Job Information
- Organisation/Company: ISPA, CRL
- Department: William James Center for Research
- Research Field: Psychological sciences » Psychology
- Researcher Profile: Recognised Researcher (R2)
- Positions: Master Positions
- Application Deadline: 22 Sep 2026 - 23:00 (Europe/Lisbon)
- Country: Portugal
- Type of Contract: Not Applicable
- Job Status: Not Applicable
- Offer Starting Date: 9 Sep 2026
- Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?: Not funded by a EU programme
Offer Description
Call for Applications for 1 Research Fellowship (BI) for Student
Summary of the Call
A call for applications is open for the award of 1 (one) Research Fellowship (BI), reference 2Faces/020/BI/2026, within the framework of the project reference 2023.17826.ICDT, entitled “Shyness versus Unsociability: Opposing Risk Subtypes of Social Withdrawal or Two Birds of a Feather?”, funded by National Funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P., under the 2023 Call for IC&DT Projects in All Scientific Domains. The fellowship will be carried out at the William James Center for Research, ISPA – University Institute.
1. Scientific Field
Psychology
2. Funding
National Funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P., under the 2023 Call for IC&DT Projects in All Scientific Domains.
3. Candidate Profile
Mandatory requirements:
- The candidate must hold a Master's degree in Psychology or a related scientific field;
- At the time of contracting, the candidate must be enrolled in a non-degree programme or a PhD programme, as defined in this call.
Preferred qualifications:
- Previous experience in data collection in laboratory settings;
- Experience in quantitative data analysis (e.g., SPSS, JASP, R, or similar software);
- Interest in pursuing doctoral studies, upon completion of the project, in scientific areas related to the project;
- Proficiency in Portuguese and English, both spoken and written.
4. Mandatory Requirements for Admission to the Call
For the purpose of admission to this call, candidates must submit the following documents, under penalty of exclusion:
- A copy of the Master's degree certificate/diploma in Psychology or a related scientific field, stating the final grade obtained;
- Proof of enrolment in a non-degree programme or PhD programme or, alternatively, a declaration of honour in which the candidate declares that they meet the requirements for enrolment and undertakes to submit the relevant proof by the time of contracting the fellowship;
- A detailed Curriculum Vitae;
- A motivation letter.
Only candidates who provide proof of holding a Master's degree by the application deadline will be admitted.
In the case of an academic degree awarded by a foreign higher education institution, candidates must submit proof of recognition of the academic degree by a Portuguese higher education institution, as well as proof of the conversion of the corresponding final grade to the Portuguese grading scale, in accordance with the applicable legislation. If the candidate has already applied for recognition but is still awaiting its issuance, they may alternatively submit a declaration of honour stating that recognition has been requested and that the corresponding proof will be submitted by the time of contracting, without prejudice to any other applicable legal requirements.
If, at the time of application, the candidate is not enrolled in, or does not have formal proof of enrolment in, a non-degree programme or PhD programme, they may submit a declaration of honour stating that they are enrolled, or that they meet the requirements for enrolment, undertaking to submit the relevant proof by the time of contracting the fellowship, without prejudice to the provisions of this call and the applicable regulations.
Failure to submit the documents required under this call, as well as the submission of incomplete, incorrect, or illegible documents, will result in the exclusion of the application.
The submission of false statements constitutes grounds for exclusion from the application process, without prejudice to the adoption of other sanctions as provided by law.
5. Requirements for Entering into the Research Fellowship Agreement
The selected candidate must, by the date of signing the agreement, provide proof of holding a Master's degree in Psychology or a related scientific field and of enrolment in a non-degree programme or PhD programme, as well as compliance with all other requirements applicable to the type of fellowship covered by this call.
In the case of diplomas issued by foreign higher education institutions, and if the candidate has submitted a declaration of honour regarding recognition of the academic degree, they must provide, by the date of signing the agreement, proof of recognition of the degree in Portugal and, where applicable, proof of conversion of the final grade to the Portuguese grading scale.
For the purpose of entering into the research fellowship agreement, the candidate must also submit a personal data form, Ciência ID, a copy of an identification document, and a declaration of honour regarding compliance with the applicable research fellowship regulations.
The submission of false statements constitutes grounds for cancellation of the application or fellowship, without prejudice to the adoption of other sanctions as provided by law.
6. Work Plan
The project falls within the scope of the research activities carried out by the Social Development Group of the William James Center for Research.
The fellowship holder's work plan includes contacting schools, scheduling sessions and collecting data in laboratory settings, contributing to the statistical analysis of the data collected, organising databases, conducting literature reviews, and carrying out other project support activities.
7. Applicable Legislation and Regulations
Law No. 40/2004 of 18 August, as amended by Decree-Law No. 123/2019 of 28 August (Statute of the Scientific Research Fellowship Holder – EBI); Regulation No. 950/2019 of 29 November, published in Diário da República No. 241, 2nd Series, of 16 December (Regulations for Research Fellowships of the Foundation for Science and Technology currently in force – RBI); Decree-Law No. 66/2018 of 16 August (Legal Framework for the Recognition of Academic Degrees and Higher Education Diplomas Awarded by Foreign Higher Education Institutions); Regulations for Scientific Research Fellowships of ISPA – University Institute; and other applicable regulations.
8. Place of Work and Scientific Supervision
The research fellowship agreement will be entered into with ISPA, CRL (contracting entity). The work will be carried out at the William James Center for Research (host institution), at ISPA – University Institute, and, where necessary, at other locations required for the implementation of the work plan.
Scientific supervision will be provided by the Principal Investigator of the project, Professor Antonio José dos Santos.
9. Duration of the Fellowship
The fellowship will have an initial duration of 12 months, potentially renewable for periods up to the maximum duration of the project, subject to the project's budget and limited by the maximum period established for this type of fellowship under Article 6, paragraphs 4 and 5, of the Research Fellowship Regulations of the Foundation for Science and Technology.
The fellowship is expected to commence in October 2026.
10. Fellowship Amount and Other Components
The fellowship amount, for duties performed on an exclusive dedication basis, is €1,359.64, in accordance with the table of fellowship amounts awarded directly by FCT, I.P. in Portugal (https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM-2026.pdf). This amount is subject to any applicable updates and will be paid monthly by bank transfer to the fellowship holder.
The fellowship holder will be covered by personal accident insurance and, if not covered by any social protection scheme, may exercise their right to social security by joining the voluntary social insurance scheme (Decree-Law No. 40/89 of 1 February; Article 10 of the EBI).
11. Submission of Applications
The call for applications is open from 11st September 2026 to 24th September 2026, at 11:00 p.m. (Lisbon time). Only applications submitted and received within the established deadline will be considered.
Applications must be formally submitted by email to candidaturas.investigadores@ispa.pt, with a copy to wjrc@ispa.pt, indicating the call reference 2Faces/020/BI/2026 in the “Subject” field.
The application must be accompanied by the following documents (as indicated in Section 4):
- Master's degree certificate in Psychology or a related scientific field, stating the final grade obtained;
- Proof of enrolment in a non-degree programme or PhD programme or, alternatively, a declaration of honour in which the candidate declares that they meet the requirements for enrolment and undertakes to submit the relevant proof by the time of contracting the fellowship;
- Detailed Curriculum Vitae;
- Motivation letter.
All documents must be submitted in PDF format.
Candidates may be excluded from the selection process if they submit their application incorrectly or fail to provide evidence of meeting the requirements set out in this call.
12. Evaluation and Selection Criteria
The evaluation and selection process will be based on an assessment of the candidate's merit through curricular evaluation and assessment of the motivation letter.
The candidate's merit will be assessed according to the following criteria, each with the weighting indicated below:
Criterion A: Academic qualifications, based on the final grades stated in the Bachelor's and Master's degree certificates/diplomas (arithmetic mean), or Integrated Master's degree (20%);
Criterion B: Previous experience in research activities in the project's scientific field and its relevance to the work plan, namely experience in school and laboratory settings (65%);
Criterion C: Motivation and interest in the field, based on the candidate's motivation letter (15%).
Applications (and the corresponding evaluation criteria) will be assessed, and candidates will be ranked, on a scale from 0.00 to 20.00 points. The final score will be calculated according to the following formula:
Stage 1 = (Criterion A × 20%) + (Criterion B × 65%) + (Criterion C × 15%)
12.1. Ranking and Selection
Candidates will be ranked in descending order according to their final score.
The evaluation panel reserves the right not to award the fellowship if it considers that none of the candidates has an appropriate profile for the performance of the duties involved.
12.2. Tie-Breaking
In the event of a tie, candidates will be ranked based on the scores obtained in the evaluation criteria, according to the following order of precedence:
Criterion B, Criterion C, Criterion A.
If the tie persists, the evaluation panel may reach a decision by majority vote.
13. Composition of the Evaluation Panel
The evaluation panel will be composed of:
Chair: Professor António J. Santos, Full Professor, integrated member of the William James Center for Research, ISPA – University Institute;
Full Member: Professor Maryse Guedes, Assistant Professor, integrated member of the William James Center for Research, ISPA – University Institute;
Full Member: Professor Carla Fernandes, Assistant Professor, integrated member of the William James Center for Research, ISPA – University Institute;
Alternate Member: Professor Manuela Veríssimo, Full Professor, integrated member of the William James Center for Research, ISPA – University Institute;
Alternate Member: Professor Marilia Fernandes, Assistant Professor, integrated member of the William James Center for Research, ISPA – University Institute.
14. Notification of Results
All candidates will be notified of the minutes concerning the application evaluation process by email, to the address provided for this purpose, with a delivery receipt.
Notifications will be made by email, pursuant to Article 112(1)(c) and Article 113(5) of the Code of Administrative Procedure (CPA).
15. Deadlines and Procedures for Prior Hearing, Complaints and Appeals
Following notification of the provisional list of results, candidates will have a period of 10 working days to submit comments during the prior hearing procedure, pursuant to Article 121 et seq. of the Code of Administrative Procedure.
The final decision will be issued following consideration of the submissions made during the prior hearing procedure.
Once this decision has been notified, the selected candidate will have 10 working days to accept the awarded fellowship in writing. Unless a valid reason is invoked within the aforementioned period, failure to do so will be deemed to constitute a waiver or withdrawal from the fellowship.
The final decision may be challenged by means of a complaint within 15 working days, or an appeal to the highest executive body of the funding entity within 30 working days, both periods commencing from the date of notification of the decision.
If the selected candidate waives the fellowship or withdraws their intention to accept it, the evaluation panel may notify and award the fellowship to the candidate(s) in the subsequent position(s), where applicable and in accordance with the final ranking list.
16. Research Fellowship Agreement and Final Report Templates
The template for the research fellowship agreement, as well as the template for the final report to be prepared by the fellowship holder and the supervisor, together with the corresponding evaluation criteria, may be consulted in the Regulations for Scientific Research Fellowships of ISPA – University Institute (Annexes 2, 3, 4 and 5), available at:
https://intranet.ispa.pt/sites/default/files/users/531/rg102_bols_invest_cient_v4.0.pdf
17. Publication of the Call
This call will be published:
- On the EURAXESS platform, in Portuguese and English;
- On the ISPA website, in Portuguese and English;
- On ISPA's social media platforms.
18. Non-Discrimination and Equal Access Policy
ISPA actively promotes a policy of gender equality, diversity and inclusion, taking all necessary measures to prevent any form of discrimination.
Accordingly, the terms “candidate”, “researcher”, “PhD holder” and other similar terms used in this document are not intended to refer to the gender of individuals.
Pursuant to Decree-Law No. 29/2001 of 3 February, candidates with disabilities shall be given preference in the event of equal scores, and this preference shall take precedence over any other statutory preference.
Candidates must declare, in the application form and under a declaration of honour, their degree of disability, type of disability, and the means of communication/expression to be used during the selection process, in accordance with the aforementioned legislation.
19. Personal Data Protection
When submitting an application, the candidate provides the information and necessary consent for the processing of personal data, at the time of application and strictly for the purpose of collecting and incorporating such data into the database of the recruitment procedure, for the duration of the procedure, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The documents submitted as part of this recruitment procedure constitute administrative documents, and access to them shall therefore be fellowshiped in accordance with Law No. 26/2016 of 22 August, as currently amended.
Where to apply
E-mail: candidaturas.investigadores@ispa.pt
Requirements
- Research Field: Psychological sciences » Psychology
- Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent
- Languages: PORTUGUESE — Level: Excellent
- Languages: ENGLISH — Level: Excellent
Additional Information
Benefits
link edital português: Aviso-de-AberturaPT-BI_Mestre_FINAL.pdf
Work Location(s)
- Number of offers available: 1
- Company/Institute: Ispa
- Country: Portugal
- State/Province: Lisbon
- City: Lisboa
- Postal Code: 1149-041
- Street: Rua jardim do tabaco nº 34
Contact
- State/Province: Lisbon
- City: Lisbon
- Website: http://www.ispa.pt/
- Street: Rua Jardim do Tabaco, nº 34
- Postal Code: 1149-041
- E-Mail: candidaturas.investigadores@ispa.pt
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