FCUP | Pós Doc Research Grant - NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000085 "SNAP"

Call open for applications for a Post-Doctoral Research Grant, within the framework of project “SNAP - Sustainable Management and Control of Agro-Production Systems” with the reference NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000085, financed by Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Norte (CCDR-N), under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Agricultura Sciences

Admission requirements:

• Doctor's degree in Agricultural Sciences and other related areas obtained in the three years prior to the date of submission of the application for this scholarship;
• The place of development of the research work to obtain the degree of Doctor complies with the provisions of Regulation no. 950/2019 of 16 December, article 7, paragraph 3, point b), no. 4 and no. 5
• It is essential that candidates have good command of the oral and written English language;

Preference requirements: It will be given preference to candidates with:

• Laboratory experience concerning the evaluation of physiological, biochemical and molecular responses, namely of horticultural crops;
• Demonstrated ability to write scientific articles (authors of scientific publications);
• Ability to be part of multidisciplinary teams

Hiring Requirements: If the qualification has been granted by a foreign higher education institution, it will have to be recognized by a Portuguese higher education institution, pursuant to article 25 of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of 16 August, which approves the regime legal recognition of academic degrees and diplomas in Higher Education, arising from foreign higher education institutions, and paragraph e) of paragraph 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law No. 60/2018, of August 3, all of which the formalities must be fulfilled there until the contracting act.

Activity Outline: The work to be developed is part of the project 'SNAP - Sustainable Management and Control of Agro-Production Systems' (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000085). The fellow to be hired will develop his work within the scope of Research Line 1 'RL 1 – Fostering Sustainable, Climate-Smart and Innovative Agricultural Production Systems', which the main objective is to promote innovation and sustainability in the horticultural sector, making cities more resilient and prepared to provide fresh, safe, nutritious and healthy food (vegetables) to the growing urban/peri-urban population by reducing the carbon footprint and responding to the scarcity of agricultural land.

More specifically, the selected candidate will work with vertical production systems (VPS; 'Plant Factories'), having as main Tasks:

• Support the analysis of biochemical and molecular responses related to the optimization of growth conditions in VPS in order to: promote the intrinsic quality of vegetable food products in VPS (WP1); maximize the production of secondary metabolites in aromatic and medicinal plants (WP2);

• Participation in project dissemination activities;

• Interaction with other project team members;

• Support in defining future lines of research in this area for competitive funding.

Legislation and regulations: Law no. 40/2014, updated by Decree-Law no. 123/2019, of 28 August (Statute of Scientific Research Grant Holder); Regulation no. 950/2019 of 16 December (Regulation of Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology); Regulation no. 184/2021, of 3 March (Regulation of Research Grants of the University of Porto) and Decree-Law no. 66/2018 of 16 August (Legal Regime of Recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of Higher Education awarded by Foreign Higher Education Institutions).

Work place: The work will be developed at GreenUPorto – Sustainable Agrifood Production Research Centre, located at Vairão Campus from Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP), under the guidance of Prof. Doctor Susana M.P. Carvalho.

Grant duration: Initial duration of 3 months, with beginning on 1st January 2023, eventually renewable up, but not exceeding the end date of the project.

In accordance with the provisions of Article 7, nº7, once this BIPD (Post-Doctoral Research Scholarship) contract has expired, the grant holder cannot sign a new scholarship contract with FCUP.

Maintenance allowance amount: The grant stipend amounts to 1686€ according to the table of values of the grants awarded directly by FCT, I.P. in the Country (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores ).The payment will be made by bank transfer.

Voluntary Social Insurance: As long as the scholarship is for a duration of 6 months or more, and in compliance with the provisions of article 10 of Law 40/2004, the grantee shall be entitled to the assumption by FCUP of the charges resulting from contributions levied on the first of the echelons referred to in article 36 of Decree-Law no. 40/89, of 1 February, with the addition of charges arising from the option for a higher tax base being incurred on its own.

Personal Accident Insurance: In addition to these allowances, the grantee will be covered by personal accident insurance.

Selection procedure: The selection methods to be used are as follows:

A – Curriculum Assessment – ​​60%;

B – Letter of motivation – 10%;

C – Previous Experience - 30%.

The Final Classification (FC1) will be obtained through the following formula:

FC1 = A*0.6 + B*0.1 + C*0.3

If necessary, an Interview (I) will be carried out with the 3 best classified candidates, and in this situation, the Final Classification (FC2) will be:

FC2 = FC1*0.75 + I*0.25

The Selection Committee reserves the right not to award the scholarship in competition, if at the end of the applications’ evaluation process, none of them fits the objectives of the project.

Candidates whose application has been assessed with a final classification less than 13 points are not eligible to sign the contract of the fellowship.

Selection committee:

President – Susana Maria Pinto de Carvalho, Assistant Professor, FCUP/GreenUPorto;

1.º member – Luís Miguel Soares Ribeiro Leite da Cunha, Associate Professor, FCUP/GreenUPorto;

2.º member – Ana Cláudia Teodoro, Associate Professor with Habilitation, FCUP.

• 1.º alternate member – Tânia Alícia Ribeiro Fernandes, PhD Integrated Researcher, FCUP/GreenUPorto.
• 2.º alternate member – Ana Álvares Ribeiro Marques de Aguiar Professora Auxiliar, FCUP/GreenUPorto

Advertisement of final decision: The final results of the evaluation will be published through a list ordered by final classification, sent to candidates by email. It is further informed that, pursuant to the provisions of articles 121 et seq. of the Code of Administrative Procedure, it has a legal period of 10 working days from the day immediately following the notification, to make a decision, if it so wishes.

A complaint may be filed against this decision within 15 working days or, alternatively, an appeal may be filed within 30 working days, addressed to the Director of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, pursuant to article 191 et seq. of the Code of Administrative Procedure.

The host entity may use the final ranking list to replace the selected grantee in case he/she gives up the position, up to one year.

Deadline for applications and form of presentation

The deadline for submitting applications will be 10 days from the date of publication of the Research Grant Announcement. Applications must be formalized, mandatorily, through the web page of Infociências of this opening (https://info.fc.up.pt/fcup/pedidos/users/novo.php?f_id=1291&formulario=412 ) accompanied by the following documents:

The documents indicated in points a) to e) must be submitted in a single file in zip format on the tender page.

Supporting documents for the contract: At the time of signing the contract, the grant holder must provide the following documents:

Commitment: In compliance with paragraph h) of Article 9 of the Constitution, the University of Porto, as an employer, actively promotes a policy of equal opportunities between men and women in access to employment and professional advancement, scrupulously avoiding any form of discrimination. In this spirit, terms such as “candidate,” “author,” or “teacher,” among others that refer to the people who apply for this recruitment tender are used as gender neutral.

In addition, no candidate may be privileged, benefited, impaired or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty on grounds of ancestry, age, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social status, 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.