Research Grant Announcement (M/F) in Porto

22 Oct 2026

Job Information

Organisation/Company: FEUP
Department: Human Resources Division
Research Field: Engineering » Other
Research Field: Environmental science » Other
Research Field: Engineering » Civil engineering
Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)
Positions: Master Positions
Application Deadline: 5 Nov 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon)
Country: Portugal
Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Full-time
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

1 Research Grant Announcement (M/F)

Call open for applications for a research grant within the framework of the project “RESTAURA - Reviving the Earth: Soil Health Assessment, Risk analysis, and Restoration in former mining areas”, with operation code at the Funds Platform (Balcão dos Fundos) NORTE2030-FEDER-02704900, co-financed by the European Union through the NORTE 2030 Regional Program, of Portugal 2030 , under the following conditions:

Scientific area: Environmental Engineering

Admission requirements: Candidates who cumulatively meet the following requirements may apply for this grant:

Requirement 1:

Be a registered doctoral student in the field of Environmental Engineering, or related areas of this engineering speciality, a requirement to be proven at the time of hiring.

Holder of an academic degree enrolled in a non-academic degree course integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution, developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units, requirement to be proven at the time of signing the contract.

Note: In the case of degree holders who are enrolled in non-academic degree courses, the scholarship can only be awarded to those who do not exceed, with this scholarship contract, including possible renewals, an accumulated period of two years in that typology of the scholarship, followed or interpolated.

and

Requirement 2:

Hold a master’s degree in Environmental Engineering or related field.

If the degree has been awarded by a foreign higher education institution, it must comply with the provisions of the Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of August 16th, and any formalities established there must be fulfilled until the time of signing the contract.

Activity Outline: The work to be carried out by the scholarship holder falls under activities A2, A3 and A4 of the project, namely:

A2- Characterisation of geological materials: petrographic, geochemical, physical, geophysical and environmental characterisation of mining waste, and definition of the geochemical signature of soils and mine drainage – As part of activity A2, the scholarship holder will have to carry out laboratory work to characterise soil samples collected in Corgo and Tapada mining areas.

A3 - Smart reuse of mining waste – As part of this activity, the fellow will conduct feasibility tests on the incorporation of mining waste into construction materials (geopolymers);

A4 - Geostatistical and spatial analyses, geochemical, physical, and environmental modeling, and environmental risk and impact assessment– focused on processing the experimental results (from Activity A2), as well as analyzing, interpreting, and applying models for the distribution of potentially toxic elements in the most environmentally vulnerable areas.

Legislation and regulations: Law Nº. 40/2004, of 18th August, in its current wording (Statutes of Scientific Research Fellow) and Regulation of Research Grants of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, in force and Regulation of Research Grants of University of Porto, in force.

Workplace: The work will be carried out at the Department of Civil and Georesources Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP), under the scientific supervision of Professor Maria Cristina da Costa Vila.

Grant duration: Initial duration of 3 months, with the predicted starting date in november 2026, on an exclusive basis, eventually renewable but never exceeding the end of the project.

If it is not possible to ensure the duration of 3 months estimated in the previous paragraph, this duration will be adjusted according to the end date of the project, and provided that the minimum duration of 3 consecutive months is guaranteed, in accordance with paragraph 3 of article 6 of the Research Grant Regulations of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P.

The eventual renewal of the scholarship will be carried out as determined in article 6 of the Research Grants Regulation of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P.

Stipend: The grant stipend amounts to 1359,64€ according to the table of values of the grants awarded directly by FCT, I.P. in the Country .

The payment will be made by bank transfer.

Selection procedure: A curriculum assessment 80% will be carried out based on the candidates' merits, taking into account the following factors:

a) Academic training (Master’s in Environmental Engineering, (5 points); Master’s in Mining and Geo-Environmental Engineering (4 points); Master's in a related area ‐ 2 points);

b) Previous experience in research in the field of characterisation of soil impacted by mining areas; (until 1 year ‐ up to 2 points, more than 1 year ‐ up to 5 points).

c) Previous experience in research into soil remediation techniques; (up to 5 points).

d) English language, to be verified through a motivation letter (up to 5 points).

The three best-ranked candidates in the curricular evaluation will be interviewed 20%. In the interview, topics related to the work plan, experience, ability to express oneself orally in English, motivation, and the candidate’s CV will be discussed.

The final scores result from the sum of the curricular evaluation and the interview.

If none of the candidates achieves a minimum final score of 10 points, the scholarship will not be awarded.

Selection Jury:

President:— Maria Cristina da Costa Vila

Effective member:– Maria de Lurdes Proença de Amorim Dinis

Effective member:– Beatriz Paiva Bento

Supplementary member: – Joana Maria Cardoso Fernandes

Supplementary member: – António Manuel Antunes Fiúza

Advertisement of final decision: The results of the evaluation will be released to the candidates by email to the email address indicated in the application process.

Deadline for applications and form of presentation of the applications:

The applications is open from 23/10/2026 to 05/11/2026 (until 11:59 p.m. local time)

Applications must be submitted via the online application system available at https://www.apply.up.pt , reference FEUP (FEUP-RESTAURA_BM2FEUP_BOLS_26-63) until the day 05/11/2026, and including the following pdf documents:

Motivation letter,
Certificates evidencing academic degree,
Detailed Curriculum Vitae,
Declaration on honor that the candidate fulfills the requirement contained in article 6 of the Regulation for Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. (model below, in case of student enrolled in a non-academic degree course integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution, developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units).
Other documents considered relevant by the applicant.

Declaration on honour

I, (identification of the scholarship holder), holder of the Citizen Card / Visa / Residence Permit no. valid until ____, declare under honour, to be in the conditions of no. 5 of article 6º of the Research Grants from FCT, IP - Regulation No. 950/2019, of 16 December.

Oporto, __/__/__

Signature

________________

(scholarship holder)

Where to apply

Website: https://www.apply.up.pt

Requirements

Research Field: Engineering » Civil engineering

Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Research Field: Environmental science » Other

Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Full announcement also available to FEUP - FEUP| Bolsa de investigação |RESTAURA_BOLS-FEUP-26-63