Research Fellowship (BI) for a MSc student

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

NOTICE FOR 1 (one) Research Fellowship (BI) for a MSc student

Resume:

The tender is open for a Research Grant for R&D activities to be carried out by students enrolled in a master's program within the scope of the project COMPETE2030-, FEDER-00660100, LISBOA2030-FEDER-00660100, 2023.16608.ICDT”, “DOI: https://doi.org/10.54499/2023.16608.ICDT- The role of epigenetics in abiotic stress somatic memory in potato crop, taking place at no LEAF of Instituto Superior de Agronomia e ForGen Lab – BioISI da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, financed by Lisboa2030, Portugal2030 and the European Union, and by Nacional Funds through Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P, under the following conditions:

1. TYPE, DURATION OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS and EXPECTED BEGINNING PERIOD OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

The tender for applications is for the award of a Research Grant (BI) for R&D activities to be carried out by students enrolled in a master's program; the grant has an expected duration of 6 months—potentially renewable up to a maximum of 17 months—and is scheduled to begin in October 2026.

2. WORK PLAN AND WORKPLACE

The fellow will participate in task 2 of the project, which aims to investigate the role of epigenetics in abiotic stress memory in potato.

The plan includes:

• construction of gene silencing expression vectors;
• genetic transformation of plants.

The work will be developed at Genetics Lab of the Instituto Superior de Agronomy and at the BioISI – BioSystems & Integrative Sciences Institute, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa, under the scientific supervision of Professor Manuela Gomes da Silva and Vera Inácio, respectively.

3. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

Applications must be formalized, obligatorily, by sending an application letter, with the reference "(PoPrimers-Refª-BL-32-2026)", accompanied by the following documents: Curriculum Vitae, copy of certificate of qualifications and other supporting documents considered relevant.

Exceptionally, in duly justified situations, proof of enrolment in a cycle of studies or courses that do not lead to an academic degree may be delivered up to the date of the effective contracting;

If the selected candidate has a qualification awarded by a foreign higher education institution, this must be recognized by the Portuguese higher education institution by the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES, only in case of automatic recognition), under the terms of Decree-Law no. 341/2007, of 12 October, regulated by Notice no. 227/2017, of July 25 and updated by Decree-Law No. 66/2018, published in the Diário da República, 1st series, No. 157, of August 16, 2018. For getting more information about this, we suggest consulting the DGES portal (http://www.dges.gov.pt). It may be waived to present it during the application phase for the support in question, with this condition being verified only during the grant contracting phase.

The applications must be sent to Manuela Gomes da Silva e Vera Inácio via email: manuelasilva@isa.ulisboa.pt e vlinacio@ciencias.ulisboa.pt

The application will be open from August 28 to September 11, 2026.

4. SCHOLARSHIP RENEWAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Scholarships may be renewed for additional periods up to their maximum duration, provided that, at the renewal date, the conditions for their grant are verified, always depending on the request submitted, within 60 working days prior to the start date of the renewal, accompanied by the following documents: a) Detailed report of the work carried out, including the URL addresses of communications, publications and scientific creations resulting from the activity carried out, if any; b) Statement of the supervisor on the documents referred to in the preceding paragraph; c) Work plan for the renewal period. D) Document proving the renewal of enrollment in the cycle of studies required for granting the scholarship, in scholarships associated with cycles of studies or courses that do not confer an academic degree, except when this has already been concluded

5. SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

5.1 Required Education Level:

1. Admission requirements: Bachelor's degree in Biology, Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, or related fields.
2. Intended for initial R&D activities carried out by students enrolled in a master's program, aiming to initiate their scientific training;

5.2 Skills/Qualifications / Specific Requirements:

• Scientific area: Biological Sciences, Agricultural Sciences

Bachelor degree in Biology, Biochemistry, Biological Sciences, or related areas.

• With skills in: Prior experience in molecular biology (cloning, plasmid extraction, PCR) and plant genetic transformation
• Other requirements Preference will be given to candidates with:

a) Strong motivation for scientific research; b) Creativity, good communication skills; c) Fluency in English (spoken and written).

6. FUNDING AND SCHOLARSHIP COMPONENTS

The grant will be financed by, within the scope of the project COMPETE2030-FEDER-00660100, LISBOA2030-FEDER-00660100, 2023.16608.ICDT, DOI: https://doi.org/10.54499/2023.16608.ICDT - The role of epigenetics in abiotic stress somatic memory in potato crop.

The amount of the monthly allowance is 1.090,98 € plus the reimbursement of voluntary social insurance (applicable to scholarships lasting six months or more), according to the table of values of monthly allowances, set out in Annex I of Regulation No. 950/2019 (https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM-2026.pdf).

The payment will be made via bank transfer.

7. EVALUATION CRITERIA

Selection Procedure: Candidates will be assessed by a) Curriculum evaluation (academic background, communications at conferences, publications in ISI journals) – 50%; b) experience in the requested areas in 5.2 paragraphs 2 and 3. - 30%; and c) motivation letter - 20%. If considered necessary by the jury, an interview will be carried out with the top 2 (two) candidates. If an interview takes place, the sum of the evaluations obtained in evaluation criteria a) to c) will correspond to 70% of the final classification, and the interview to 30%.

Applicants whose application is scored with a final classification of less than 50 points are not eligible for granting a fellowship.

8. EVALUATION

Composition of the Assessment Committee:

Presidente – Professora Manuela Gomes da Silva

Effective members – Professor Célia Miguel and Doutora Vera Inácio

Alternate member – Professora José Graça

9. DISCLOSURE OF RESULTS

Form of advertising/notification of results: The final results of the evaluation will be publicized, through a list ordered, alphabetically, by final grade, posted in a visible and public place of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, with the candidate being approved notified via email.

10. TERMS AND PROCEDURES FOR PRIOR HEARING, CLAIM AND APPEAL

After communicating the provisional list of the evaluation results, the candidates with a project of decision unfavorable to the granting of the scholarship, have a period of 10 working days to, if they wish, do their statements in the preliminary hearing of interested parties, pursuant to articles 121 and following of the Code of Administrative Procedure. The final decision will be rendered after the analysis of the statements presented during a prior hearing of interested parties.

In the event that a scholarship holder terminates his scholarship in advance, the evaluation of the contest in question may be used to contract a new scholarship with the candidate who was in the position immediately after. The recruitment reserve is valid for a period of 18 months from the date of approval of the final ranking list, pursuant to article 25 of Ordinance 233/2022, of 9 September.

11. SCHOLARSHIP AGREEMENT MODEL AND FINAL REPORTS

11.1 - The scholarship contract must include:

• a) The identification of the scholarship holder and the scientific advisor or coordinator;
• b) The identification of the host and financial entities;
• c) The applicable legislation, Regulation No. 950/2019;
• d) The plan of activities to be developed by the scholarship holder;
• e) Indication of the duration and start date of the grant.

11.2 - The scholarship contract will be made in writing and a copy will be sent to the Foundation for Science and Technology, IP for inclusion in the national register of scholarship holders.

11.3 - The Scholarship Holder Status is automatically granted with the signing of the contract, always referring to the start date of the scholarship.

11.4 - The scholarship holder must submit to ISA, within 60 working days after the end of the scholarship, in electronic format, a final report of their activities containing the activities developed and results obtained, including communications, publications and scientific creations resulting from the developed activity, and respective URL addresses, accompanied by the opinion of the supervisors.

12. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY

No candidate may be privileged, benefited, harmed or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty due, in particular, to ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological convictions and union membership.

13. APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS

Statute of the Scientific Research Fellow, approved by Law no. 40/2004, published in Diário da República no. 194/2004, Series I-A, 2004‐08‐18, in the wording given by Decree-Law no. 123/2019, of August 28 and FCT Scholarship Regulation - Regulation No. 950/2019, of December 16, 2019 (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/regulamentos.phtml.pt).

Authorized on August 25, 2026 by President of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Professor António Guerreiro de Brito.

Where to apply

E-mail: manuelasilva@isa.ulisboa.pt

Requirements

Research Field: Biological sciences » Biology

Education Level: Bachelor Degree or equivalent

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available: 1

Company/Institute: Instituto Superior de agronomia

Country: Portugal

Contact

State/Province: Lisboa

City: Lisboa

Website: https://www.isa.ulisboa.pt/recrutamento/bolsa-de-investigacao-para-atividades-de-id-2

https://www.isa.ulisboa.pt

Street: Tapada da Ajuda

Postal Code: 1349-017 Lisboa

E-Mail: gp@isa.ulisboa.pt