1/1 NOTICE FOR THE OPENING OF AN INTERNATIONAL SELECTION TENDER PROCEDURE FOR THE HIRING OF RESEARCH ASSISTANT CTTI-PI-29/23-ICVS(1)

University of Minho, Portugal

Updated: 3 months ago

Job Type: FullTime

Deadline: 22 Feb 2024

25 Jan 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company: University of Minho
Research Field: Biological sciences » Other
Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)
Country: Portugal
Application Deadline: 22 Feb 2024 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon)
Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Full-time
Hours Per Week: 35
Offer Starting Date: 26 Jan 2024
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?: Not funded by an EU programme
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?: No

Offer Description

Doctor Rui Manuel Costa Vieira de Castro, Professor and Rector of Universidade do Minho, in the use of his own competence, in accordance with the terms of subsection d) of section 1 of article 92 of Law no. 62/2007, from September 10th and subsection d) of section 1 of article 37 of the Statutes of Universidade do Minho, approved by Normative Order no. 15/2021, published in Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 115, of June 16th, makes it known that, for a period of 20 working days counting from the business day immediately after the date on which this notice is published, an international selection tender is open for recruitment, in the form of an uncertain term contract celebrated under the Labour Code, of 1 (one) Research Assistant position under private law, for the exercise of scientific research activities in the scientific area of Biological Sciences, within the scope of the project entitled “Challenging current models of valence encoding in the mammalian brain”, with the ref. ERC – 101003187 (VALENCE), funded by European funds, through the Horizon 2020 Programme, with a view to develop R&D activities, namely: to execute, develop and participate in research and development projects, under the orientation of a higher education researcher or professor.
1. Applicable Legislation: This tender, open by Decree of 04/08/2023, by the Rector of Universidade do Minho, is governed by the Regulamento da Carreira, Recrutamento, Contratação e Avaliação do Desempenho do Pessoal Investigador em Regime de Direito Privado da UMinho (RPI-UM), amended and republished by the Normative Order no. 10353/2022, published in Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 163, of August 24th, and other applicable laws and regulations.
2. Place of Work: The work placement is located at the University of Minho facilities.
3. Monthly salary: The salary to be attributed is of 1.807,04 €, corresponding to the remuneration level 5 included in the annex 1 of the RPI-UM.
4. Eligibility Criteria: Any national, foreign and stateless candidates who hold a master's degree in in the field of knowledge / specialty that shows an appropriate profile for the activities to be developed.
Opponents of this tender with qualifications obtained abroad must prove the recognition, equivalence or registration of the degree, under the terms of the applicable legislation. This formality must be completed by the signing date of the contract.
4.1. General admission requirements are those defined in point 4. For the purpose of determining the appropriate profile for the activity to be developed, the following are special requirements:
a) Experience in managing colonies of mice and genotyping;
b) Frequency of the Laboratory Animal Sciences Training Course.
5. Formalization of the applications: Applications are formalized through a request addressed to the Rector of Universidade do Minho, under the terms defined in the attached template.
5.1. The application must include the following documents:
a) Copy of certificate or diploma degree;
b) Detailed curriculum vitae structured in accordance with the items of point 9;
c) Proof of professional experience;
d) Motivation letter;
e) At least 1 (one) letter of recommendation;
f) Any other documents that the applicant considers relevant.
5.2. Candidates must submit the request and supporting documents, using digital tools, in PDF format, mandatorily, by electronic means, to the address [email protected] , until the deadline for submission of applications established in this notice, indicating in subject “Ref. CTTI-PI-29/23-ICVS(1)”.
5.3. Failure to comply with the deadline for submitting the application, such as failure to submit or late submission of the application referred to in point 5 and the documents referred to in points a) to e) of point 5.1, determines the exclusion of the application. The exclusion decision is notified to the candidates, by email, for the purpose of holding the hearing of interested parties.

5.4. The jury may, whenever it finds necessary, request candidates to provide documents complementary to the facts referred to in the submitted curriculum, determining a deadline for this purpose.
5.5. False statements provided by the candidates will be punished by law.
6. Members of the Jury: The selection jury has the following composition, according to article no. 35.º of the RPI-UM:
President of the jury: Doctor Jorge Manuel Nunes Correia Pinto, Full Professor of the School of Medicine of the University of Minho.
Other members:
Doctor Patrícia Espinheira de Sá Maciel, Associate Professor of the School of Medicine of the University of Minho;
Doctor Ana João Gomes Rodrigues, Assistant Researcher of the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute of the School of Medicine of the University of Minho.
7. Rules of operation of the Jury: The jury shall deliberate by means of a nominal vote in accordance with the adopted and published selection criteria, and abstentions will not be allowed.
7.1. The jury meetings will be documented in written minutes, containing a summary of what has taken place, as well as the votes cast by each of the members and the respective grounds, being provided to the candidates whenever requested.
8. Approval on absolute merit:
8.1. The jury must decide on the absolute merit of the candidates, based on the merit of the global curriculum of the candidates in the scientific area in which the tender procedure is open, and also considering the fulfilment, cumulatively, of the following requirements:
a) Participation in I&D project (s) involving experiences with rodents;
b) Experience in laboratorial context.
8.2. The decision of exclusion on absolute merit is notified to the candidates, by email, for the purpose of holding the hearing of interested parties.
8.3. Once the deadline for the exercise of the right of hearing the interested parties has expired, the jury analyses the allegations presented and, if it keeps the exclusion decision, notifies the excluded candidates by email with delivery receipt, subsequently beginning the application of the selection methods to the admitted candidates.
9. Method(s) and evaluation criteria: The selection methods to be applied within the scope of this tender procedure consist of the Scientific and Curricular Path Assessment (SCPA), with a weighting of 90%, and the Interview (INT), which is exclusively intended to clarify aspects related to the results of the candidates' research, with a weighting of 10%.
All candidates approved on absolute merit are subjected to the scientific and curricular path assessment, to be carried out according to the criteria and weights defined in point 9.3. However, only the 4 candidates approved and best positioned in the ranking/ordering resulting from the scientific and curricular path assessment will be admitted to the Interview and ranked/ordered in it.
9.1. The evaluation of the Scientific and Curricular Path Assessment (SCPA) focuses on the relevance, quality and timeliness:
a) of the scientific, technological, cultural or artistic production of the last five years considered most relevant by the candidate for the area of recruitment and applied research activities, or based on practice, considered to have the greatest impact by the candidate for the area of recruitment, with a minimum weight of 80%;
b) of the activities of extension and dissemination of knowledge, namely in the context of the promotion of the cultural and scientific practices considered most relevant by the candidate, and activities for the management of science, technology and innovation programs, or experience in observation and monitoring of the scientific and technological system, with a maximum weight of 20%
9.2. The five-year period mentioned in the preceding paragraph may be increased by the jury, if requested by the candidate, and when justified on grounds of suspension of scientific activity for socially protected reasons such as parental leave, prolonged serious illness, and other situations of unavailability for work that are legally protected.

9.3. In the evaluation of the Scientific and Curricular Path Assessment (SCPA) the following parameters and evaluation criteria will be considered, with their respective weights:
AQ – Academic Qualifications, with a weight of 20%:
Corresponds to the assessment of the academic area, to be appreciated through the following parameters:
AQ = up to 100 points: Master's degree in the areas of Biology, Biomedicine, Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Biomedical Engineering, Health Sciences, Pharmacy, Physics, Medicine or Chemistry;
AQ = up to 60 points: Master's degree in other related areas.
STP – Scientific and Technological Production, with a weight of 40%:
Corresponds to the assessment of the scientific and technological productivity, to be appreciated through the following subfactors:
- STP1: Quantity of scientific or technological production (number of papers published in international scientific peer-reviewed journals, including review papers, book editing, book chapters, communications in congresses, etc.);
- STP2: Quality of the scientific or technological production (recognition that is given by the scientific community, translated in the quality of the publication sites, in the impact of that scientific production and in the citations that are made by other authors).
Each subfactor will be assessed through the following parameters:
STP = up to 100 points: Scientific and technological production in the area in which the tender procedure is opened;
STP = up to 70 points: Scientific and technological production in related areas;
STP = up to 30 points: Scientific and technological production in other areas.
The classification in the STP criteria will be obtained through the following formula: STP = 0,5STP1 + 0,5STP2.
RA – Research Activities, with a weight of 40%:
Corresponds to the assessment of the scientific research activities developed, namely the participation in teams of scientific and technological development projects (involvement in teams of scientific and technological development projects; typology of the projects and level of requirement of the respective calls; achievements/outputs accomplished, in particular in the academic differentiation of master and PhD students), to be appreciated through the following parameters:
RA = up to 100 points: Research activities in the area in which the tender procedure is opened;
RA = up to 70 points: Research activities in related areas;
RA = up to 30 points: Research activities in other areas;
RA = 0 points: No research activities.
The final classification of the SCPA is obtained by the following formula: SCPA = 0,2AQ + 0,4STP + 0,4RA.
9.4. The Interview (INT), with a duration of 20 minutes, will be classified on a numerical scale from 0 to 100 points, applying the following parameters and evaluation criteria, with the respective weights, and the final classification of the INT is obtained by applying the following formula: INT = 0,1CM + 0,4EATP + 0,4RRR + 0,1FEL:
CM – Candidate Motivation, with a weight of 10%:
Corresponds to the evaluation of the candidate's level of motivation to perform the activities to be provided/developed in the project: CM = up to 100 points.
EATP – Experience in the Area of the Tender Procedure, with a weight of 40%:
Corresponds to the evaluation of the experience demonstrated by the candidate in the area of the tender procedure: EATP = up to 100 points.
RRR – Relevance of the Research Results, with a weight of 40%:
Corresponds to the evaluation of the clarification of aspects related to the candidate's research results: RRR = up to 100 points.

FEL – Fluency in English Language, with a weight of 10%:
Corresponds to the evaluation of the candidate's fluency in the English language: FEL = up to 100 points.
9.5. Candidates who have scored less than 75 points in the Scientific and Curricular Path Assessment (SCPA) are considered excluded from the tender procedure and the subsequent selection method, namely the INT, will not be applied to them, as well as candidates who, although approved in the SCPA, are not included in the tranche used for the purposes of the INT, as referred to in point 9., and candidates who do not attend the INT or withdraw from the tender procedure are also considered excluded from the tender procedure.
9.6. The valuation of the evaluation parameters is expressed on the numerical scale from 0 to 100 points.
9.7. The classification of each candidate is obtained by the average of the classifications of each one of the members of the jury. In case of a draw, the Chairman of the jury will make a final decision to untie the applicants.
10. Order of candidates: The order of the candidates must be based on the evaluation made according to the evaluation criteria described in this notice.
10.1. After completion of the application of the evaluation criteria, the jury will draw up an orderly list of successful candidates with their respective classification.
10.2. The final classification of the candidates is expressed in the numerical scale of 0 to 100 points; the classification being obtained through a weighted average.
11. Participation of interested parties and decision: The final ordering is notified to the candidates, by email with receipt of delivery of the notification, allowing them to pronounce for the purpose of preliminary hearing of the interested parties, pursuant to article 121 and following of the Code of Administrative Procedure, applying, with the necessary adaptations, the provisions of article 31 of the Regulation.
11.1. After the hearing of the interested parties, the jury analyses the allegations presented and approves the final ordering list of the successful candidates. Within 90 days, from the deadline for submission of the applications, the final decisions of the jury are given.
11.2. The period referred to in the previous number may be extended when the high number of candidates and or the special complexity of the competition justifies it.
11.3. The final decision of the jury is approved by the Rector of Universidade do Minho, who also decides on the hiring.
12. Publication of results: The list of admitted and excluded candidates, as well as the final ranking list of the successful candidates, are published on Universidade do Minho's website, and the candidates are notified by email with receipt of delivery of the notification.
13. The present tender is exclusively designated to fill the indicated vacancies and may be terminated up to the homologation of the final ranking list of candidates, expiring with the respective occupation of the jobs on offer.
14. The present announcement was approved by the jury of the tender at its meeting on 23/11/2023, according to the approved minutes of the said meeting.
15. Non-discrimination and equal access policy: Universidade do Minho actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, so that no candidate may be privileged, benefited, harmed or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty due, namely, to 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 convictions and trade union membership.
15.1. Pursuant to section h) of article 9 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, the Public Administration, as an employer, actively promotes a policy of equal opportunities for men and women in accessing employment and professional advancement, scrupulously any form of discrimination.

The Rector, Professor Rui Vieira de Castro

ANNEX
REQUEST
To the Rector of Universidade do Minho
Name (…), birthdate (…), VAT no. (…), identification card no. (…), address (…), Postal Code (…), Mobile Phone no. (…), email address (…), holder of a XXXXXX degree in (…), hereby requests that you kindly accept my application to the international competition for recruitment in the form of an uncertain term contract, under the Labour Code and the “Regulamento da Carreira, Recrutamento, Contratação e Avaliação do Desempenho do Pessoal Investigador em Regime de Direito Privado da UMinho”, amended and republished by the Normative Order no. 10353/2022, published in Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 163, of August 24th, of 1 (one) Research Assistant position in the scientific area of Biological Sciences, according to the notice published in the Diário da República no. __, 2nd series, of __/__/__, with Ref._______.
I also declare that I agree to receive by email the communications and notifications resulting from the present selection tender procedure.
Find attached the following documents: xxx
(Place and date)
(Signature)

Requirements

Research Field: Biological sciences » Other
Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications