1 Research Grant Announcement (M/F) in Porto

Job Information

Organisation/Company: FEUP
Department: Human Resources Division
Research Field: Engineering » Chemical engineering
Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)
Positions: Master Positions
Application Deadline: 3 Nov 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon)
Country: Portugal
Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Full-time
Hours Per Week: 35
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

1 Research Grant Announcement (M/F)

Call open for applications for a research grant within the framework of activities on Cyclic Adsorption/Reaction Processes, financed by the Faculty of Engineering of University of Porto, under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Chemical Engineering

Admission requirements: Candidates who cumulatively meet the following two requirements may apply for this grant:

Requirement 1:

Be a student enrolled in a doctoral program in the area of Chemical Engineering, a requirement to be duly proven at the time of signing the contract.

Holder of an academic degree enrolled in a non-academic degree course integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution, developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units, a requirement to be duly proven at the time of signing the contract.

and

Requirement 2:

Hold a master’s degree in Chemical Engineering or related field.

If the degree has been awarded by a foreign higher education institution, it must comply with the provisions of the Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of august 16th, and any formalities established there must be fulfilled until the time of signing the contract.

Activity Outline: Development of a real-time optimization algorithm for a simulated moving bed system to correct possible mismatches between the mathematical model and the real process. The approach to be developed is based on Extremum Seeking Control (ESC), a form of adaptive optimization that consists of adding perturbations to the process inputs to estimate the gradients with respect to the decision variables.

Legislation and regulations: Law Nº. 40/2004, of 18th August, in its current wording (Statutes of Scientific Research Fellow) and Regulation of Research Grants of University of Porto.

Work place: The work will be developed at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), under the scientific supervision of Professor Diogo Filipe Mateus Rodrigues and Professor Alexandre Filipe Porfírio Ferreira.

Grant duration: Initial duration of 3 months, with the predicted starting date in November 2026, on an exclusive basis eventually renewable but never exceeding the project duration.

If the contracting procedures do not allow the scholarship to have a minimum duration of 3 consecutive months, in accordance with paragraph 2 of article 10 of the Research Regulation of Research Grants of University of Porto, the grant will not be awarded.

The eventual renewal of the scholarship will be carried out as determined in article 10 of the Regulation of Research Grants of University of Porto.

Stipend: The grant stipend varies between 1.359,64 €, according to the table of values of the Regulation of Research Grants of University of Porto, and 1.609,64 €, depending on the profile and previous experience of the candidate in the project area.

The payment will be made by bank transfer.

Selection procedure:

The curriculum of the candidates (60%) will be evaluated based on the merit of the candidate and the following factors will be assessed:

a) Academic training (Master in Chemical Engineering – 10 points; related masters – 2 points; others masters – 0 points)

b) Academic Training Classification: average of 17 to 20 – 5 points; average of 14 to 16 – 2 points; others – 0 points;

c) Research Experience in the area of process optimization– 5 points; in related areas – 2 points; other areas – 0 point

The curriculum of each candidate will be evaluated in a 1-20 points scale. Candidates with less than 15 points in the curricular evaluation will not be invited for the interview.

In the interview (40%) topics related with the work plan, experience and the candidate’s CV will be discussed with the invited candidates.

If none of the candidates achieves a minimum final score of 16 points, the scholarship will not be awarded.

Selection Jury:

President: Professor Diogo Filipe Mateus Rodrigues

Effective member: Professor Alexandre Filipe Porfírio Ferreira

Effective member: Professor Ana Mafalda Almeida Peixoto Ribeiro

Supplementary member: Doctor Ricardo Jorge Nogueira dos Santos

Supplementary member: Doctor Vítor Jorge Pais Vilar

Advertisement of final decision: The results of the evaluation will be released to the candidates by email to the email address indicated in the application process.

Deadline for applications and form of presentation of the applications:

The call is open from 21/10/2026 a 03-11-2026 (until 23:59 local time).

Applications must be submitted via the online application system available at https://www.apply.up.pt (Ref. ESC_SMB -BOLS-FEUP-26-62) by 03/11/2026, accompanied by the following documents:

Motivation letter, Copy of certificates evidencing academic degree (referring the classification of each separated or integrated degree), detailed Curriculum Vitae; and other documents considered relevant by the applicant.

In order to assure that all documents can be read, the preferred saving format is the Portable Document Format (.pdf).

Where to apply

Website: https://www.apply.up.pt

Requirements

Research Field: Engineering » Chemical engineering

Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Full announcement also available at FEUP - FEUP| 1 Bolsa de investigação |ESC_SMB -BOLS-FEUP-26-62