Bachelor grant

Offer Description

CEBAL- Centro de Biotecnologia Agrícola e Agro-Alimentar do Alentejo opens a competition for the hiring of a graduate, with the reference CBL.001/2026/SALTO, within the scope of the project entitled “SALTO- Soluções para o sector oleícola do ALentenTejo, um caminho para os Objetivos do Desenvolvimento Sustentável”, with the reference ALT2030-FEDER-02679700, co-financed by the Alentejo 2030 programme under notice ALT2030-2024-60 - SACCCT - Scientific and technological research - R&D projects.

Objectives and Work Plan

The work plan is part of the activities of the SALTO Project. The plan aims to study the tolerance of anaerobic bacteria to inhibitory compounds present in hydrolysates derived from biomass pre-treatment. Tolerance will be monitored through growth by measuring absorbance at 600 nm and the assessment of inhibitor degradation by HPLC. The plan includes the construction and optimisation of MFC cells and the evaluation of electricity generation and inhibitor degradation.

The grant holder will participate in the tasks to be carried out within the scope of the SALTO project, namely:

• Prepare media and sterilise in an autoclave; work under aseptic conditions;
• Know how to work under anaerobic conditions;
• Operate a spectrophotometer and be able to follow microbial growth kinetics;
• Work with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), prepare standard curves, analyse, interpret, and use HPLC for identifying medium concentrations;
• Construct microbial fuel cells (MFCs);
• Optimise MFC conditions with various anaerobic bacteria;
• Know how to use chronoamperometry, cyclic voltammetry (CV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS);
• Utilise statistical methods for data analysis;
• Have excellent proficiency in Excel;
• Support the development of scientific outreach materials;
• Prepare reports and dissemination materials for results.

Where to apply

E-mail: maria.fernandes@cebal.pt

Requirements

Research Field: Chemistry

Education Level: Bachelor Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree
• Bachelor's in Chemistry.
• Proven experience in the growth of anaerobic organisms and experience working with electrochemical cells, microbial fuel cells (MFC). Candidates who do not meet this requirement will be excluded.
• Registration in progress conferring an academic degree integrated into 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 hiring;
• Not to exceed, with the signing of the scholarship contract in question, a cumulative period of one year in this type of scholarship, whether consecutive or interpolated;
• Proficiency in Portuguese (spoken and written) and good knowledge of English;

Specific Requirements

• Proficiency in programming languages applied to data science (e.g., R, Python, and others) for processing and statistical analysis;
• Practical experience in processing, analysing, interpreting, and visualising data in IES and cyclic voltammetry.
• Good oral and written communication skills, analysis, and organisation;
• Proactivity, dynamism, and ease of integration into multidisciplinary teams (researchers, technicians, and external partners);
• Given equal merit, preference will be given to candidates residing in the Alentejo region.

Languages: PORTUGUESE

Level: Good

Languages: ENGLISH

Level: Excellent

Research Field: Chemistry

Years of Research Experience: 1 - 4

Additional Information

Benefits

The monthly grant amount is €1090.98, according to the value table of grants awarded directly by FCT, I. P., in the country. The scholarship holder will benefit from accident-at-work insurance and, if not covered by any social protection scheme, may exercise the right to social security by joining the voluntary social security scheme (SSV), under the terms of the Code of Contributory Regimes of the Social Security System. The scholarship is paid monthly and is transferred via bank transfer.

Eligibility criteria

The candidates must meet the eligibility conditions set out in Article 9 of the FCT, I. P. Research Grant Regulations (Regulation No. 950/2019).

Selection process

The selection criteria will be as follows, with the respective valuation:

• Academic qualifications (30%);
• Professional experience (30%);
• Suitability of professional experience to the functions to be performed (40%)

The jury may consider it necessary to conduct individual interviews with the top-ranked candidates. In this context, the selection criteria and their respective evaluation will be as follows:

• Academic qualifications (20%);
• Professional experience (30%);
• Suitability of professional experience to the functions to be performed (40%);
• Individual interview (10%)

The jury will not be able to award the contract if the candidates do not demonstrate skills and professional experience appropriate to the objectives and the work plan to be developed.

Additional comments

Applications must be formalised, necessarily indicating REF: CBL.001/2026/SALTO, by sending an application letter accompanied by the following documents:

• Motivation letter;
• Curriculum vitae;
• Copy(ies) of the certificate(s) of Bachelor's qualifications indicating the completion grade, or the respective recognition by a Portuguese Institution in accordance with Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of 16 August, when this has been awarded by a foreign higher education institution.
• Certificate or diploma of communicative competence in Portuguese from the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, of the Council of Europe, proving proficiency in spoken and written Portuguese at the common reference level B1, or higher, for foreign nationals, except those from Portuguese Official Language Countries.

All documents must be included in a single PDF document and sent to Dr. Maria da Conceição Fernandes via email at maria.fernandes@cebal.pt

Website for additional job details: https://www.cebal.pt/index.php/en/component/content/article/14-posicoes/7-posicoes-cebal

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available: 1

Company/Institute: Centro de Biotecnologia Agricola e Agro-Alimentar do Alentejo

Country: Portugal

State/Province: Baixo Alentejo

City: Beja

Postal Code: 7801-908

Street: Rua Pedro Soares, s.n. - Campus IPBeja / ESAB

Contact

State/Province: Beja

City: Beja

Website: https://www.cebal.pt/index.php/en/component/content/article/14-posicoes/7-posicoes-cebal

Street: Rua Pedro Soares, Campus do IPBeja

Postal Code: 7801-908 BEJA

E-Mail: maria.fernandes@cebal.pt

Phone: 284314399