#4769

Public Notice - International Selection Procedure

PhD Scientific Researcher Recruitment (Assistant Researcher)

Associated Laboratory CHANGE: Institute for Global Change and Sustainability, Reference LA/P/0121/2020 (cE3c), financed by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P../MCTES

FCiências.ID/2024/LA/ CE3C/3

FCiências.ID - Associação para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento de Ciências, through its President of the Administration Board, following the signature of the program-contract for the attribution of the statute and complementary funding to Associate Laboratories 2021-2025, hereby announces the opening of an international call for the recruitment of a PhD Scientific Researcher (Assistant Researcher) within the scope of the Associated Laboratory CHANGE: Institute for Global Change and Sustainability (Ref. LA/P/0121/2020 DOI:10.54499/LA/P/0121/2020), financed by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P./MCTES, in response to the FCT-Tenure call, in the form of an employment contract, on an exclusive regime, according to the Portuguese Labour Code and complementary legislation.

I. Admission Requirements

Portuguese nationals, foreign and stateless persons may submit applications to this selection procedure, provided they hold a doctoral degree* in in Evolutionary Biology or related areas, and fully comply with the following requirements:

1. The PhD must have been granted at least 5 years ago
2. More than five years of professional and/or academic experience after completing the PhD, h-index equal to or greater than 10 (ref Scopus) - information provided in the CV and/or motivation letter;
3. Publication of at least ten (10) scientific articles in journals with an impact factor (WoS or Scimago) in Q1, in the last five years - information provided in the CV and/or motivation letter;
4. Proven experience in the area of the call in Evolutionary Agroecology and associated areas, such as Evolutionary Biology and Evolutionary Ecology applied to the agroecosystem; this experience must be validated by the (co-)authorship of scientific articles published in international peer-reviewed journals and/or through leadership or participation in projects - information provided on the CV and/or motivation letter;
5. Ability to attract competitive funding through participation or leadership in national and/or international scientific projects in the area of speciality of the call - information provided in the CV and/or motivation letter;

* Please note that Degrees obtained in foreign countries need a Portuguese Recognition issued by a Portuguese high degree Institution, according to the Decree-Law nr. 66/2018, of August 16th and the Ministerial Order nr. 33/2019, of January 25th. The presentation of such Recognition is mandatory for contract signature. More information can be obtained in: https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/degree-and-diploma-recognition.

II. Preferential Requirements

1. Publication of scientific articles in refereed journals in the last five years - information provided in the CV and/or motivation letter;
2. Demonstrated experience in academic activities (teaching and/or supervising students and/or evaluation panels) in the scientific area of the call - information provided in the CV and/or motivation letter;
3. Demonstrated experience of cooperation with international teams - information provided in the CV and/or motivation letter;
4. Demonstrated experience in dissemination activities in the scientific area of the call - information provided in the CV and/or motivation letter;
5. Proficiency in Portuguese and English (written and spoken) - information provided in the CV and/or motivation letter.

III. Applicable Law

1. Portuguese Labour Code, as approved by Law No. 7/2009, of February 12th, in its current version (CT);
2. Regulation of Carreiras de Investigação Científica e de Gestão de Ciência e Tecnologia da FCiências.ID – Associação para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento de Ciências (Regulamento de Carreiras) available on https://fciencias-id.pt/node/50.

IV. Workplace

The position to be filled will enable the activities of the CHANGE Associated Laboratory in the link between science and public policies, in the context of thematic line 2. ‘Transform agro-ecological and forestry systems. 

The position to be filled requires training at doctoral level and relevant professional experience to ensure that the candidate to be hired carries out and reinforces research in the field of the adaptive potential of organisms within the agro-ecosystem to various selection pressures and the genetic basis of such adaptation, incorporating field and laboratory experiments. In particular, experimental evolution applied to crop and pest systems, or other similar approaches, should be implemented with the aim of achieving a fundamental understanding of the eco-evolutionary dynamics of agro-ecosystems.

The R&D activity to be carried out should ensure involvement in teams and projects that study the agro-ecosystem, or the organisms within them, and that cover areas as diverse as evolutionary biology, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and ecology. R&D activity will have to strengthen the link between fundamental and applied research, as well as between research and society, namely through an in-depth relationship with public and private stakeholders in the agricultural sector.

The position to be filled also includes, within the themes relevant to the Associated Laboratory's strategy, the usual components of interaction between research structures and between them and society, advanced training, attracting funding or setting up international cooperation frameworks, all exclusively within the context of the specificities of the job referred to in the previous paragraphs.

Finally, the researcher must secure a significant proportion of the funding that makes their R&D activity viable, in the context of the Associated Laboratory's scientific and operational strategy, making use of all the funding programmes available to them, whether public or private, national or international, and promote society's understanding of the need for sustainable agricultural practices, aware that the unit of measurement (and evaluation in the financial aspects of R&D activity) will be the value of their gross annual salary.

The following are the permanent functional requirements of the Researcher who assumes this position:

a)  Research

• a. Scientific production
• b. Projects as PI
• c. Amount of funding raised for the institution
• d. Initiatives of a scientific nature (e.g projects, networks, innovation)

b) Internationalisation

c) Intervention and/or contributions to public policies

d) Transversal intervention in related areas within the scope of FCiências.ID's activity

e) Advanced and professional training

f) Dissemination

• a. Dissemination materials
• b. Events

g) Scientific management in the context of LA and FCiências.ID activities.

V. Composition of the Jury

The members of the jury are:

• President – Cristina Máguas;
• 1st Member of the jury – José Manuel Rebordão;
• 2nd Member of the jury – Margarida Matos;
• 3rd Member of the jury – Rui Rebelo;
• 4th Member of the jury – Vítor Sousa;
• 1st Alternate Member of the jury – Cristina Branquinho;
• 2nd Alternate Member of the jury – Cristina Cruz.

VI. Place of work

Work will be developed at the facilities of the Associate Laboratory CHANGE: Institute for Global Change and Sustainability (CE3C), in Campo Grande, Lisboa, Portugal.

VII. Contract Duration

The full-time permanent employment contract on an exclusive regime is expected to start in December 2024, including an initial experimental trial period of 180 days. 

VIII. Monthly Allowance

The gross monthly salary to be attributed is 3.427,59 Euros, on an exclusive regime, corresponding to the position 1 of the category equivalent to Assistant Researcher, in the Scientific Research career as mentioned in Annex I of ECIC, in its current version, under the terms of decree-law 108/2023 of 22 November 2023, on which legal discounts will apply, plus holiday and Christmas allowances, as well as food allowance in the amount and conditions set out for workers with a legal employment relationship under the Labour Code.

(Based on a positive assessment of the activities carried out, career progression is possible in accordance with the FCiências.ID Regulation for Scientific Research and Science and Technology Management Careers.)

IX. Evaluation of applications

1. Failure to comply with the Admission Requirements implies the non-admission of candidates in absolute merit.
2. The selection of the candidates approved in absolute merit will rely on the evaluation of their scientific and curricular achievements in the last five (5) years, taking into consideration the quality and relevance of the scientific production, and the professional activity indicated as more relevant by the candidate.
3. Based on the assessment of the candidates' scientific and curricular background in the last five (5) years, each member of the jury presents a justified proposal for admission (final classification equal to or greater than 75%) or exclusion (final classification below 75%) for each candidate, according to the evaluation criteria referred to in paragraph 5.
4. The final classification of candidates is given on a scale of 0 to 100%.
5. Evaluation of the relative merit of candidates, will rely on the following criteria:

• Publications in journals of high scientific merit in the specialist fields listed in point I - 40 %;
• Participation or leadership in relevant scientific projects in the area of expertise of the contest - 15%;
• Demonstrated fundraising capacity - 15%;
• Pedagogical activities, in particular scientific orientation at postgraduate and professional level, as well as extension and dissemination of knowledge in the area of speciality of the call - 15%;
• Motivation letter including reference to the field of specialization and the work plan to be developed - 15%;
• Interview, if deemed necessary by the jury - 10%.

6. The jury may decide to interview the 2 best ranked candidates [in criteria a) to e) of paragraph 5], for clarifications and improved explanations of curricular elements. If there is an interview, the sum of the classification obtained in the evaluation criteria a) to e) will correspond to 90% of the final classification and the interview will correspond to 10%.
7. The jury shall deliberate by means of a roll-call vote based on the evaluation criteria.
8. Minutes of the jury meetings are drawn up, summarizing all relevant elements considered by jury members, as well as their individual votes and justifications.
9. After completion of the evaluation process, the jury will draw up a ranking of successful candidates with their classifications.
10. Hiring will be decided by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of FCiências.ID, based on the final jury recommendation.
11. The evaluation results will be published on the website of the FCiências.ID ("Concursos" tab). The candidates will be individually notified of the evaluation results by e-mail sent to the address indicated in the "Personal Data" section of the submitted form.
12. With the notification referred to in paragraph no. 11, the hearing phase of interested parties referred to in Article 121 et seq. of the CPA will begin, and last for ten working days.
13. The possible pronouncement of the candidate in a prior hearing must be addressed to the President of the jury and submitted in writing to concursos@fciencias-id.pt. The President of the jury will convene a jury’s meeting to produce the final decision, within thirty working days.
14. Within five working days of the final jury decision, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of FCiências.ID will approve it and the candidates will be notified.
15. The communication between FCiências.ID (concursos@fciencias-id.pt) and the candidates will be electronic and will comply with the following rules:
    1. At the time of electronic submission of any document - namely in the case of paragraph no. 13 - the candidates must generate proof of "sent message".
    2. FCiências.ID will send an email message acknowledging documents received to the email address used by the candidates, within two working days.
    3. In case of absence of a confirmation receipt by FCiências.ID – showing the possibility of technical problems that should neither be the responsibility of the candidate nor FCiências.ID - the candidates should contact FCiências.ID, with the proof referred to in point (a), to ensure delivery and proper receipt of the documents concerned.

X. Processing of personal data

1. FCiências.ID - Associação para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento de Ciências, as the responsible for processing the personal data, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, collects and processes the personal data requested in the context the job application, under paragraphs b) and c) of Article 6.1 of the General Data Protection Regulation (RGPD).
2. The personal data shall be kept for the period necessary for the execution of the purposes for which they are intended, and the processing and protection, in an appropriate and diligent manner, of the confidentiality and integrity of such data shall be ensured through appropriate technical and organisational measures.
3. Personal data may be transmitted to third parties, namely the entity funding the research project, solely for the purposes specifically established. In this sense, whenever necessary the transfer of personal data to countries outside the European Union and/or international organizations, compliance with the applicable legal provisions shall be ensured.
4. You have the right to request access, rectification, erasure, limitation of processing, the right to object and also data portability (if technically feasible) by sending an e-mail to: dpo@fciências-id.pt. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the National Data Protection Commission.
5. For more information, we recommend that you consult the Internal Rules of Data Protection of FCiências.ID - Association for Research and Development of Sciences at https://fciencias-id.pt/.

XI. Compliance with public policies

1. FCiências.ID actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, so that no candidate can be privileged, benefited, disadvantaged or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty due to, inter alia, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, economic situation, education, social origin or condition, genetic heritage, reduced working capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs and trade union membership.
2. Under the terms of D.L. No. 29/2001, of February 3rd, a disabled candidate has a preference in equal classification, which prevails over any other legal preference. Candidates must declare their respective degree of disability, the type of disability and the means of communication / expression to be used in the selection process, under the terms of the above-mentioned diploma.

XII. Submission of Applications

1. The present call will be open from the 31st of October 2024 to the 14th of November 2024.
2. The application and all the required documents may be submitted in Portuguese or English.
3. Applications will be submitted online, through the electronic platform of FCiências.ID (http://concursos.fciencias-id.pt).
4. On the electronic platform, applicants will complete a mandatory section on Personal Data [name, address, date of birth, contact email, nationality and scientific identifiers] and upload files with the documents listed below:

• Detailed Curriculum vitae in PDF format - mandatory;
• A motivation letter clearly demonstrating that the candidate has an adequate profile for the position and fully complies with the Admission Requirements - mandatory;
• Up to five publications relevant for the objectives of the Workplace - mandatory;
• Reference letter(s) (maximum 2) - optional;
• Digital copies of documents proving formal academic degrees (PhD) and/or other scientific and professional qualifications - original documents must be provided in case of actual recruitment - mandatory;
• Other documents that candidates consider relevant for the assessment of their scientific merit, or to declare the personal situation in the cases covered in section XI-2 of this Notice - optional.

5. By decision of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of FCiências.ID, candidates who do not submit the documents identified in no. 4 will not be admitted to the call. In case of doubts, the Chairman may also invite candidates to substantiate specific data or statements with official supporting documents, before accepting the candidates’ submission.

This Public Note was approved by the jury on the 29th of October 2024.