PhD position in Practice-Based Research (CiTUA)

The Centre for Innovation in Territory, Urbanism and Architecture (CiTUA) is pleased to announce the opening of a call for 1 (one) PhD Grant position in the research area of Territory, Urban Planning and Architecture, under the FCT Regulations for Research Fellowships (RBI) and the Regulations on Research Scholarships (EBI).

The grant to be awarded will be funded by Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) pursuant to the collaboration protocol signed between FCT and CiTUA (Centre for Innovation in Territory, Urbanism and Architecture) bearing number UIDP/05703/2020, for the Funding of the Multiannual Plan of Research Scholarship for PhD Students.

DURATION AND TYPE OF SCHOLARSHIPS

The purpose of PhD Scholarships is to fund research activities that lead to a doctoral degree at Instituto Superior Técnico.

The research activities leading to the academic doctoral degree are to be carried out at CiTUA, the Centre for Innovation in Territory, Urbanism and Architecture, which will be the host institution of the scholarship holders, without prejudice to the work possibly being carried out in collaboration with more than one institution.

The research activities leading to a doctoral degree for the selected candidates must be part of the activities and strategic plan of CITUA, Centre for Innovation in Territory, Urbanism and Architecture.

The work plan may be carried out entirely or partially in a domestic research institution (scholarship in Portugal or mixed, respectively).

The duration of a scholarship is, as a rule, one year, renewable up to a maximum of four years (48 months); scholarships cannot be granted for less than three consecutive months.

In the case of a mixed scholarship, the period of work that takes place in a foreign institution cannot exceed 24 months.

Under pain of an application being nullified, applicants must submit the following documentation:

• Identity card/passport details.

• A Curriculum Vitae.

• Copies of the certificates for academic degrees held, specifying the final grading and, if possible, the grades obtained in all courses, or, alternatively, the candidate's sworn statement as to the completion by him/her of a master's degree by the application deadline.

• Registration of equivalence for academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions and official registration of the equivalence of the respective final grading to the Portuguese classification scale, or, alternatively, the applicant's sworn statement as to the completion of a foreign degree equivalent a Master’s degree by the application deadline.

• A research project document (with a maximum of 10 pages, written in Times New Roman, font size 11, with 1.5 line spacing) showing how the research aligns with the two CiTUA research lines, namely, Line 1 - Emerging forms of inhabiting space in contemporary urban territories resulting from the evolution of social requirements, and Line 2 - Planning, management and governance of contemporary urban territories in situations of a lack of resources in differing socio-economic contexts and subject to climate change; also, and more specifically, with CiTUA's THEMATIC LINE Practice-Based Research.

RESEARCH LINE 1 aims to contribute to the understanding of and to advance knowledge of aspects related with: (i) the current urban, architectural and heritage concepts and trends, and associated practices; (ii) the social, cultural, economic, technical and environmental meaning of built spaces and their interaction with the public interest, memory and history, cultural diversity and local characteristics; (iii) the impact of architecture on the social, cultural, organisational and economic and environmental performance of buildings and urban areas; iv) the design criteria and methods associated with programmatic and morphological transformations (e.g. education, housing, health, offices); v) design strategies for the reuse of existing built spaces (e.g. maintenance, conservation, restoration, rehabilitation, restructuring, transformation and extension).

RESEARCH LINE 2 aims at understanding and advancing: (i) methods and practices of urban and territorial planning (e.g. city-wide strategic planning, master planning, community planning, land use planning) in a changing society and specific political, geographic and social contexts, where lack of resources, the need to cope with climate change and new governance systems are the main features; ii) policy formulation, socio-economic and stakeholder management; iii) norms and regulations generated by globalisation (e.g. multi-actor governance, the new role of the state and the proliferation of producers of norms and standards; the increasing obsolescence of existing regulations as a result of the emergence of local and transnational structures; common goods, etc.); iv) new approaches to planning, management and finance to accommodate the huge of migration movements towards urban areas in developing countries, with the aim of structuring and strengthening physical coherence and social cohesion; v) building the city of the future on existing urban spaces in developed countries, in the context of an ageing society and technological revolution.

The THEMATIC LINE Practice-Based Research involves reflection on education, research and practice in architecture and territorial planning and the development of integrative, collaborative and participatory platforms and collaborative design tools for the coproduction of knowledge. The aim is to build a robust body of knowledge in close interaction with architects, urban planners and regional planners, as well as all those who intervene in some practical way in the construction and management of the city and the territory. The research programme involves a prospective attitude in teaching and researching architecture and territorial planning, taking into account current and future trends, new challenges and opportunities arising namely from the developments in the field of new technologies and the “webisation” of functionalities and communities, in order to promote a transdisciplinary practice resulting in science and academic training that is able to respond to the societal challenges of today.

• A letter of motivation.

• Recommendation letters (maximum of two).

The application and all the associated documents, including motivation and recommendation letters, must be written in the Portuguese or English languages.

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 ensure application of the principle of equal treatment to candidates who hold foreign and domestic academic degrees, official equivalence recognition of these degrees and conversion of the final grading to the Portuguese classification scale are compulsory.

• The recognition of foreign academic degrees and diplomas as well as the conversion of the final grading to the Portuguese classification scale may be required by any public higher education institution, or by the Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior (DGES), for automatic recognition of a degree. For more about this subject please visit http://www.dges.gov.pt .

• Only applicants who have completed the study cycle leading to a Master’s degree by the application deadline, will be admitted. If they do not yet have a course certificate, a sworn statement from the candidates will be accepted. The granting of the scholarship will depend on the presentation of proof of the required academic qualifications.

WORK PLANS AND SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION

The future scholarship holder will be integrated into and work in one of the CITUA research lines; in addition to the research activity, he/she will also help to organise and participate in scientific events, help in the publication of research results and work on an original PhD thesis.