Job Information
- Organisation/Company: LNEC, I.P.
- Department: Human Resources and Facilities Services
- Research Field: Engineering
- Researcher Profile: Established Researcher (R3)
- Positions: Other Positions
- Application Deadline: 23 Oct 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon)
- Country: Portugal
- Type of Contract: Temporary
- Job Status: Full-time
- Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme
Offer Description
ASSISTANT RESEARCHER
1 – Offer description
In accordance with:
- articles 10 and 11 of Decree-Law no. 57/2016 amended by Law no. 57/2017, and
- the deliberation of the Board of Directors of LNEC, I.P., dated 2026-08-21.
An external competition of international selection is launched for the recruitment of an assistant researcher to carry out scientific research, technological development, management and communication of science and technology activities, in the scientific area of Structures.
2 – Financing source
Own revenues from projects, programs and services provided within the scope of activities assigned to the Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics Unit.
3 – Nature of the competition
The competition consists of the assessment of the candidates’ curriculum vitae and scientific work.
4 – Functional content
The assistant researcher shall be responsible for carrying out, on a regular basis, apart from the research and development activities established in article 5 (1) of Decree-Law no. 124/99, other scientific and technical activities integrated in the competences of this National Laboratory,
The researcher will be expected to conduct and lead the following tasks:
- Seismic performance assessment of structures.
- Seismic vulnerability assessment and retrofitting evaluation.
- Numerical modelling of structures in the scope of consulting services and research.
- Modelling of structures experimentally tested at LNEC and validation of results.
- Support to shaking table tests and field test campaigns.
- Support to seismic risk studies.
- Preparedness and response to seismic events.
- Seismic risk communication.
The researcher should be able to lead advanced studies on seismic vulnerability and risk assessment of important structural systems (e.g. buildings and other infrastructures) using performance-based methodologies, thus contributing to the specialized support to public and private entities in the areas of risk assessment and asset management.
5 – Researcher profiles
Assistant Researcher (R3)
6 – Scientific area
Structures
7 – Type of contract / Job status
Fixed-term employment contract in public functions, for a 3-year term, renewable for successive periods of one year up to a maximum of 6 (six) years.
8 – Application deadline
30 working days after publication in Diário da República (Official Gazette).
9 – How to apply
Completion of the application form available in the page Recrutamento, on LNEC's website, with clear indication of the reference of the competition/scientific field of application and enclosing the following documents:
- Curriculum vitae
- Copy of documents supporting the academic and professional qualifications
- Originals or copies of all publications written by the candidate or produced in joint-authorship, mentioned in the curriculum vitae, in digital format (pdf files); should the presentation of these documents be impossible in this format, copies in paper will be accepted.
Candidates who have obtained a doctorate degree from foreign universities must also present documentary evidence of the recognition of that degree by a Portuguese university, in accordance with Decree-Law no. 66/2018, 16 August, and Ordinance no. 33/2019, 25 January, as amended and republished in the annex to Ordinance no. 43/2020, 14 February.
The candidates from LNEC's staff are exempted from producing the documents they claim to be and are indeed included in their personal file.
The applications can be submitted by:
- Registered letter, with acknowledgement of receipt, bearing the following information on the outside "Concurso para recrutamento de investigador(a) auxiliar na área científica de Estruturas (Engenharia Sísmica) – Núcleo de Engenharia Sísmica e Dinâmica de Estruturas", addressed to LNEC, I.P., Avenida do Brasil, n.º 101, 1700-066 Lisboa, the date of delivery considered for the purpose of compliance with the stipulated time limit shall be the date of registration
- Direct delivery to the Setor de Arquivo e Expediente Geral of LNEC, at the same address, from 09:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and between 02:00 p.m. and 05:30 p.m. on working days
- Electronic mail to recrutamento@lnec.pt until the end of the stipulated time limit.
HIRING INFO & WORKPLACE
10 – Organization / Working location
Workplace: LNEC – National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, I.P.
Address: Avenida do Brasil, 101 – 1700-066 Lisboa
Country: Portugal
Website: https://www.lnec.pt
Email: recrutamento@lnec.pt
The scientific research, technological development, management and communication of science and technology activities shall be carried out at the Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics Unit of the Structures Department, without prejudice to the possibility of carrying out activities in other units and performing temporary missions in Portugal or abroad.
REQUIREMENTS
11 – Candidates’ profile
General requirements
Eligible candidates are all national, foreign or stateless people, holding a doctorate degree in the scientific field of the competition, or also, holders of a doctorate degree in a different scientific field, but having a relevant scientific curriculum in those fields.
Candidates must be fluent in Portuguese.
Preferential conditions
The candidates should be able to lead studies on Structural Dynamics, Seismic Vulnerability and Risk Assessment, as well as on Structural Retrofitting.
Experience in and capacity for a proficient use of finite element numerical tools and other structural analysis software are fundamental to simulate the structural response under various situations.
Programming skills are equally important as the researcher should be able to develop analytical models to simulate structural response under earthquakes and multi-hazard risks, as well as to develop numerical tools in the scope of risk assessment both at local and at macro scales.
Finally, an experimental analysis and signal processing background is also essential to carry out experimental campaigns both on site and at LNEC’s shaking table laboratory, and to analyse and interpret the results obtained in such testing activities. Knowledge of experimental instrumentation, data acquisition and processing, statistical analysis, and signal processing is fundamental.
ADDITIONAL INFO
12 – Benefits
The monthly remuneration is the one corresponding to the salary position between 53 and 54 of the single salary scale, in the amount of € 3 576.56 or de € 2 384.37, depending on whether the functions are performed on an exclusive or full-time basis.
The work conditions and social benefits are the ones generally in force for Public Servants working under a fixed-term contract in public functions.
13 – Eligibility criteria
Candidates failing to formalise properly their application or to produce proof of the established requirements shall be excluded from this competition procedure. In case of doubt, the selection board may require any candidate to produce evidence of her/his statements.
The selection board may require the candidate to provide any professional or qualification information considered as relevant.
False declarations made by the candidates are punishable according to the Law.
The list of excluded and admitted candidates, as well as the list containing the final scores shall be published on LNEC’s website, Recruitment page, all candidates being dully notified by electronic mail.
Deadlines and procedures for preliminary hearing, claims and appeals once the provisional ranked list of the evaluation results has been communicated, applicants who have an unfavourable provisional decision may use their right to dispute it within 10 working days, according to Article 121 of the Administrative Procedure Code. Final decision of the selection board shall be rendered within 90 working days, as from the deadline of application.
14 – Selection board
President
Principal Researcher Laura Maria Mello Saraiva Caldeira, President of the Board of Directors of LNEC
Members:
Principal Researcher, Luís Miguel Pina de Oliveira Santos, DE, LNEC
Senior Researcher, António Santos Carvalho Cabral Araújo Correia, DE, LNEC
15 – Selection process and criteria
1. The selection of candidates shall be based on the relevance, quality and up-to-datedness of the items listed below. The criteria for appraisal and weighing of the curriculum vitae and scientific work of the candidates in the scientific field of this competition shall be defined by unanimous decision.
- The quality of the scientific and technical work (STW) based on dully documented publications, particularly MSc, doctoral or equivalent dissertations, articles published in scientific journals, proceedings of congresses or other scientific meetings, books or chapters of books, as well as reports;
- Professional experience (PE) in the scientific field of this competition, particularly those presented in number 11 as general requirements and preferential conditions;
- Contribution to scientific supervision activities and training actions (SS&TA) and to dissemination of knowledge (teaching activities, organisation of lectures and conferences);
- Professional training (PT) based on the attendance to courses and seminars;
- Participation in science and technological management activities and delivery of services to the community (PST&DSC).
The final score (FS) will be obtained from the following expression:
FS = 0.45 STW + 0.30 PE + 0.15 SS&TA + 0.05 PT + 0.05 PST&DSC,
where the abbreviations STW, PE, SS&TA, PT, PST&DSC are the classifications of the indicated parameters.
The classification STW corresponds to the following ratings:
- 19 to 20 – Excellent;
- 17 to 18 – Very good;
- 14 to 16 – Good;
- 10 to 13 – Satisfactory;
- 0 to 9 – Unsatisfactory.
The classifications PE, SS&TA, PT, PST&DSC correspond to the following ratings:
- 19 to 20 – Very relevant;
- 14 to 18 – Relevant;
- 10 to 13 – Marginal;
- 0 to 9 – Insignificant.
2. The evaluation criteria will comply with the principles laid down in article 5 (4) of Decree-Law 57/2016, 29 August, namely:
a) explicitly mentioning the procedure adopted to evaluate the scientific and curricular path of the candidates;
b) not to adopt merely quantitative procedures based on indicators, on the count of publications, or on the calculation of their factors with cumulative impact;
c) assuming that the content of the scientific production is more relevant than the publication metrics or than the publishing body;
d) considering the intrinsic quality of the scientific content of the activity selected by the candidate, which must be subject to jury appraisal;
e) considering the disciplinary specificity.
3. The evaluation process may include an interview, if the selection board so decides, with a view to evaluating, in an interpersonal relationship, the personal and professional skills of the candidates by considering the objectives that preside over the launching of this competition, and it will comprise the following five components:
MAI – motivation for carrying out the predicted research activities and readiness to fully commit with the project for the estimated period;
CIEP – capacity of integration in a multidisciplinary team;
CLI – Knowledge of Portuguese and English languages (understanding technical documentation and oral fluency);
IAC – interest for science and technology activities within the scope of this competition;
CEO – ability to communicate orally ideas and concepts.
In face of the candidates’ answers to the questions, the following rating shall be attributed to each of the components above:
- 19 to 20 – Excellent;
- 17 to 18 – Very good;
- 14 to 16 – Good;
- 10 to 13 – Satisfactory;
- 0 to 9 – Unsatisfactory.
where:
Unsatisfactory – situation in which the candidate is unable to convey any idea about the considered factor;
Satisfactory – Situation in which the candidate is able to convey concrete and fairly organized ideas about the indicated factor;
Good – Situation in which the candidate is able to convey clear and well correlated ideas about the considered factor;
Very Good – Situation in which the candidate is able to convey clear, creative and very well correlated ideas, demonstrating a significant level of information and communication about the considered factor;
Excellent – Situation in which the candidate, not only clearly conveys his/her ideas, according to the above terms, also shows an excellent level of thinking, systematization, internalization and causality about the considered factor.
The formula to be applied to the selection interview will be as follows:
SI = 0.2 (MAI + CIEP + CLI + IAC + CEO)
The value of the final score (FS), should an interview take place, will be obtained from the following expression:
FS = 0.90 (0.45 STW + 0.30 PE + 0.15 SS&TA + 0.05 PT + 0.05 PAG&PSC) + 0.10 SI
4. In the event of an interview, failure to attend will result in the candidate's exclusion from this competition.
5. The jury has decided by unanimous approval that in the case of an equal score, preference shall be given to the candidate with the highest classification in the item STW.
6. The final score, as well as the classifications resulting from the evaluation of each item, shall be determined to one decimal point by symmetric rounding, in a 0 to 20.0 scale. The candidates with final score not less than 14.0 are approved in absolute merit and the candidates with final score below 14.0 are rejected. The ranking according to relative merit will be sorted in descending order of the final classification.
The lists of admitted and excluded candidates as well as the final score of the competition, after approval, shall be notified and published on LNEC’s website in the Recrutamento page.
Minutes of the selection jury meetings will be drawn up containing a summary of what has occurred during those meetings, including the votes by each member and respective justification, being available to the applicants at request.
The jury will make decisions based on the selected and publicized selection criteria using nominal voting and no abstentions shall be allowed.
When the application of the selection criteria has been concluded, the jury shall prepare a sorted list of approved candidates based on their respective score.
The final decision of the jury shall be approved by the Board of Directors of LNEC, which also decides on hiring.
16 – Additional comments
Applicable Law
- Decree-Law no. 57/2016, amended by Law no. 57/2017.
- Lei Geral do Trabalho em Funções Públicas (LTFP) (Labour Code in Public Functions) approved by Law no. 35/2014, dated 20 June, in its current version.
- Implementing Decree no. 11-A/2017, 29 December.
Equal opportunities policy
In compliance with paragraph h) of article 9 of the Portuguese Constitution, the Portuguese Public Administration actively promotes a policy of equal opportunities to both men and women in access to work and career advancement, scrupulously ensuring that any form of discrimination is avoided.
Disabled candidates
In accordance with article 3 (3) of Decree-Law no. 29/2007, dated 3 February, when with equal score, disabled candidates have a preference right, which prevails over any other legal preference.
The candidates must declare on oath, in the application form, the respective degree and type of disability, and must mention the means of communication/expression to be used in the selection process.
Publicising
This public notice has been prepared by the selection board of the competition. It has been sent for publication in Diário da República, and publicised in Bolsa de Emprego Público (www.bep.gov.pt), on LNEC’s website and on the internet portal, in the English language.
Where to apply
E-mail: recrutamento@lnec.pt
Requirements
- Research Field: Engineering
- Education Level: PhD or equivalent
Work Location(s)
- Number of offers available: 1
- Company/Institute: LNEC - Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil
- Country: Portugal
- City: Lisbon
- Postal Code: 1700-066 Lisboa
- Street: Avenida do Brasil, 101
Contact
- State/Province: Lisbon
- City: Lisbon
- Website: http://www.lnec.pt/pt/
- Street: Av. do Brasil, 101
- Postal Code: 1700-066
- E-Mail: recrutamento@lnec.pt
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