificates.
b) Applicants with diplomas issued by foreign higher education institutions can apply and will be evaluated using the same criteria as applicants with diplomas issued by Portuguese institutions, provided that they present, in their application, proof of recognition of academic degrees and conversion of final classification for the Portuguese classification scale under the terms of the applicable legislation. If the degree certificates obtained abroad are not accompanied by the respective recognition, the classification to be attributed to criterion A will be one (A = 1).
In any case, PhD studentships contracts with applicants with diplomas issued by foreign higher education institutions will only be celebrated upon presentation of proof of recognition of academic degrees and conversion of the final classification, as indicated above.
For the application of Table 1, the following must be considered:
a) The final grade average of “graduate + master” degrees, in a pre- or post-Bologna academic path, is the result of the simple arithmetic average of the final grade obtained in the 1st cycle (180 ECTS)/graduate degree and the final grade obtained in the 2nd cycle (90-120 ECTS)/master degree, by applying the following formula:
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Final score average (graduate + master degrees) = 1st cycle final grade (graduate degree) + 2nd cycle final grade (master)
b) In case of integrated master degrees whose institutions do not issue separate certificates for 1st and 2nd cycles’ final grades, the final grade indicated in the degree certificate should be considered (300-360 ECTS).
c) When both integrated master degree certificate (300-360 ECTS) and a pre-Bologna or 2nd cycle degree certificate are presented, the final grade of the integrated master degree is the one to be considered.
d) If only a graduate or master degree certificate is submitted, the corresponding scoring system should be applied according to the respective columns in Table 1.
e) When applicants submit more than one equivalent graduate and/or master degree certificate (with equivalent number of ECTS), the evaluation panel has to decide which of the equivalent academic degree is more adequate to the work plan and must thus be used to calculate the score of the academic curriculum criterion (A). For instance, if an applicant submits a graduate degree certificate and more than one master certificate, the panel should consider the master’s degree that is most suitable for the development of the work plan. However, if an applicant present both an integrated master and a 2nd cycle degree certificates (without a graduate degree or a 1st cycle of studies), the panel must consider the integrated master’s degree to calculate the academic career score, as previously indicated. The evaluation panel should consider the alternative submitted degree(s) in the assessment of criterion B, valuing applicant’s scientific curriculum. In any case, the criteria used by the panel must be explained in the respective evaluation reports and in the panel meeting report.
6.2. Criterion B – Scientific Curriculum
The assessment of applicants’ scientific curriculum should be performed in a holistic way, from a global vision of the merit of their scientific and professional career. In this analysis, the panel should consider the several dimensions of the curriculum that may demonstrate a relevant personal, scientific and professional career.
The grade scored to this criterion should therefore translate a global and integrated view of applicant’s personal curriculum.
Disability Bonuses
Applicants that state a degree of disability equal to or above 90% shall have a bonus of 20% on criterion A – Academic Curriculum and criterion B – Scientific Curriculum. Applicants that state a degree of disability equal to or above 60% and under 90%, shall have a bonus of 10% in these criteria. The degree of disability should be duly proven by submitting, in the application form, the document Atestado de Incapacidade Multiuso, issued according to the Decree-Law no. 202/96, of 23 of October, in its current version.
6.3. Criterion C – Merit of the Work Plan
The Merit of the Work Plan criterion has a relative weight of 20% and takes into consideration the following three sub-criteria:
C1 – Justified relevance of the object of study;
C2 – Scientific quality of the state of the art and the methodology of the work plan;
C3 – Feasibility of the work plan.
For sub-criterion C1, the evaluation should be based on the clear definition of aims and research questions, the potential contribution of the research project to the knowledge and progress of science and technology.
The assessment of sub-criterion C2 should be based on the relevance of the state of the art and the proposed research methodology, considering the clarity, consistency and coherence, in accordance with internationally accepted standards.
For sub-criterion C3, evaluation should be based on the adequacy of methodologies to the tasks and aims proposed in the work plan and the respective planned deadlines as the total period expected to complete the project. If applicable, the risk assessment analysis should also be presented, by identifying the most critical points and the corresponding contingency measures to be adopted.
The presentation of a timeline should also be considered, as well as additional and optional information related to the work plan such as schemes, formulas or figures.
6.4. Criterion D –Motivation letter
The classification to be attributed in this criterion should take into account the clarity with which the applicant identifies the reasons underlying his application and the maturity with which he faces the performance of the proposed research activities.
7. EVALUATION
CIIMAR will nominate an evaluation panel that will be coordinated, by indication of the direction of CIIMAR, by one of its members, which has the responsibility to ensure that the evaluation exercise is carried out with transparency, impartiality and independence, in accordance with the provisions in article 37 of Decree-Law no. 63/2019, of 16 May.
All panel members, including the coordinator, will make a commitment to respect a set of responsibilities essential to the evaluation process, such as the duties of impartiality 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. The panel will meet before the application evaluation process begins, for densification and harmonization of the criteria to be used in the evaluation. From this meeting, minutes will be produced in which all the members of the panel are identified, as well as the densification and harmonization of the criteria agreed by them, which will be published on the CIIMAR website until the beginning of the evaluation process.
A avaliação das candidaturas será efetuada pelo painel de avaliação, o qual apreciará as candidaturas de acordo com os critérios de avaliação constantes do presente Aviso de Abertura de Concurso, ponderando os elementos de apreciação.
The evaluation of applications will be carried out by the evaluation panel, which will assess the applications in accordance with the evaluation criteria contained in this Notice of the Call, considering the elements of evaluation.
Minutes of the responsibility of all its members will be produced from the meetings of the evaluation panel.
The minutes and their annexes must include the following information:
8. RESULTS DISCLOSURE
The results will be publicized through an ordered list of the final grade obtained, online on the CIIMAR website and simultaneously to the email address indicated in the application.
9. DEADLINES AND PROCEDURES FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING, CLAIMS AND APPEALS
The evaluation results project is publicized on the CIIMAR website up to 90 working days after the application submission deadline.
Once the provisional ranked list of the evaluation results has been communicated, applicants who have an unfavourable provisional decision may use their right to dispute it during the preliminary hearing phase, which takes place within 10 working days, according to Articles no. 121 and the following of the Administrative Procedure Code (CPA).
The final decision will be disclosed after the analysis of applicants’ arguments presented in the preliminary hearing. Final decision can be claimed within 15 working days or, alternatively, appealed within 30 working days, after the communication of the final results, respectively. Applicants who choose to submit a claim should send it to CIIMAR, at the care of FCT, which is the competent entity for its assessment. Applicants who prefer to submit an appeal should present their arguments to the FCT Board of Directors.
10. REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTSHIP GRANTING
The following documents are of mandatory submission, upon conditional granting of the studentship for purposes of contracting thereof:
a) Copy of the documents of personal identification, tax number and, if applicable, social security1;
b) Document of proof of permanent and usual residence in Portugal, if applicable, valid at the studentship starting date. In case the work plan of the requested studentship is held partially in foreign institutions, applicants, independently of their nationality, will have to present, upon contracting, the document of proof of permanent and usual residence in Portugal;
c) Copy of the academic degree certificates;
d) Apresentação do registo de reconhecimento dos graus académicos estrangeiros e conversão das respetivas classificações finais para a escala de classificação portuguesa, caso aplicável;
d) Document proving the acceptance and registration in one of the PhD programs indicated in the present Notice of the Call;
e) Supervisor(s) statement declaring to coordinate 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(s) 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 exclusivity dedication regime (template will be made available by FCT) 
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1The presentation of these documents may optionally be substituted by the in-person presentation in the funding agency, which will keep all the elements needed for the validation and execution of the contract, including the numbers of personal identification, taxation and social security, as well as the respective dates of expiry.
The studentship granting is still dependent on:
• The fulfilment of all the requirements listed in this Notice of the Call;
• The results of scientific evaluation;
• The absence of unjustified non-compliance of the fellowship holder during previous directly or indirectly FCT funded fellowships;
• FCT available budget.
The lack of any of the necessary documents to complete the contracting procedure implies the expiration of the studentship granting and conclusion of the process; applicants have up to 6 months after the disclosure of the provisional granting to present all of the listed documents.
11. FUNDING
Studentships payment will start after returning the signed contract to FCT, which should happen within the 15 working days after its delivery.
The studentships granted in this call will be financed by FCT using the State Budget fund and, whenever eligible, using the European Social Fund (ESF), under the PORTUGAL2020 programme, in particular, under Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE 2020), Programa Operacional Regional do Centro (Centro 2020) and Programa Operacional Regional do Alentejo (Alentejo 2020), according to the respective requirements.
12. STUDENTSHIP ALLOWANCE
Studentship holders are granted a monthly maintenance allowance, in the amount of 1064 € (one thousand and sixty-four euros) in accordance with the table in Annex I of the RBI https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores.
Studentship holders functions are exercised on an exclusive dedication basis, under the terms provided for in the Research Fellowship Holder Statute.
The studentship may also include additional allowances, according to RBI’s Article no. 18 and the values indicated in its Annex II, namely: registration, enrolment or tuition fees, single travel allowance, single installation allowance, complementary training activities and presentation at scientific meetings.
All the studentship holders have a personal accident insurance related to the research activities, which FCT will support.
All studentship holders who are not beneficiaries of any social protection regime can use the right to 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 with the limits provided in Article no. 10 of the EBI.
13. PAYMENT OF STUDENTSHIP ALLOWANCE
Payments due to the studentship holder are made by bank transfer to the respective indicated account.
Registration, enrolment or tuition fees components are payed directly by FCT to the national institution where the PhD studentship holder has enrolled.
14. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF PHD STUDENTSHIP RENEAWAL
The renewal of the studentship always depends on applicant’s submission, within 60 working days prior to the renewal start date, of the following documents:
a) Declaration 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 demonstrating the enrolment renewal in the study cycle leading to the doctoral degree.
15. INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY OF THE GRANTED FUNDING
All the R&D activities carried out by the grantee, directly or indirectly financed by the studentship, namely, communications, publications and scientific creations, as well as thesis, must include the reference to FCT and European Social Fund (ESF) financing. In particular, these references should mention the following operational programmes Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE 2020), Programa Operacional Regional do Centro (Centro 2020) and Programa Operacional Regional do Alentejo (Alentejo 2020). Insignia of FCT, MCTES, ESF and EU must therefore be included in the documents referring to these actions, according to the graphic rules of each operational programme.
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.
For all the studentships, in particular in case of European funded actions, namely the ESF, may be performed monitoring and controlling actions by national or European entities according to the applicable legislation. Grantees must therefore collaborate and provide all the required information, including answering to surveys and evaluation studies in this area, even though the studentship might has already ceased.
16. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY
CIIMAR 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. This includes ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic disease, nationality, ethnicity or race, land of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs or trade union affiliation.
17. APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATION
The present call is governed by this Notice of the Call, the FCT Regulation of 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 the Law no. 40/2004, of 18th of August, in its current version, by the Research Grants Regulation of CIIMAR, approved by FCT, by other applicable national and European legislation and by the Collaboration and Financing Protocol to support a pluriannual plan for PhD studentships of the R&D Unit No. 4423.