Call for 1 Postdoctoral Researcher

CALL FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF A POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER (CALL REFERENCE: SOCIALFLY/001/CT/2022) UNDER THE PROJECT “SOCIALFLY – DECONSTRUCTING COLLECTIVE COGNITION IN DROSOPHILA: NEUROBEHAVIORAL MECHANISMS OF SOCIAL AND ASOCIAL LEARNING”, UNDER DECREE-LAW No. 57/2016, OF AUGUST 29, ALTERED BY LAW No. 57/2017, OF JULY 19

1. At a meeting of the Board of Directors of ISPA, CRL, it was decided to open a call for hiring one Postdoctoral researcher to develop scientific research activities in the scientific field of Biological Sciences – Behavior Biology, under an unfixed-term contract of employment, within the framework of project “Socialfly – Deconstructing collective cognition in Drosophila: Neurobehavioral mechanisms of social and associal learning”, reference PTDC/BIA-COM/6124/2020, funded by National Funds through FCT.

2. Applicable Legislation

Decree-Law No. 57/2016, of August 29, amended by the Law No. 57/2017, of July 19; Decree-Law No. 11-A/2017, of December 29; Código do trabalho, approved by Law No. 7/2009, of February 12, on its current wording.

3. Jury

President: Gün Semin, William James Center for Research, Ispa – Instituto Universitário.

Effective member: Manuela Veríssimo, William James Center for Research, Ispa – Instituto Universitário

Effective member: Manuel Eduardo dos Santos, MARE, Ispa – Instituto Universitário

Alternate member: Emanuel Gonçalves, MARE, Ispa – Instituto Universitário

Alternate member: Paulo Catry, MARE, Ispa – Instituto Universitário

4. The place of work is located at ISPA – Instituto Universitário, located at Rua Jardim do Tabaco, 34, 1149-041 Lisboa, Portugal and, eventually, other locations necessary for the execution of the planned activities.

5. The monthly remuneration to be attributed is that provided in No. 1 of article 15 of Decree-Law No. 57/2016, of August 29, amended by Law No. 57/2017, of July 19, correspondent to level 38 of “tabela remuneratória única” approved by Portaria nº 1553-C/2008, December 31, with the value of 2.414,50 Euros.

The contract is expected to start in February of 2022 and will have an expected duration of 32 months.

6. Project’s and work plan’s description

Social learning helps animals to adjust to complex and changing environments in different functional domains (e.g. choosing where to breed). Consequently, the social environment is viewed as a major selective force driving the evolution of social cognition. However, recent debate has questioned whether there are dedicated cognitive/neural modules to social learning, different from those of asocial learning. The research goal of the project is to answer to this question with Drosophila melanogaster, the species with the most powerful genetic tools for studying the nervous system and in which the genetic, molecular and anatomical mechanisms of associative learning have been more widely studied. The experimental paradigm typically used in Drosophila neurobehavioural studies is olfactory collective conditioning, where large groups of flies are trained and tested together. However, flies in groups, like animals in general, do not independently perceive or respond to stimuli. Instead, they condition each other's behaviours, acting as a collective. To assess the extent to which associative learning is subdivided into independent social and asocial learning mechanisms, behavioural screenings of Drosophila lines with clearly separated social and asocial learning paradigms are fundamental. This is the aim of this project: to characterize the behavioural variation for social and asocial learning of mutant and transgenic lines whose genes and transgenes have been shown to disrupt the biochemical pathways and neural circuits of associative learning in Drosophila. The work will include data collection from social and asocial learning behaviour protocols and genetic manipulation of Drosophila lines with mutant and RNAi knock-down alleles. The candidate should be able to: (1) lead research within the scientific scope of the project, which should result in scientific publications; (2) supervise MSc and PhD students, (3) contribute to both scientific and financial project reporting and (4) participate in project meetings, workshops and conferences both in Portugal and abroad.

7. Requirements for admission to competition

7.1 Applicants to this call can be national, foreign or stateless candidates who hold a doctoral degree in Biology, and holders of a scientific and professional curriculum that reveals an appropriate profile for the position and activities to be conducted (Point 6).

If the doctorate degree was awarded by a foreign higher education institution, it must comply with the provisions of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16, and all formalities established therein must be fulfilled by the starting date of the contract.

7.2 General requirements: Doctoral degree in Biology.

7.3 As specific requirements, the candidate must have research experience in the areas of animal behavior, social learning and neuroethology in general and, specifically, in social learning studies with Drosophila melanogaster. Additionally, the candidate must have previous experience in the scientific area of this call: 1) in leading scientific projects; 2) scientific writing and publication skills; 3) supervision of MSc and PhD students, and teaching; and 4) in the dissemination of scientific ouputs in national and international settings.

8. The selection is to be made based on the candidate's scientific and curricular evaluation, as defined by Decree-Law No. 57/2006, of August 29, amended by Law No. 57/2017, of July 19. 

9. The evaluation of the candidate’s scientific and curricular achievements will focus on the relevance, quality and timeliness of the scientific contributions of the candidate taking into account:

a) The scientific and technological outputs of the last 5 years, considered by the candidate as having the greatest impact;

b) Applied or practice-based research activities developed over the last 5 years, considered by the candidate as having the greatest impact;

c) Activities of extension and dissemination of knowledge developed in the last 5 years, in particular in the context of the promotion of scientific culture and practices, considered by the candidate as having the greatest impact.

10. The 5 year period mentioned above can be extended by the panel, if requested by the candidate, when justified on the 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 is legally protected.

11. Evaluation criteria:

Criterion A (60%): Scientific and curricular achievements, indicated in the CV and divided into:

A1) Integrated evaluation of the scientific production in the last 5 years in the area of the project, as well as extension and dissemination of knowledge activities (60%). This subcriterion includes scientific publications (indexed paper publications, books, book chapters), organization of scientific events, participation as presenter in scientific events, and participation in science dissemination activities;

A2) Evaluation of scientific research and coordination activities in the last 5 years in the area of the project (40%). This subcriterion includes participation in and coordination of research projects (national or international), participation in (national or international) networks, acquisition of funding, supervision of academic dissertations and thesis, and participation in evaluation panels.

Criterion B (40%): Motivation letter, with justification of the adequacy of the candidate’s profile to the position and area of the project.

12. Each Jury members evaluates the applications based on the defined evaluation criteria in a 0-100 scale. Final classifications of each criteria will be obtained by averaging the classifications indicated by each Jury member.

13. If deemed necessary, the evaluation process may include an interview to the top 3 eligible candidates with the highest score according to the selection criteria, which is meant to further clarify the skills and adequacy of candidates. If conducted, the interview will weight 10% of the final classification.

14. The final classification corresponds to the weighted average of the evaluation criteria and is expressed in a 0-100 scale: If the interview is not deemed necessary, the final classification will result from the weighted average of criteria A + B via the formula: (A1 X 60% + A2 X 40%) X 60% + B X 40%; if the interview is deemed necessary, the final classification will result from the formula: {(A1 X 60% + A2 X 40%) X 60% + B X 40%} X 90% + Interview X 10%.

15. For tie-break purposes, the ranking of the candidates will be based on the classification assigned to each evaluation criteria in the following order of precedence when the interview is not deemed necessary: A) – Scientific and curricular achievements expressed in the CV; and B) – motivation letter.

If the interview is deemed necessary, the ranking of the candidates will be based on the classification assigned to each evaluation criteria in the following order of precedence: A) – Scientific and curricular achievements expressed in the CV; B) – motivation letter; and C) interview.

16. The deliberation is made through nominal vote of the Jury according to the elegibility and selection procedures. No abstention is allowed. If none of the candidates presents the appropriate and/or necessary skills and competences required for the position and respective work plan, the Jury has the right to not attribute the position.

17. Minutes of the Jury meeting should be drawn up to include a summary of all occurrences of the meeting, as well as all votes cast by the members with the respective justifiction. This minutes should be made available to candidates upon request.

18. The Jury also draws up an ordered list of approved candidates with their respective classification.

19. The final decision of the Jury should be validated by the institutional leader who also decides on the recruitment, namely the President of the Board of Directors of ISPA, CRL.

20. Application process

20.1 Applications should be formalized through a written request to the Board of Directors of ISPA, CRL, stating the identification of this notice (SocialFly/001/CT/2022), full name, filiation, citizenship/civil identification number, expiry date of ID card, tax identification number, date and place of birth, marital status, profession, residence and contact address, including e-mail address and telephone contact.

20.2 Applications should include the support documents (PDF format) and proof of the conditons laid down in points above for the admission to this call, mainly point 7:

a) Copy of PhD certificate or diploma, with indication of completion date.

If the doctorate degree was awarded by a foreign higher education institution, a proof of its recognition or equivalence by a Portuguese higher education institution must be presented, and all formalities established therein must be fulfilled by the signing date of the contract.

b) PhD thesis, or link to published PhD thesis;

c) Detailed curriculum vitae;

d) Motivation letter, with description of the most relevant scientific activities from the past five years (max 1 page), as defined by Decree-Law No. 57/2016, of August 29, amended by Law No. 57/2017, of July 19;

e) 2 reference letters;

f) Other documents deemmed relevant for the evaluation of the scientific competence.

20.3 Applications and documentation should be submitted digitally (in PDF format) from the 19th January to the 3rd February 2022, 6PM (Lisbon time) to the e-mail address: [email protected] . The subject of the email should indicate the reference of this call (SocialFly/001/CT/2022). Applications can be submitted in Portuguese or in English.

21. All candidates who formalize their application incorrectly or fail to provide the requirements imposed by this tender may be excluded from admission. In case of doubt, the panel is entitled to request further documentation to support the candidates’ statements.

22. False statements by candidates shall be punished by law.

23. All candidates will be notified by e-mail.

24. Prior hearing and deadline for the final decision: the final decisions of the Jury will be announced within 90 days from the deadline for submission of the applications. After notification, candidates have 10 working days to respond (Pursuant to article 121 of the Code of Administrative Procedure).

25. Once the prior hearing period is finished, the selected candidate has 10 working days to accept, in written, the attributed contract, or else, it will be regarded as withdrawal or renouncement of the position. In case the selected candidate renounces or withdraws from the competition or attributed position, the jury can notify and attribute the contract to the candidate(s) in the subsequent position(s), if applicable, and according to the final ranking list. If none of the candidates presents the appropriate skills and competences required for the position and respective work plan, the jury has the right to not attribute the contract.

26. This tender is exclusively destined to fill this specific vacancy and can be terminated at any time until the approval of the final candidate list, expiring with the respective occupation of the said vacancy.

27. Non-discrimination and equal access policy: ISPA, CRL actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access policy, wherefore no candidate can be privileged, benefited, impaired or deprived of any rights whatsoever, or be exempt of any duties, based on ancestry, age, sex, sexual preference, marital status, family and economic conditions, education, origin or social conditions, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, origin territory, language, religion, political or ideological convictions and union membership.

28. Pursuant to Decree-Law No. 29/2001, of February 3, disabled candidates are given preference in case of equal classification, which supersedes any legal preference. Candidates must declare, on their honor, on the application form, the respective disability degree, the type of disability and the means of communication/expression to be used during the selection process, according to the regulations above.