NOTICE FOR A RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP (1 vacancy)_BI_WP7

23 Feb 2024
Job Information

Organisation/Company

Instituto Superior de Agronomia

Department

Núcleo de Recursos Humanos

Research Field

Engineering » Other

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Country

Portugal

Application Deadline

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

Type of Contract

Other

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

NOTICE FOR A RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP (1 vacancy)

Resume:

A tender is open for the attribution of a Research Scholarship to holders of MSc degree who are enrolled in courses that do not lead to an academic degree within the scope of the project VIIAFOOD - Plataforma de Valorização, Industrialização e Inovação comercial para o AgroAlimentar com a referência C644929456-00000040 (Projeto no. 37), taking place at LEAF – Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food, do Instituto Superior de Agronomia, financed by programa Agendas Mobilizadoras para a Inovação Empresarial - PRR I Aviso No 02/C05-i01/2022, to develop the following tasks: valorization of by-products followed by their re-incorporation in sauces, under the following conditions:

1. TYPE, DURATION OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS and EXPECTED BEGINNING PERIOD OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

The tender is intended for the attribution of a Research Scholarship to holders of MSc degree who are enrolled in courses that do not lead to an academic degree, for the maximum length time of 12 months, not renewable, scheduled to start on July 2024.

2. WORK PLAN AND WORKPLACE:

The work plan to be conducted by the successful candidate is under the project VIIAFOOD. This is strongly oriented towards the bio-valorization of by-products from sauces’ industry through fermentation, thus contributing to waste reduction. The final products are expected to be safe, healthy and sustainable solutions for the sauces’ industry. Apart from product development, the work plan also includes the evaluation of the nutritional composition and sensorial analysis of these products. The work plan includes the following activities:

Activity 1:Development of strategies for thefermentation of sugar-rich by-products

• Optimization of the fermentation process.

Activity 2:Functional prototypes’ development and validation

• Product development.
• Physical and chemical characterization, nutritional composition, sensory analysis, colour, texture profile, viscoelastic properties, pH value and antioxidant activity of the products obtained after re-incorporation.
• Shelf-life determination.

Activity 3:Support to scale-up activities

Activity 4:Project management, dissemination and communication of the results

The work will be developed at Bioenergética Microbiana Lab and Ferreira Lapa Building of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, under the supervision of Prof. Catarina Prista. Given that this project is to be developed in a close association with a food company, several meetings at the company are anticipated. All costs associated with travelling are covered under the project.

3. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

Applications must be formalized, obligatorily, by sending an application letter, with the reference “BI_WP7", accompanied by the following documents: Curriculum vitae, copy of certificate of qualifications, two recommendation letters, motivation letter and other supporting documents considered relevant.

Exceptionally, in duly justified situations, proof of enrolment in a cycle of studies or courses that do not lead to an academic degree may be delivered up to the date of the effective contracting;

If the selected candidate has a qualification awarded by a foreign higher education institution, this must be recognized by the Portuguese higher education institution by the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES, only in case of automatic recognition), under the terms of Decree-Law no. 341/2007, of 12 October, regulated by Notice no. 227/2017 , of July 25 and updated by Decree-Law No. 66/2018, published in the Diário da República, 1st series, No. 157, of August 16, 2018. For getting more information about this, we suggest consulting the DGES portal (http://www.dges.gov.pt ).  It may be waived to present it during the application phase for the support in question, with this condition being verified only during the grant contracting phase.

The applications must be sent to Joana Costa via email: [email protected]

The application period will run from February 26th to March 8th, 2024 .

4. SCHOLARSHIP RENEWAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Scholarships may be renewed for additional periods up to their maximum duration, provided that, at the renewal date, the conditions for their grant are verified, always depending on the request submitted, within 60 working days prior to the start date of the renewal, accompanied by the following documents: a) Detailed report of the work carried out, including the URL addresses of communications, publications and scientific creations resulting from the activity carried out, if any; b) Statement of the supervisor on the documents referred to in the preceding paragraph; c) Work plan for the renewal period. D) Document proving the renewal of enrollment in the cycle of studies required for granting the scholarship, in scholarships associated with cycles of studies or courses that do not confer an academic degree, except when this has already been concluded

5. SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

The scholarship is aimed at carrying out R&D activities by holders of an MSc degree who are enrolled in courses that do not lead to an academic degree, with a Master’s Degree in Food Engineering and/or Gastronomic Sciences.

- Scientific area: Food Engineering and/or Gastronomic Sciences

- With skills in food rheology and texture; nutritional, chemical and sensorial characterization of different food matrices; previous experience in product development and/or development of fermented food products.

- Other requirements: good English communication skills; candidates with a track record of scientific publications in ISI journals or communications in conferences will be given priority.

6. FUNDING AND SCHOLARSHIP COMPONENTS

The grant will be financed by VIIAFOOD - Plataforma de Valorização, Industrialização e Inovação comercial para o AgroAlimentar, reference no. C644929456-00000040 (Project no 37).

The amount of the monthly allowance is 1.259,64 € plus the reimbursement of voluntary social insurance (applicable to scholarships lasting six months or more), according to the table of values of monthly allowances, set out in Annex I of Regulation No. 950/2019 (https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM_atu… ).

The payment will be made via bank transfer.

7. EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation of applications will be carried out by applying the selection criteria and respective parameters described below. Candidates who have obtained a rating lower than 9.5 points (out of 20 points) in one of the criteria will be excluded from the procedure, with the following selection criteria not being applied to them.

a) Curricular assessment:

Curricular assessment (CA) aims to analyze the academic qualification of the candidates and will be assessed as follows:

	Food Engineering/Gastronomic Sciences	Other scientific area
Master Degree	20 points	12 points
Bachelor Degree	20 points	12 points

 

The score for CA is calculated as the arithmetic mean of the scores attributed to the Master's and Bachelor Degree and has a weighting coefficient of 25% in the total Final Classification (FC; scale 0-20 points).

b) Experience in research activities and fit to the profile:

Experience in research activities (ERA) in the area of activity and the candidate's profile are evaluated taking into account:

- Experience in food rheology and texture

- Knowledge of nutritional and chemical characterization of different food matrices

- Knowledge of sensorial analysis

- Experience in product development

- Experience in development of fermented food products

These will be assessed as follows:

Experience:	Points
Experience in one activity	5 points
Experience in two activities	10 points
Experience in three activities	15 points
Experience in ≥ four activities	20 points

Experience in research activities has a weighting coefficient of 40% in the total Final Classification (FC; scale 0-20 points).

c) Motivation letter:

The motivation letter (ML) will be assessed as follows:

Parameters	Points
Structure	Very good	20 points
Good	15 points
Enough	10 points
Weak	5 points
Writing (i.e., syntax, vocabulary)	Very good	20 points
Good	15 points
Enough	10 points
Weak	5 points
Fluency	Very good	20 points
Good	15 points
Enough	10 points
Weak	5 points

The final evaluation of the motivation letter results from the simple arithmetic average of the scores obtained in the 3 factors under evaluation. The motivation letter has a weighting coefficient of 15% in the total Final Classification (FC; 0-20 points).

d) Recommendation letters:

Recommendation letters (RL) have a weighting coefficient of 5% in the total Final Classification (FC; 0-20 points) and will be assessed as follows:

Number of RL	Points
None	0 points
One RL	10 points
Two RL	20 points

e) Other requirements:

Other requirements include i) good English communication skills (EN), ii) a track record of scientific publications in ISI journals (PUB) or iii) poster/oral communications in conferences (COM). Each of these will have a weighting coefficient of 5% in the total Final Classification (FC; 0-20 points) and will be assessed as follows:

English communication skills	Points
Weak	0 points
Reasonable	10 points
Good	20 points

Scientific publications in ISI journals	Points
None	0 points
One publication	10 points
≥ Two publications	20 points

Poster/oral communications in conferences	Points
None	0 points
One publication	10 points
≥ Two publications	20 points

The Final Classification (FC) of candidates will be expressed on a scale of 0 to 20 points, considering the valuation to the hundredths, by applying the following formula: FC = (CA X 25%) + (ERA X 40%) + (ML X 15%) + (RL X 5%) + (EN X 5%) + (PUB X 5%) + (COM X 5%)

on what:

FC = Final Classification; CA= Curricular Assessment; ERA = Experience in research activities; ML = Motivation Letter; RL = Recommendation Letter; EN = English communication skills; PUB = Scientific publications in ISI journals; COM = poster/oral communications in conferences

f) Interview

The 3 best ranked candidates will be invited for an interview (I) to assess:

1. Motivation to work in the project (50%)

2. Expertise in the topic demonstrated by the answers given to the questions asked by the Assessment Committee during the interview (50%)

The Global Classification (GC) will be obtained by applying the following formula: GC = (FC X 80%) + (I X 20%)

The Assessment Committee has the right to not fill in the place if it none of the candidates meet the requirements. Candidates with a final score below 13 (in a scale from 0 to 20) are not eligible for the Research scholarship.

8. EVALUATION

Composition of the Assessment Committee:

- Anabela Cristina Silva Naret Moreira Raymundo (President) - Associate Professor with Habilitation, Instituto Superior de Agronomia.

- Maria Cristiana Henriques Nunes – Invited Auxiliar Researcher, Instituto Superior de Agronomia.

- Joana Patrícia Araújo Ferreira - Junior Researcher, Instituto Superior de Agronomia.

- Manuel Malfeito Ferreira – Associate Professor with Habilitation, Instituto Superior de Agronomia.

9. DISCLOSURE OF RESULTS

Form of advertising/notification of results: The final results of the evaluation will be publicized, through a list ordered, alphabetically, by final grade, posted in a visible and public place of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, with the candidate being approved notified via email.

10. TERMS AND PROCEDURES FOR PRIOR HEARING, CLAIM AND APPEAL

After communicating the provisional list of the evaluation results, the candidates with a project of decision unfavorable to the granting of the scholarship, have a period of 10 working days to, if they wish, do their statements in the preliminary hearing of interested parties, pursuant to articles 121 and following of the Code of Administrative Procedure. The final decision will be rendered after the analysis of the statements presented during a prior hearing of interested parties.

In the event that a scholarship holder terminates his scholarship in advance, the evaluation of the contest in question may be used to contract a new scholarship with the candidate who was in the position immediately after. The recruitment reserve is valid for a period of 18 months from the date of approval of the final ranking list, pursuant to article 25 of Ordinance 233/2022, of 9 September.

11. SCHOLARSHIP AGREEMENT MODEL AND FINAL REPORTS

11.1 - The scholarship contract must include:

a) The identification of the scholarship holder and the scientific advisor or coordinator;

b) The identification of the host and financial entities;

c) The applicable legislation, Regulation No. 950/2019;

d) The plan of activities to be developed by the scholarship holder;

e) Indication of the duration and start date of the grant.

11. 2 - The scholarship contract will be made in writing and a copy will be sent to the Foundation for Science and Technology, IP for inclusion in the national register of scholarship holders.

11. 3 - The Scholarship Holder Status is automatically granted with the signing of the contract, always referring to the start date of the scholarship.

11.4 - The scholarship holder must submit to ISA, within 60 working days after the end of the scholarship, in electronic format, a final report of their activities containing the activities developed and results obtained, including communications, publications and scientific creations resulting from the developed activity, and respective URL addresses, accompanied by the opinion of the supervisors.

12. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY

No candidate may be privileged, benefited, harmed or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty due, in particular, to ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological convictions and union membership.

13. APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS:

Statute of the Scientific Research Fellow, approved by Law no. 40/2004, published in Diário da República no. 194/2004, Series I-A, 2004‐08‐18, in the wording given by Decree-Law no. 123/2019, of August 28 and FCT Scholarship Regulation - Regulation No. 950/2019, of December 16, 2019 (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/regulamentos.phtml.pt ).

Authorized on February 22, 2024 by the President of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Professor António Guerreiro de Brito.

Requirements

Research Field

Engineering » Other

Education Level

Master Degree or equivalent

Additional Information
Work Location(s)

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Instituto Superior de agronomia

Country

Portugal

Geofield

Where to apply

E-mail

[email protected]

Contact

State/Province

Lisboa

City

Lisboa

Website

https://www.isa.ulisboa.pt/daf/nrh/concursos/bolseiros/bolsa-de-investigacao-60
https://www.isa.ulisboa.pt

Street

Tapada da Ajuda

Postal Code

1349-017 Lisboa

E-Mail

[email protected]

STATUS: EXPIRED