Opening call for awarding a PhD Research Grant

Opening call for awarding a PhD Research Grant

The Research Institute for Volcanology and Risk Assessment (IVAR) is calling for the award of 1 (one) research scholarship, herein after referred to as PhD Research Grant, in the area of Geology, specialty of Volcanology, under the FCT Research Grants Regulation (RBI) and the Research Fellowship Statute (EBI).

The scholarship will be financed by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the Collaboration Protocol for Financing the Multiannual Plan for Research Grants for Doctoral Students, signed between FCT and the R&D Unit Research Institute for Volcanology and Risk Assessment (ref. 00643).

1. APPLICATION

The call is opened between August 2nd and October 31st 2021, until 12PM (Lisbon time).

Applications and supporting documents for the application must be submitted by email to [email protected] , and directed to the President of the Jury with reference to the scholarship number 00643/DREM.

Each candidate should submit only one application, under penalty of annulment of all the submitted applications. False statements or the plagiarism by the candidates is reason for canceling the application without prejudice to the adoption of other measures of a sanctioning nature.

2. TYPE AND DURATION OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS

The research activities leading to obtaining the academic degree of doctor should be part of the strategic plan of the Research Institute for Volcanology and Risk Assessment. The work plan will be carried out entirely in a national institution.

The duration of the scholarship is, as a rule, annual, renewable up to a maximum of four years (48 months), and a scholarship cannot be awarded for a period of less than 3 (three) consecutive months, on an exclusive basis, according to the FCT regulation (Article 5 of the Research Fellow's Statute).

Registered candidates or candidates who satisfy the necessary conditions to enroll in a Doctoral Program in Geology, specialty of Volcanology, at the University of the Azores, can apply.

ADMISSIBILITY

Applicant's Admissibility Requirements

Applicants that fulfill the following requirements can apply

• National citizens or citizens of other European Union member states;

• Citizens of third States, who must have a valid residence permit at Portugal at the start of the scholarship;

• Stateless persons;

• Citizens benefiting from political refugee status.

To apply for the PhD Research scholarship, it is necessary:

• Hold a Master's degree in the scientific areas of Earth Sciences, Geospatial Sciences, Computing Sciences or Engineering;

• Not having benefited from a PhD scholarship, or a PhD in business context, directly funded by the FCT, regardless of its duration.

Admissibility Requirements

It is crucial, under penalty of not being admitted, to attach the following documents to the application:

• Elements of the identity card / citizen card / passport;

• Candidate's detailed curriculum vitae; dated and signed;

• Certificates of qualification of the held academic degrees, specifying the final classification and the marks obtained in all subjects taken, or, alternatively, a candidate's declaration of honor on how he/she completed his/her master's degree by the end of the application period;

• Registration of recognition of academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions and registration of the conversion of the respective final classification to the Portuguese classification scale, or, alternatively, the applicant's declaration of honor on how he/she will obtain recognition of the foreign degree equivalents until the end of the application period.

• Letter of motivation; highlighting from his/her profile the characteristics he/she considers most important for successfully developing this doctoral project (Point 5 of this announcement);

• Two Letters of Recommendation;

• Write the application and all documents associated with it, including the letter of motivation, in Portuguese or in English.

Regarding the aforementioned admissibility requirements, the following should be noted:

• In the case of academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, and in order to guarantee the application of the principle of equal treatment to candidates who hold foreign and national academic degrees, the recognition of these degrees and the conversion of the respective final classification is mandatory for the Portuguese classification scale.

The recognition of foreign academic degrees and certificates, as well as the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese classification scale, may be required in any Portuguese public higher education institution, or in the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES, only in the case of automatic recognition). Regarding this matter, it is suggested to consult the DGES portal through the following address: http://www.dges.gov.pt .

• Only candidates who have completed the cycle of studies leading to a master's degree will be admitted by the end of the application period. If they do not yet have the certificate of completion of the course, a declaration of honor from the candidates will be accepted as they completed the necessary qualifications for the purposes of the competition by the end of the application period, to which is attached the receipt of the certificate request. The design of the scholarship is always dependent on the presentation of proof of ownership of academic qualifications.

5. WORK PLANS AND SCIENTIFIC ORIENTATION OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS

The scientific orientation of the activities to be carried out within the scope of the work plan leading to the obtaining of the academic degree of doctor of Geology, specialty of Volcanology, will be under the responsibility of Dr. Artur José Freire Gil, without impeding any other possible co-supervisors.

6. EVALUATION CRITERIA AND BONUS

6.1 Evaluation criteria

The evaluation takes into account the candidate's merit and motivation for the work to be carried out.

Applications considered admissible will be scored on a scale from 0 (zero) to 100 (one hundred) points in each of the following evaluation criteria:

• Criterion A - Candidate's merit, weighing 75 points;

Subcriterion A1 - Academic track, with a weight of 30 points;

Subcriterion A2 - Training in the area of Remote Sensing, weighing 20 points;

Subcriterion A3 - Scientific publications and research experience, weighing 20 points;

Subcriterion A4 - Proven proficiency in English (oral and written), weighing 5 points.

• Criterion B - Motivation for the work to be carried out, weighing 25 points;

Subcriterion B1 - Recognition of the relevance of the research area and framing with the candidate's profile, weighing 20 points;

Subcriterion B2 - Understanding the relevance of teamwork and the host institution, weighing 5 points.

For the purpose of deciding on the award of scholarships, applicants will be ranked according to the sum of the classification obtained in each of the two criteria, translated by the following formula:

Final Classification =(A1+A2+A3+A4 +B1+B2

For tie-breaking purposes, the ranking of candidates will be made based on the ratings assigned to each of the evaluation criteria in the following order of precedence: criterion A1, criterion A2, criterion B1, criterion A3, criterion B2, and criterion A4.

Important advice for candidates with certificates attributed by foreign higher education institutions:

• Candidates with certificates attributed by foreign higher education institutions can apply and will be evaluated using the same criteria as candidates with diplomas issued by Portuguese institutions, provided that they present, in their application, proof of recognition of academic degrees and of the conversion of the final classification for the Portuguese classification scale under the terms of the applicable legislation.

• Candidates with foreign degrees and that will not show proof of conversion from the final classification to the Portuguese classification scale will be assessed with a minimum classification of 0 points in criterion A1.

• In any case, the establishment of scholarship contracts with candidates with certificates attributed by foreign institutions will only be concluded upon presentation of proof of recognition of academic degrees and conversion of the final classification, as indicated above.

Applicants whose application is evaluated with a final classification below 50 points are not eligible for the scholarship.

7. EVALUATION

The candidates’ evaluation panel consists of the following elements:

• Professor Maria de Fátima Batista Viveiros, Research Institute for Volcanology and Risk Assessment from the University of the Azores, as coordinator of the panel;

• Professor Teresa de Jesus Lopes Ferreira, Research Institute for Volcanology and Risk Assessment from the University of the Azores;

• Professor Nicolau Maria Berquó de Aguiar Wallenstein, Research Institute for Volcanology and Risk Assessment from the University of the Azores;

• Dr. Adriano Henrique Gonçalves Pimentel, Research Institute for Volcanology and Risk Assessment from the University of the Azores, as substitute member of the panel.

The evaluation panel will assess applications following the evaluation criteria contained in this Call for Proposals, considering the elements of evaluation.

All panel members, including the coordinator, make a commitment to respect a set of responsibilities essential to the evaluation process, such as the duties of impartiality, the declaration of any potential conflict of interest situations and confidentiality. At all times during the evaluation process, confidentiality is fully protected and ensured in order to guarantee the independence of all advises produced.

Panel members, including the coordinator, cannot be advisors or co-supervisors of candidates with applications submitted to the competition.

For each application, a final evaluation form will be produced by the panel, in which the arguments that led to the ratings attributed to each of the evaluation criteria and sub-criteria will be presented in a clear, coherent and consistent manner.

Minutes of the responsibility of all their members will be produced from the meetings of the evaluation panel.

The minutes and their annexes must include the following information:

• Name and affiliation of all members of the evaluation panel;

• Identification of all excluded applications and respective reasons, when applicable;

• Methodology adopted by the panel for cases considered private, when applicable;

• Final Evaluation Sheets for each candidate;

• Provisional list of classification and ranking of candidates, in descending order of the final classification, of all applications evaluated by the panel;

• Conflict of Interests statements from all panel members;

• Possible delegations of votes and powers due to justified absence, if applicable.

8. DISCLOSURE OF RESULTS

The results of the evaluation are communicated via e-mail to the e-mail address used by the applicant to send the application.

9. DEADLINES AND PROCEDURES FOR PRIOR HEARING, CLAIM AND APPEAL

After communicating the provisional list of the evaluation results, the candidates have a period of 10 working days, if they wish, to give their opinion at the prior hearing of interested parties, under the terms of the article 121º and followings of the Code of Administrative Procedure.

The final decision will be rendered after the analysis of the pronunciations presented at the prior hearing of interested parties. The final decision may be lodged within 15 working days, or, alternatively, an appeal may be filed within 30 working days, both counting from the respective notification. Candidates who choose to submit a complaint must address their pronunciation to the member of the FCT Board of Directors with delegated competence. Candidates who choose to submit an appeal must address it to the FCT Board of Directors.

10. GRANT REQUIREMENTS

Research scholarship contracts are signed directly with FCT.

The following documents must be sent, by who grants the scholarship, for the purposes of contracting:

a) Copy of the civil, taxes and, where applicable, social security identification document(s);

b) Copy of the certificates of qualifications of the held academic degrees;

c) Presentation of the registration record for the recognition of foreign academic degrees and conversion of the respective final classifications to the Portuguese classification scale, if applicable;

d) Document proving enrollment in a PhD Program in Geology;

e) Statement by the supervisor(s) assuming responsibility for supervising the work plan, pursuant to article 5-A of the Research Fellow's Statute (draft declaration to be made available by FCT);

f) Document proving the candidate's acceptance by the institution where the research activities will take place, guaranteeing the necessary conditions for its good development, as well as the fulfillment of the duties provided for in article 13 of the Research Fellow's Statute (draft declaration to be made available by FCT);

g) Updated document proving compliance with the exclusive dedication regime (draft declaration to be made available by FCT).

The granting of the scholarship is still dependent on:

• compliance with the requirements provided for in this Call;

• the results of the scientific evaluation;

• the absence of unjustified non-compliance with the grantee's duties under a previous scholarship contract financed, directly or indirectly, by FCT;

• FCT's budget availability.

Failure to deliver any of the documents necessary to complete the scholarship contracting process, within 6 months from the date of communication of the conditional grant decision, implies the expiration of the referred grant and the ending of the process.

11. FINANCING

The scholarship payment will begin after the applicants have returned the duly signed scholarship contract, which should occur within a maximum period of 15 working days from the date of receipt.

The scholarships awarded under this call will be financed by the FCT with funds from the State Budget and, when eligible, with funds from the European Social Fund, to be made available under PORTUGAL2020, namely through the Northern Regional Operational Program (NORTE 2020), The Regional Operational Program of the Center (Centro 2020) and the Regional Operational Program of Alentejo (Alentejo 2020), in accordance with the regulatory provisions established for this purpose.

12. COMPONENTS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

Scholarship recipients will receive a monthly allowance in accordance with the table available in Annex I of the RBI. The scholarship may also include other components, under the terms set out in article 18 of the RBI and considering the amounts provided for in its Annex II.

All scholarship holders benefit from personal accident insurance for research activities, supported by FCT.

All scholarship holders who are not covered by any social protection regime can ensure the exercise of the right to social security through adherence to the voluntary social insurance regime, under the terms of the Contributory Schemes of the Social Security Social Security System, ensuring the FCT charges resulting from contributions under the terms and with the limits provided for in article 10 of the EBI.

13. PAYMENTS OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

Payments are made by bank transfer to the account identified by the grantee. The monthly maintenance allowance is paid on the first business day of each month.

The payments for the registration, enrollment or tuition components are made by FCT directly to the national institution where the fellow is enrolled in the PhD.

14. SCHOLARSHIP RENEWAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The renewal of the scholarship always depends on the request submitted by the fellow, within 60 working days prior to the start date of the renewal, accompanied by the following documents:

a) declarations issued by the supervisor(s) and by the host entity/s on the monitoring of the scholarship recipient's work and the evaluation of his/her activities;

b) updated document proving compliance with the exclusive dedication regime;

c) document proving the renewal of enrollment in the cycle of studies leading to the degree of doctor.

15. INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY OF THE FINANCING GRANTED

In all the R&D activities directly or indirectly financed by the scholarship, namely, in all communications, publications and scientific creations, as well as theses, carried out with the support provided for in the scholarship, the mention of financial support from FCT and the European Social Program must be expressed, namely through the Northern Regional Operational Program (NORTH 2020), the Regional Operational Program of the Center (Centro 2020) and the Regional Operational Program of Alentejo (Alentejo 2020). For this purpose, the FCT, MCTES, ESF and EU logos must be inscribed in the documents referring to these actions, according to the graphic rules of each operational program.

The dissemination of results of research funded under the RBI must comply with the rules for open access to data, publications and other research results as defined by the FCT.

In all grants, and in particular in the case of actions supported by community financing, namely from the ESF, monitoring and control actions may be carried out by national and community bodies in accordance with the applicable legislation in this matter, with the grant recipients being obliged to collaborate and provide the requested information, which includes carrying out surveys and evaluation studies in this area, even though if the scholarship has already ceased.

16. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY

FCT promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, so that no candidate can be privileged, benefited, harmed or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty due, namely, to ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic status, education, origin or social status, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic or race origin, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs and affiliation union.

17. APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATION

The Call is governed by this Opening Notice, by the FCT Research Scholarship Regulation, approved by Regulation No. 950/2019, published in the II Series of the DR of December 16, 2019, by the Research Scholarship Statute approved by the Law 40/2004, of August 18, in the current wording, and by further applicable national and community legislation.