ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE AWARD OF A RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP BIPD; GreenAuto/2C2T-03/2024; 3 vacancies

University of Minho, Portugal

Updated: 2 months ago

Job Type: FullTime

Deadline: 28 Feb 2024

14 Feb 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company: University of Minho
Research Field: Engineering » Mechanical engineering
Other
Researcher Profile: Recognised Researcher (R2)
Country: Portugal
Application Deadline: 28 Feb 2024 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon)
Type of Contract: Permanent
Job Status: Full-time
Hours Per Week: 35
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

A call for applications is now open for the attribution of three research grants – Post-Doctoral - within the scope of the I&D project GreenAuto: Green innovation for the Automotive Industry, with the reference GreenAuto/2C2T-03/2024, financed by the European Union, through the Plano de Recuperação e Resiliência (PRR) Português, managed by the Agência para a Competitividade e Inovação - IAPMEI, I.P., under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Textile Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, or similar areas.

Recipient category: The BIPD are intended for Ph.D. in the above referred areas, who cumulatively meet the following requirements:

• Holders of a PhD degree obtained in the three years prior to the date of submission of the fellowship application***;

• Have carried out the research work that led to the attribution of a PhD degree in an entity other than the host unit (University of Minho)**;

• Do not exceed, with the conclusion of the contract in question, including possible renewals, a cumulative period of three years in this type of fellowship, consecutive or interpolated.

Candidates who do not cumulatively meet the requirements described will be excluded.

Other requirements: There are no other requirements other than those listed above.

** Different R&D Units are included, even if located in the same Organic Unit (UOEI) of UMinho (no. 4 and 5 of article 7 of the FCT I.P Research Grant Regulation, in force)

***Documents proving the ownership of academic degrees and diplomas, or their respective recognition when they have been awarded by foreign higher education institutions, when applicable for the type of scholarship in the call for applications, may be waived at the application stage, being replaced by declaration of honor of the candidate, with the verification of this condition occurring only in the phase of contracting the scholarship. This statement must attest facts that occurred on a date prior to the application. In situations of divergence between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation submitted for the purpose of contracting the grant, only the information contained in the latter will be considered. If it is verified that the documents proving the 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 awarded in the evaluation of the academic path and may, consequently, change the candidate's ranking, the fellowship contracting will not be done.

Applicants’ eligibility: Applicants must comply with the eligibility conditions laid down in article 9 of the Research Grants Regulation of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (2019).

Workplan and objectives to be achieved: The grant holder is expected to integrate the research team in the execution of tasks related to some phases of the R&D project "WP5 - Development and industrialisation of new airbag modules" in the area of (Computational) Textile Engineering. The objective of the development and industrialisation of new airbag modules involves all the phases of the process, namely automating parametric designs and finite element-based programming for bag types, as well as marker marking, fabric cutting, sewing and final assembly. Besides the Airbags Cutting and Sewing tests - Product and Process -, it is intended to perform mechanical tests to the textile/composite materials, which include the evaluation of their resistance to traction and tearing (tear). These tests will take place in the form of (non-)woven and coated fabrics, and multilayer fibre

composites, with emphasis on pattern and reproducibility. Finite element-based formulations and the implementation of fluid flow, mass and heat transfer analysis may be used to analyse damage mechanisms as a function of the applied load, the portion of stitching employed in the bag, the strength of the stitching portion, and their dimensional stability.

These concepts are aligned with an effort to increase knowledge of the impact that product modifications have on the design and response phases of airbags as a result of actions involving vehicle impact.

The work plan involves:

• Programming of user-defined subroutines (FEM) and for CAx based on .NET and multi-physics platforms, e.g., LS-DYNA, for implementation and validation of automation parametric designs intended for parameterization of development/project operations for airbag models in the automotive industry, to be integrated in CATIA platform;

• Adaptation of numerical tools for finite element modelling of the mechanical behaviour of fibrous/composite structures (e.g., to simulate the mechanical behaviour of seams, bonded joints, and multilayer fibre composite components in airbags);

• Writing and submission of scientific articles for publication in journals of the Journal Citation Report;

• Writing and submission of applications for scientific projects to obtain funding in competitive modality;

• Writing technical progress reports on the activities undertaken as part of the project.

Applicable legislation and regulations: Research Fellowship Holder Statutes, approved by Law no. 40/2004 of August 18, in its current version published by Decree-Law no. 123/2019 of august 28; Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República”, 2nd series, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021 and Regulation of Research Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. - in force.

Host/Contracting institution and scientific supervision: The work plan will be developed at 2C2T - Centre for Textile Science and Technology at the Textile Engineering Department - University of Minho, locted at Azurém, Guimarães, under the scientific co-supervision of Professor Nuno Miguel Magalhães Dourado (CMEMS-UMinho) and Doctor Quyền Nguyễn (2C2T-UMinho).

Fellowship duration: The grant will take place for a period of twelve (12) months, with a provisional starting date on the April 2024. The fellowship grant may be eventually renewed up to 30th June 2025 or applicable legislation.

Amount of the research grant: The value stipend (Monthly Maintenance Allowance) is 1741,00 euros per month, in accordance with the stipends values published by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT I.P.) in the country (Annex I – Monthly Stipends Values for the maintenance allowances of the FCT Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships) and Annex II of the Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República”, 2nd series, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, according to the applicable regulation.

Payment is made on the 23rd of each month, through bank transfer to the Bank Identification Number of the fellow identified in the contracting process.

Other benefits: Reimbursement of Voluntary Social Security (Social Security contributions), corresponding to the 1st level of discounts (for research grants with a total duration 6 months or higher) and personal accident insurance.

Exclusivity regime: The grantee will perform the activities under exclusivity, as foreseen in article 5º of the Research Fellow Statutes and applicable regulations.

Selection panel:

The jury has the following composition:

(a) President of the jury: Prof. Fernando Batista Nunes Ferreira, Principal Investigator of this project and Associate Professor at Textile Engineering Department at University of Minho;
(b) Member of the jury: Dr. Nguyễn Trọng Quyền, Assistant Investigator at 2C2T - Centre for Textile Science and Technology – at University of Minho, in the Textile Engineering Department;
(c) Member of the jury: Prof. Nuno Miguel Magalhães Dourado, Associate Professor at Mechanical Engineering Department at University of Minho;
(d) Alternate Member of the jury: Prof. Andrea Zille, Associate Professor at Textile Engineering Department at University of Minho;
(e) Alternate Member of the jury: Dr. Helena Prado Felgueiras, Assistant Investigator at 2C2T - Centre for Textile Science and Technology – at University of Minho, in the Textile Engineering Department.

The first effective member will substitute the President of the selection panel in case of impediment, being nominate the first substitute member in the place of the first effective member.

Criteria and procedures for applications assessment and selection:

The evaluation of the applications will focus on:

1) Candidate Merit (MC)

2) Interview (ET) - Optional

The candidate merit (MC) will be evaluated based on the following formula:

MC = 0.5*a + 0.4*b + 0.1*c

where,

a: Academic record (reflecting grades of academic degrees) - (50%);

b: Personal curriculum vitae (reflecting scientific and professional career) - (40%)

c: Motivation letter - (10%).

The final classification (CF) will be expressed on a scale of 0 to 20 values, resulting from the following formula

CF = 0,7*MC + 0,3*ET

If the Selection Committee decides that it is not necessary to conduct an Interview (ET), the Candidate Merit (MC) will have a weight of 100% and the final classification (FC) will be expressed on a scale of 0 to 20 values, resulting from the following formula:

CF = 1,0*MC

The evaluation parameters and respective weighting of the selection method are included in the minutes of the Selection Committee meeting, to be made available to the candidates whenever requested.

The jury reserves the right not to award one or more scholarships, if there are no candidates with the appropriate profile in the competition.

Dissemination of results: The draft of the evaluation results, based on minutes, shall be sent to the candidates by e-mail, under the terms of Article 12 of the FCT RBI.

If the result is unfavourable to the award of the requested grant, the candidates have a period of 10 working days to give their opinion, if they so wish, in a prior hearing to the interested parties, under the terms of articles 121 and 122 of the Portuguese Administrative Procedure Code (DL no. 4/2015 of 7 January)

Disclosure of results: The provisional results of applications, based in the selection panel minutes, will be send to the applicants by email until 90 working days from the applications deadline.

If case of unfavourable results, the candidates have a period of 10 working days to comment, if desired, in a prior hearing to interested parties, pursuant to articles 121 and 122 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (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 fellowship 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 Pro-Rector for Research and Projects, Professor Sandra Paiva.

The academic degrees and diplomas documents, or their respective recognition when awarded by foreign higher education institutions are not mandatory in the application phase, being replaced by a declaration of honor of the candidate with the contents of academic results. The documents of academic qualification or respective recognition will be required in the contracting phase and must attest facts that occurred on a date prior to the application. In situations of divergence between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation submitted for contracting the grant, only the information contained in the latter will be consider. If the documents proving the 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 awarded in the evaluation of the academic path, which can change the candidate's ranking, the fellowship won’t be contracted.

Application deadline and submission: The call for applications is open for a period of 10 working days, counting from the date of publication of the advertisement on the EURAXESS portal.

Applications must be formalized, mandatorily, by sending an application letter accompanied by the following documents: curriculum vitae; certificate of qualifications or declaration of the candidate letter of interest; two documents selected by the candidate, as the most representative of the competences required to perform the functions, he/she is applying for (paragraphs c) and a3)); other documents considered relevant to the assessment of the scientific and professional path.

Applications must be sent by email to the following e-mails: [email protected] , indicating the reference of the call for applications in Subject. Applications submitted by other means will not be accepted.

Fellowship contracting: The fellowship will be attributed by signing a fellowship contract between the University of Minho and the fellow, accordingly with the contract minute (annex IV of the Regulation of Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in Diário da República, 2nd Série, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, as indicated in 2.4 of the FCT document: “Rules for Granting and Management of Grants within the scope of R&D projects, including infrastructure projects, the multi-annual financing program for R&D units and other FCT financing instruments (Version 2021)”.

The contract may only be concluded after all the documentation required is collected, which must take place within a maximum period of 6 months, including proof of holding a PhD degree or its recognition in Portugal, under decree-law no. 66/2018 of 16 August

Once all the documentation has been received, the contracting entity has a period of 60 working days to conclude the scholarship contract. Once received, the fellow must return the contract duly signed within 15 working days.

The activities under the fellowship contract can only began after proper authorization by the contracting entity.

Term and cancellation of fellowship contracts: Without prejudice to the other causes provided the fellowship regulations (FCT and UMinho) and in the Statute of the Research Fellow, the fellowship ends with the completion of the work plan, as well as with the expiration date for which it was granted or renewed.

At the end of the fellowship, the grantee is obliged to present a 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 Annex I of the Scientific Research Fellowships Regulation of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in Diário da República, 2nd Série, no. 119, through dispatch no. 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration no. 447/2021 of 22-06-2021.

Declaration of Honor Academic habilitations

(Full name), applicant to the research fellowship vacancy under the I&D project (title or reference of the project), published in the Euraxess portal, reference (notice reference), hereby declares to have a degree on (name of the course), concluded in the University of (name the University that awarded the degree), on the (degree conclusion date XX/XX/XXXX), with the final grade of (XXXX).

I have submitted my diploma for recognition at the University of XXXXX, according to the Decree-Law nº 66/2018 of August 16th(1), concluded in the (degree conclusion date XX/XX/XXXX), with the final grade of (XXXX), on a scale from (XX to YY).

I also declare that I commit to provide proof of my diploma recognition obtained under the Portuguese Law, until the date of the conclusion of the fellowship contract, in case of being selected for the vacancy in this competition.

As this is true, this declaration will be dated and signed by me.

(Place), (date),

__________________________

(Full name)

1 DGES (Foreign Degrees and Diplomas): https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/degree-and-diploma-recognition?plid=1… ; University of Minho: Recognition of foreign degrees and diplomas: https://www.uminho.pt/EN/education/Pages/recognition-of-foreign-qualifi…

Requirements

Research Field: Engineering » Mechanical engineering
Education Level: PhD or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Declaration of Honor Academic habilitations

As this is true, this declaration will be dated and signed by me.

(Place), (date),

__________________________

(Full name)

Specific Requirements