One Research Fellowship (reference 25/2024/BI/AgendasPRR) at the Center for Mechanical Technology and Automation (TEMA) Research Unit, at the University of Aveiro, Portugal - Project ILLIANCE

20 Feb 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Universidade de Aveiro

Department

Office of the Vice-Rector of Cooperation

Research Field

Other

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Portugal

Application Deadline

6 Mar 2024 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Offer Starting Date

1 Apr 2024

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?

European Union / Next Generation EU

Reference Number

25/2024/BI/AgendasPRR

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?

No

Offer Description

A call for application is now open for the attribution of 1 (one) Research Fellowship, with reference 25/2024/BI/AgendasPRR, for development of scientific and technological research activities, under the scheme «Agendas Mobilizadoras/Verdes para a Inovação Empresarial», namely ILLIANCE project, at the Centre for Mechanical Technology and Automation (TEMA) Research Unit, at the University of Aveiro, Portugal, with the following conditions:

 

1. Scientific Area: Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering and related areas.

 

2. Funding entity: funded by the PRR - Recovery and Resilience Plan and by the NextGenerationEU, through the scheme «Agendas para a Inovação Empresarial».

 

3. Admission Requirements: candidates must be students enrolled in a Doctoral programme or Master students enrolled in a non-awarding degree course at the University of Aveiro, in the Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering scientific field and related areas.

 

The proof of enrolment must be made until the contract signing date, and the candidate may attach a declaration of honor to confirm that they meet the admission requirements.

If the qualification has been conferred by a foreign higher education institution it must be recognized by a Portuguese higher education institution, under the terms of the provisions of article 25 of Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of August 16th, which approves the legal regime of recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of Higher Education, attributed by foreign higher education institutions, and of paragraph e) of no. 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law no. 60/2018, of August 3rd, and any formalities established therein must be fulfilled by the date of the hiring act.

 

4. Eligibility: candidates who comply with provisions of paragraph a) nº1 from article 2 of the Statute of the Research Fellow are eligible, as amended by Decree-Law nº 123/2019, of 28 of August, and also the provisions of article nº 9 of the Scientific Research Grant Regulations of the University of Aveiro.

 

5. Work Plan: "Expanded polystyrene (EPS) is a polymeric material composed of 98% air and 2% polystyrene (PS). The blowing agent for EPS is pentane, which allows the PS granulate to be transformed into a cellular material. During EPS production, EPS waste is generated; in addition, those resulting from the end-of-life products can be reintroduced into the production process. To do this, EPS is usually milled, thus losing its cellular form, its characteristic spheres, and the blowing agent that might still be retained in its structure. However, for quality reasons, less than 15% of recycled material can be reintroduced into the EPS production line. In this context, the aim is to develop a methodology that makes it possible to produce EPS consisting only of recycled EPS, maximizing Petibol company environmental and economic sustainability. In order to achieve the proposed goal of producing EPS with 100% recycled EPS, a transformation of damaged and non-compliant materials into functional EPS expandable beads is intended to be achieved by co-extrusion with an expanding agent. In the end, proofs of concept and prototypes of recovery and reprocessing systems will be built, which will be tested and validated by the company.

The main tasks to be developed will be:

• Acquisition of knowledge critical of mechanical recycling, extrusion of EPS resin and diffusion of (green) blowing agent for EPS, re-expansion and moulding;

• Design and specifications of recovery and reprocessing systems by extrusion, raw material and product, as well as raw material and product test guidelines;

• Construction of physical prototypes of EPS recovery by extrusion for laboratory validation and simulation for proofs of concept of new products;

• Development of the testing methodology to validate the architecture of the EPS extrusion recovery system;

• Proof of concept of the recovery and reprocessing systems and validation."

 

6. Legislation and regulations: the fellowship assignment will be done according to the Statute of the Scientific Research Fellow, published in Decree-Law nº 123/2019, of 28 of August; Scientific Research Grant Regulation of the University of Aveiro, Regulation No. 292/2020, published in Diário da República No. 61, Series II, of March 26th; Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16th (Legal regime of recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of higher education awarded by foreign higher education institutions) (available at https://www.ua.pt/en/sgrh/bolseiros ).

 

7. Place of work: the work will take place at Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Aveiro, under the scientific supervision of Doctor Tatiana Vladimirovna Zhiltsova and Doctor Nuno Vasco da Costa Gama Batista de Melo.

 

8. Duration of the grant(s): the research fellowship will last for 12 (twelve) months, with an expected starting date of April 1st 2024. The fellowship may be renewed up to the maximum limit of approved funding, during the project implementation period, and without exceeding the duration limits defined for the type of fellowship in article 9 of Regulation no. 292/2020, of February 28th, published in Diário da República, no. 61, Series II, of March 26th (Scientific Research Grant Regulation of the University of Aveiro).

 

9. Monthly allowance: The monthly allowance is 1199,64 €, according to the table of values of monthly allowance set out in Attachment III of the Regulation on Scientific Research Scholarship of University of Aveiro, subject to any updates that may occur if applicable. In the case the candidate is enrolled in a doctoral programme, he/she will receive an additional monthly supplement up to 229,20€, foreseen in the Rectoral Order nº58 -REIT/2022 – University of Aveiro. The supplement value will be precisely defined according to the doctoral programme in which the candidate is enrolled. The payment will be made by bank transfer. The candidate may also be reimbursed for the amount corresponding to the Voluntary Social Security, in case of adherence.

 

10. Selection method: the selection methods to be used include Curricular Evaluation, with the option Interview in case the Jury considers that do not have the conditions of deciding based on Curricular Evaluation. The sub criteria to be assessed under Curricular Evaluation (with a weight of 0 - 20 points) are:

- Average of the Master’s degree (60%)

- R&D experience in the scientific areas of this call (25%)

- Number of scientific publications (10%)

- Weighted average of academic degrees obtained to date (5%)

 

If the jury considers that do not have the conditions for deciding based on Curricular Evaluation, an interview may be held, where the final score will be 80% for curricular evaluation and 20% for interview. The jury reserves the right to not admit candidates for interview that do not reach the minimum classification of 10 points (in a scale from 0 to 20 points), as well as not to assign the research fellowship if among candidates there is no one who has a minimum final classification of 10 points.

 

11. Members of the Jury: President: Doctor Paula Celeste da Silva Ferreira; Permanent members: Doctor Tatiana Vladimirovna Zhiltsova and Doctor Nuno Vasco da Costa Gama Batista de Melo; Substitute members: Doctor Paula Sofia Gil Neto Quinteiro and Professor Victor Fernando Santos Neto.

 

12. Period for submission of applications: the call is open between 21 February 2024 and 06 March 2024. Only applications received in this period will be considered for evaluation. Applications must be submitted by e-mail to [email protected] with identification of the reference number in the email subject.

 

Applications should include the following mandatory documents: certificate(s) of qualifications, curriculum vitae, declaration of honor, application form . The candidate should also indicate the e-mail address to be notified for all purposes within the scope of this procedure.

Failure to comply with the deadline for submission of the application, as well as the incorrect formalization of the application, result in the exclusion of the application.

 

13. Publication/notification of results: the results of the evaluation will be published within 60 working days after the final date of submission of the application, whereas the candidates will be notified by email. For the purposes of prior hearing of interested parties, the deadline of 10 working days after notification is set, as provided for in the Code of Administrative Procedure. At the end of the period for hearing the interested parties, and in the absence of any response from them, the list of candidates will become final. Candidates may lodge a complaint against the final decision within 10 working days after notification of the final decision, by appealing to the Rector.

 

14. Research fellowship duration: The final ranking list of candidates will be valid for 12 months for the purpose of constituting a reserve list for selection.

University of Aveiro, February 19th 2024

Doctor Paula Celeste da Silva Ferreira

 

PT version: https://www.ua.pt/pt/noticias/0/85722

 

Requirements

Research Field

Other

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Additional Information

Website for additional job details

https://www.ua.pt/pt/noticias/0/85722

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

University of Aveiro

Country

Portugal

Geofield

Where to apply

E-mail

[email protected]

Contact

City

Aveiro

Website

https://www.ua.pt/

Street

Campus Universitário de Santiago

Postal Code

3810-193

STATUS: EXPIRED