Research Grant for One Fellowship (BI) for PhD Student

Offer Description

At the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon (Ciências ULisboa), a call is open for the attribution of 1 (one) research grant for PhD Student, financed by LISBOA 2030 – Programa Regional de Lisboa, within PORTUGAL 2030, through FEDER funds, under the scope of the Project to internationalise industrial R&D on a European scale, namely the Project “I2DT - Intelligent Interoperable Digital Twins” (COMPETE2030-FEDER-00389100), according to the following conditions:

Work plan:

• A review of the literature on malware, honeypots, knowledge graphs and operating system process tracking;
• Review of techniques for representing attacks and malware behaviour in graphs, and of machine learning (ML) techniques that can be used in graph processing relating to malware and attacker behaviour, as well as models based on NLP, deep learning and generative AI;
• Creation of knowledge graphs to represent malware attacks and behaviours derived from honeypots data and taxonomies, as well as their associations;
• Creation of AI models for graph processing, using data collected from honeypots as input, with the aim of identifying and predicting attacker and malware behaviours;
• Development of a risk analysis model to measure the impact of malicious actions predicted by the models;
• Development of a framework that integrates the aforementioned graphs and models to identify and predict attacker and malware behaviour, and to measure their risks and impacts;
• Implementation and evaluation of the models and framework, including integration and testing with the project’s use cases.

Fellowship duration:

The grant is expected to start in October 2026. The contract has a duration until the end of the project predicted on the 31st of October of 2027, on an exclusive basis, without the possibility of renewal.

Form of presentation of applications:

Applications may be sent by e-mail, to the address candidaturas@ciencias.ulisboa.pt, with the reference "BI-DOUTORANDO-I2DT-4", under penalty of not being considered for the competition.

Applications must be accompanied, compulsorily and under penalty of exclusion, by the following documents in PDF format. No document, which must be submitted at the time of application, may be submitted after the deadline for submission:

• Personal Data Form and Declaration of Consent for Communication of Results via e-mail;
• Declaration under oath;
• Proof of enrolment, in the academic year 2026/2027, in the PhD program in Informatics or, alternatively, a declaration under oath stating that the applicant meets the requirements to enrol in the programme;
• Proof of attendance in the 2nd year of the Master’s degree in Computer Engineering, if applied;
• Detailed and updated Curriculum Vitae;
• Photocopy of the qualification certificate of the academic degree required – BSc in Computer Engineering;
• If the academic degree, required in the present announcement as an admission requirement for the type of scholarship in question, was obtained abroad, you must submit one of the following documents: (See also the NOTES below)
• Document proving the granting, by a Portuguese Institution, of the recognition or equivalence or registration of the academic degree;
• Document proving that you have already applied for the recognition of the degree, which application must be submitted by the deadline for receipt of applications, inclusive.

Notes:

1. The presentation of the proof of obtaining the recognition or equivalence or registration of the academic degree is a mandatory condition for signing the contract;
2. For academic degrees obtained in foreign countries, which have not yet obtained either recognition or equivalence or registration of the degree, it is necessary to recognise it, under the terms provided for in Decree Law no. 66/2018, of 16 August, combined with Ordinance no. 33/2019, of 25 January, as currently amended.

Where to apply

• E-mail: candidaturas@ciencias.ulisboa.pt

Requirements

• Research Field: Engineering » Computer engineering
• Education Level: Bachelor Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Candidates must fulfil the following mandatory requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering;
• Enrollment in the PhD program in Informatics, in the academic year 2026/2027;
• Experience with honeypots and behavioral analysis tools, knowledge graphs, coding languages and tools, such as Python, ML libraries, and processing tracking in operating systems.

If the academic degree required by the present announcement as an admission requirement for the type of grant in question was obtained abroad, the requirements mentioned in point “Form of presentation of applications” of this announcement regarding the qualification certificates shall be taken into consideration.

Specific Requirements

Preference will be given to candidates with the following requirements:

• Knowledge of Python and C/C++ programming languages
• Deep Learning;
• Knowledge Graphs;
• Multi-Agent Systems;
• IT security risk analysis and management;
• Information Systems analysis and design;
• Proven attendance in the 2nd year of the Master´s degree in Computer Engineering, with a focus on Machine Learning for the identification and prediction of malware behavior;
• Scientific publications on Malware behavior, focusing on honeypots using ML and knowledge graphs;
• Enrollment in the PhD Program in Informatics of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisboa, in the academic year 2026/2027.
• Languages: PORTUGUESE — Level: Good
• Languages: ENGLISH — Level: Good

Internal Application form(s) needed

Formulários.pdf (English, 209.54 KB - PDF)

Additional Information

Benefits

Monthly allowance and social security:

• The fellowship amount corresponds to € 1,359.64 (one thousand and three hundred and fifty-nine euros and sixty-four cents), according to FCT Regulation for Research Fellowships, published by Regulation no. 950/2019 in the Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 241, of 16th of December, as currently amended, and available in the site of FCT, I.P.. It will be paid monthly by bank transfer;
• The candidate to be hired may exercise his right to social insurance by joining the voluntary social insurance scheme, under the terms of the Statute of the Research Fellowship. The financing entities assume the costs resulting from the contributions provided for this Social Insurance, according to the Statute of the Research Fellowship.

Selection process

Selection criteria:

The applicable selection methods will be curricular evaluation and, eventually, a selection interview.

If the jury chooses to conduct a selection interview, it will be conducted with the three (3) candidates with the best classification in the curricular assessment.

In the event that the selection interview is held, the final evaluation will be obtained considering the following weightings: 80% for the curricular evaluation and 20% for the selection interview.

The selection methods are eliminatory, and candidates who obtain a score of less than 9.5 in one of the selection methods or stages of the procedure will be excluded, and the next method or stage will not be applied to these candidates.

Selection committee:

Prof.ª Ibéria Vitória de Sousa Medeiros (President), Prof.ª Ana Luísa do Carmo Correia Respício (1st Effective Member), Patrícia Cristina Dâmaso Paraíba (2nd Effective Member), Prof. Vinicius Vielmo Cogo (1st Alternate Member) and Prof. Pedro Miguel Frazão Fernandes Ferreira (2nd Alternate Member).

Form of publication/notification of results:

This competition is advertised on the Ciências ULisboa and Euraxess websites.

All candidates will be notified of the final result of the evaluation, sent to the email address used for sending the respective application, through a sorted list, in descending order of the final evaluation obtained.

Additional comments

Legislation framework:

• Research Fellowship Holder Statute - Law no. 40/2004, of August 18, as currently amended;
• FCT Regulation for Research Fellowships - Regulation no. 950/2019 in the Diário da República, 2nd Series, no. 241, of 16 of December, as currently amended.

To see the full offer please check the following link: https://arquivo.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/concursos?id=5390

Workplace:

The work will be developed at the Research Centre LASIGE, at the Campus of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, located in Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisbon.

SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION:

Ibéria Vitória de Sousa Medeiros

Website for additional job details: https://arquivo.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/concursos?id=5390

Work Location(s)

• Number of offers available: 1
• Company/Institute: Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa
• Country: Portugal
• State/Province: Lisboa
• City: Lisboa
• Postal Code: 1749-016

Contact

• State/Province: Lisboa
• City: Lisboa
• Website: https://arquivo.ciencias.ulisboa.pt/concursos?id=5390
• Street: Campo Grande
• Postal Code: 1749-016
• E-Mail: candidaturas@ciencias.ulisboa.pt