Research Fellowship (Rf)

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

Offer Description

1 - Title

RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP (RF)

2 - Offer description

As per the terms laid down in Regulamento de Bolsas de Investigação do LNEC (LNEC Regulation for Research Fellowships), approved by Law no. 40/2004, 18 August, as it stands, we announce the launching of a call for awarding a full-time (100%) research fellowship (RF), in the field of Structures.

3 – Financing source

LNEC own revenue

4 – Scientific area

Structures.

5 – Duration

The Grant will have a maximum duration of 1 year and six months.

6 – Activity Regime

All the work shall be developed on an exclusive dedication regime, as per the provisions laid down in the Statute of the Research Fellow, approved by Law no. 40/2004, 18 August, as it stands, and in LNEC Regulation for Fellowships, available on LNEC website.

7 - Work plan and objectives

The research fellow will provide support to research and innovation activities carried out at the Earthquake and Structural Dynamic Division of the Structures Department, namely the activities integrated in ongoing projects, of which the following projects are worth mentioning: Arisca.Ext - “Avaliação e Mitigação de Risco para Ações Extremas” and Prep2Shelter – “Prepare to Shelter - Strengthening Preparedness and Community Awareness for Natural Disaster Sheltering”.

These projects focus on the assessment of risks triggered by natural hazards; the development of planning methodologies for disaster situations; the analysis of lessons learned from previous events; as well as the development of a decision-support and planning tool. The approach will be tested on pilot areas in three different locations across Europe. One of these areas covers the municipality of Lisbon, where the focus will be on the safety of shelters against hazards, such as earthquakes and floods.

In particular, the scholarship holder will carry out the various activities under the supervision of the Prep2Shleter project coordinator and of its senior researcher, including:

• Preparation of meetings and workshops;
• Fieldwork and analysis of selected disaster case studies, for example, related to the sequence of extreme weather events that affected the central region of Portugal, in early 2026;
• Development of a multicriteria methodology for disaster shelter planning;
• Support to the development and operation of an international stakeholder network in the field of Disaster Risk Management (DRM);
• Collection of data from multiple sources for integration into a multilayered Geographic Information System (GIS) application for risk assessment;
• Research on recent models for simulating displaced communities and temporary shelter needs resulting from disasters;
• Simulation of several major earthquake scenarios to assess their potential impacts on the seismic performance of shelters, damage to the housing stock, the number of displaced households, and shelter needs, as an indicator for the duration of shelter activation;
• Preparation of presentations and reports.

These tasks may be adjusted in accordance with the project priorities, in close collaboration with the host institution.

8 - Location

Workplace: LNEC – Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil, I.P.

Avenida do Brasil, 101 – 1700-066 Lisboa

País: Portugal

Website: https://www.lnec.pt

Email: recrutamento@lnec.pt

The above activities shall be conducted at the Earthquake and Structural Dynamic Division of the Structures Department, without prejudice to the possibility of performing temporary missions in Portugal.

9 – Qualifications

Eligible applicants can be holders of a degree enrolled in an MSc course in Civil Engineering, Geographic Information Systems, Physical Geography, Environmental Engineering, Geophysical Sciences, Civil Protection or similar fields.

As an alternative to enrolment in a master's course, they may be enrolled in a course that does not award an academic degree and integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units.

Applicants must be able to work in multidisciplinary teams, and be motivated to work in the research activities mentioned in 7. All the candidates should be fluent in the Portuguese language and have good knowledge of English.

Advantageous selection criteria include:

• Experience in hazard and risk analysis of natural phenomena;
• Relevance and duration of experience in research and/or innovation projects;
• Programming experience, e.g. Python;
• Experience in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS);
• Proficiency in English at C1 level according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

10 – Scientific supervision

The researchers Maria Luísa Sousa and Delta Sousa Silva shall be responsible for supervising the scientific activities.

11 - Monthly allowance

The Grant shall include a monthly allowance of €1,168.00 and a daily food allowance of €6.15. The Fellow shall also be entitled to a specific social security system and to insurance against personal accidents at work.

12 - Selection methods and criteria

The evaluation of the applications shall be based on the Applicant’s Merits (MC), and the following evaluation criteria shall be scored on a 0 to 20 scale.

Applicant’s merits:

• Academic Background (PA) – scores of the academic degrees required by this call, namely MSc degree or equivalent – 50%
• Professional Résumé (CP) – scientific and professional career – 30%
• Interview with the selection jury (ES) – 20%

Hence:

MC = 0.5 PA + 0.3 CP + 0.2 ES.

The jury is entitled to decide not to award the Grant if the quality of the applicants is deemed below par.

13 - Selection jury

President:

Laura Maria Melo Saraiva Caldeira, Principal researcher;

Members:

Eduardo Manuel Cabrita Fortunato, Principal researcher

Maria do Rosário da Silva Veiga, Principal Researcher

14 - Application documents

1. At the time of the application:

• Letter of motivation (maximum: one A4 page).
• Degree certificate, with indication of the partial scores and final classification.
• Document stating the score obtained in each curricular unit of the course the applicant is attending.

Foreign certificates shall be valid only if they are duly endorsed by an issuing entity, or if a recognition/equivalence document is produced stating that the foreign qualifications correspond to the same Portuguese qualifications. The respective scores can only be used if they are officially converted to the Portuguese scoring scale (by DGES – Direção Geral do Ensino Superior or by a public higher education institution), even if the foreign classification corresponds to a 0 to 20 scale.

• Official document of enrollment in the degree course defined in paragraph 10 of the present notice.

Should the candidate be unable to produce such document, without any fault on his/her part, he/she may replace it by a sworn declaration stating that he/she has been enrolled in the said degree course, but assuming the compromise to deliver this document until the signature of the contract.

• Detailed Curriculum Vitae.
• Other documents (optional), such as letters of reference and supporting documents of internships or complementary courses considered as relevant for the purposes of this Grant

2. At the time of the awarding of the contract:

• Official document stating that the applicant is enrolled in the degree course defined in 10.
• Necessary information for preparing the contract.

15 – Deadline for applications

Between 23 July and 30 September 2026

16 - Formalization of applications

The applications shall be formalized by one of the following means:

• Electronic mail addressed to recrutamento@lnec.pt. until 24h00 of the last day of the stipulated time limit
• directly to the Setor de Arquivo e Expediente Geral of LNEC, at Avenida do Brasil, 101, 1700-066 Lisboa.
• registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt addressed to LNEC, I.P., Avenida do Brasil, nº101, 1700-066 Lisboa; the date of delivery considered for the purpose of compliance with the stipulated time limit being the date of registration

In the last two cases, the applications shall be delivered in a sealed envelope, bearing the following information on the outside: “Concurso para atribuição de uma bolsa de investigação (BI), no âmbito projeto de investigação ARISCA.ext”.

17 - Notification of results

The final score of each evaluation stage shall be advertised in a list sorted by the final score obtained, all applicants being notified by electronic mail. The results shall also be published on the Recruitment page of LNEC’s website.

18 - 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 during the preliminary hearing phase (if requested), which takes place within 10 working days, according to the Administrative Procedure Code (CPA).

The final decision shall be disclosed after the analysis of applicants’ arguments presented in the preliminary hearing. Final decision can be claimed within 15 working days or, alternatively, appealed to the Board of Directors, within 30 working days, after the communication of the final results, respectively.

19 - Further information

Additional information can be obtained by phone: +351 218 443 892 or +351 218 443 216 or by electronic mail to the address referred to in 17.

20 - Standard fellowship contract

Available on the Recruitment page of LNEC’s website.

21 - Model of the final report to be prepared by the research fellow and supervisor

Available on the Recruitment page of LNEC’s website.

Where to apply

E-mail: recrutamento@lnec.pt

Requirements

Research Field: Engineering

Education Level: Bachelor Degree 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