Research Fellowship - Digi4RailBridges Project

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

Offer Description

A call is open for the award of 1 (one) Research Fellowship for a Master's/Bachelor's graduate within the scope of the Digi4RailBridges Project - COMPETE2030-FEDER-00827300 - 16985, co-financed by the Innovation and Digital Transition Thematic Programme (COMPETE2030) through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Portugal 2030, under the following conditions:

1. SCIENTIFIC FIELD
Civil Engineering

2. ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS
Candidates may apply to this call provided that they cumulatively meet the following requirements:

Requirement 1: hold a Master's/Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering.
Note 1: If the qualification was awarded by a foreign higher education institution, it must comply with the provisions of Decree-Law No. 66/2018 of 16 August, and any formalities established therein must be completed by the time of appointment.
Note 2: Preference will be given to candidates holding a Master's degree, and candidates holding a Bachelor's degree will only be contracted if no Master's candidates apply, or, if they do apply, if the latter do not meet the admission requirements of the call.
Requirement 2: be enrolled in a Doctoral Programme in Civil Engineering (for Master's candidates) or in a Master's degree programme in Civil Engineering (for Bachelor's candidates).
Requirement 3: have proven experience in R&D activities, namely in the development and implementation of artificial intelligence techniques for the identification and assessment of structural damage in civil engineering assets, using data from images and sensors, as well as in the application of BIM methodology in the specific context of railway bridges.

3. DURATION
The fellowship will have a duration of 6 months, with an expected start date of 1 December 2026, and may be renewed in accordance with the project's objectives and budget, up to the limit established by law, on an exclusive basis, in accordance with the regulations governing the advanced training of human resources of the Foundation for Science and Technology and ISEP or until the end of the project, whichever occurs first.

4. ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION / WORK PLAN
The work is part of the Digi4RailBridges project, which aims to develop an innovative digital platform for assessing the condition of railway bridges based on data acquired from structural monitoring systems and data from computer vision systems. In particular, the work plan includes the following activities:

• Support the establishment of a procedure for remote inspection and reality capture of railway bridges using drones equipped with cameras and LiDAR.
• Develop computer vision strategies based on images from remote inspections for the automatic classification of multiple anomalies.
• Develop a methodology for fusing indicators extracted from time series and images and adopt an efficient classification of the structural condition state.
• Support the development of an integrated digital platform in a dedicated environment capable of assisting the railway maintenance manager in assessing the condition state of railway bridges.
• Implement and validate the proposed digital platform in the case of a railway bridge on the Northern Line.

5. APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS
Statute of the Research Fellow, approved by Law No. 40/2004 of 18 August; Regulations for Research Fellowships of the Foundation for Science and Technology, approved by Regulation No. 950/2019, published in the 2nd series, Part C, of the Diário da República of 16 December 2019; ISEP Research Fellowship Regulations; Decree-Law No. 66/2018, published in Diário da República No. 157/2018, Series I, of 16 August, approving the legal framework for the recognition of academic degrees and higher education diplomas awarded by foreign higher education institutions; and Decree-Law No. 60/2018 of 3 August, which simplifies the administrative procedures required for the pursuit of research and development activities, all in their current versions.

6. SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION AND WORKPLACE
The work will be carried out at ISEP, within the iBuilt research group, under the scientific supervision of Professor Diogo Rodrigo Ferreira Ribeiro and Dr Rafael de Araújo Cabral.

7. MONTHLY MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE
Monthly fellowship amount: €1,359.64 (for a Master's candidate) or €1,090.98 (for a Bachelor's candidate), paid by bank transfer (according to the monthly maintenance allowance amounts applicable to FCT fellowships for 2026: https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM-2026.pdf), supported through PAD No. C73283.

8. SELECTION METHODS AND COMPOSITION OF THE PANEL
The selection methods to be used will be: curriculum assessment and interview, weighted at 60% and 40%, respectively, both graded on a scale from 0 to 20 points.
The curriculum assessment will be carried out considering the following factors, with the corresponding weightings:

• Academic qualifications – 35%
• Experience in research and development projects in the field of digital management of civil engineering assets – 35%
• Scientific publications in the fields of BIM and digital maintenance management of civil engineering assets – 30%

The interview will be assessed according to the following factors:

• Motivation for applying – 50%
• Perception of the relevance of the project's topic within the scope of Digital Construction and Railway Engineering – 50%

The panel responsible for the selection process will comprise:
Professor Diogo Rodrigo Ferreira Ribeiro (Chair)
Dr Rafael de Araújo Cabral (Member)
Dr Andreia Gomes Meixedo (Member)
and Professor Maria Do Rosário Santos Oliveira as alternate member (Alternate Member).

9. APPLICATION SUBMISSION PROCEDURE
Applications must be submitted exclusively by email to drr@isep.ipp.pt, by sending the following documents:

• Curriculum Vitae;
• Motivation letter;
• Certificate of qualifications / document proving possession of the academic degree and diploma, together with proof of recognition where awarded by foreign higher education institutions, or document proving that recognition has been requested;
• Proof of enrolment in a degree-awarding study programme;
• Other documents considered relevant by the candidate.

To ensure that all documents can be read, the preferred file format is Portable Document Format (.pdf).

10. APPLICATION SUBMISSION DEADLINE
Applications will be accepted from 30 September to 14 October 2026.

11. METHOD OF PUBLICATION/NOTIFICATION OF RESULTS
The assessment results will be communicated by email to the email address provided in the application.

12. COMPLAINT AND APPEAL PROCEDURES
If the outcome is unfavourable, candidates have a period of 10 working days, following publication of the application assessment results, to submit comments, should they wish to do so, in the context of the prior hearing of interested parties, pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Code. An administrative appeal against the final decision referred to above may be lodged with the Director of ISEP within 15 working days of its notification.

13. SELECTION RESERVE
ISEP reserves the right to call upon non-selected candidates, in ranking order, for the recruitment of a fellow within the same project in the event that the initially selected candidate withdraws.

Where to apply

E-mail: drr@isep.ipp.pt

Requirements

• Research Field: Engineering » Civil engineering — Education Level: Bachelor Degree or equivalent
• Research Field: Engineering » Civil engineering — Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Additional Information

Work Location(s)

• Number of offers available: 1
• Company/Institute: Instituto Superior de Engenharia
• Country: Portugal
• State/Province: Porto
• City: Porto
• Postal Code: 4249-015
• Street: Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida 431

Contact

• State/Province: Porto
• City: Porto
• Website: https://www.isep.ipp.pt
• Street: Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida 431
• Postal Code: 4249-015
• E-Mail: info-projetos@isep.ipp.pt
• E-Mail: info-sp@isep.ipp.pt