Research Grant (Master's Degree) – Project CAMP&VALOR

Reference Number: CAMP&Valor

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

Offer Description

Call open for applications for 1 research grant (Master’s Degree), enrolled in PhD degree or courses that do not confer academic degree, within the framework of project CAMP&VALOR (B2) with the reference COMPETE2030-FEDER-01418000, financed by European Regional Development Fund (FEDER) through the Operational Program—Innovation and Digital Transition Program, under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Biology, Biochemistry, Agronomy

Admission requirements:

• To have a Master’s degree in Biology, Biochemistry, Agronomy or Microbiology;
• To be enrolled in PhD in Biology, Agrarian Sciences, Biochemistry or related area or courses that do not confer academic degree.

Although the recipients must be enrolled in a cycle of studies leading to the attribution of an academic degree or in a course not conferring an academic degree, at the time of application it is not necessary for the candidate to have made such an enrollment, and proof of enrollment must be presented until the fellowship is contractualized. Candidates are only required to meet the requirements to enroll in the training offer. If there are candidates already enrolled (including attending a course), they compete on an equal footing with those who are not enrolled.

Note: In the case of masters who are enrolled in courses that do not confer academic degree, the research grant can only be awarded to those who do not exceed, with the signing of the research grant contract in question, including possible renewals, an accumulated period of two years in this type of grant, consecutive or interpolated.

Preferences Requirements: Preference for candidates with knowledge and competencies on: 1) Plant physiology; 2) Molecular approaches; 3) Metabarcoding.

Hiring Requirements: If the qualification has been granted by a foreign higher education institution, it will have to be recognized by a Portuguese higher education institution, pursuant to article 25 of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of 16 August, which approves the regime legal recognition of academic degrees and diplomas in Higher Education, arising from foreign higher education institutions, and paragraph e) of paragraph 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law No. 60/2018, of August 3, all of which the formalities must be fulfilled there until the contracting act.

Activity Outline: 1) Support the biochar production through pyrolysis process from waste agro-industrial material; 2) Application of biochar to enhance plant production and stress resilience (e.g., lettuce, tomato); 3) Physiological evaluation of the crop performance and quality (e.g., IRGA, HPLC); 4) Microbial assessment of the soil, root and plant’s aerial part through Metabarcoding approach for the biochar application and stress conditions. 5) Data analysis, fellowship report, and support communication activities;

Legislation and regulations: Law no. 40/2004, updated by Decree-Law no. 123/2019, of 28 August (Statute of Scientific Research Grant Holder); Regulation no. 950/2019 of 16 December (Regulation of Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology), in its current wording; Research Studentship Regulation of the University of Porto – approved by Regulation 582/2026, published in Diário da República, 2nd Series, no. 96, of 19 May and Decree-Law no. 66/2018 of 16 August (Legal Regime of Recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of Higher Education awarded by Foreign Higher Education Institutions).

Work place: The work will be developed in the Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP), under the guidance of PhD Researcher Nuno André Mariz da Ponte (REQUIMTE).

Grant duration: Initial duration of 12 months, with beginning on 01/12/2026, eventually renewable up, but not exceeding the end date of the project. (30/04/2028)

Maintenance allowance amount: 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 (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores). The payment will be made by bank transfer.

Voluntary Social Insurance: As long as the grant lasts 6 months or more, and in compliance with the provisions of the current version of the Grant Holder Statute, the grant holder will be entitled to have FCUP support the costs resulting from the contributions that fall into the first of the tax brackets. The grant holder will be responsible for contributions beyond the first tax bracket, should the grant holder opt for a higher coverage.

Personal Accident Insurance: During the grant period, the grant holder will be covered by a personal accident insurance policy.

Selection procedure: The selection methods to be used are as follows:

X: Academic Curriculum, up to 100 points (75%) - knowledge and demonstrated experience working with plant physiology (45%) + Demonstrated knowledge on microbiome analysis (30%):

Y: Motivation letter, up to 100 points (25%);

The candidate classification (CF) will be obtained using the following formula:

CF=AC=X*75% + Y*25%

An Interview will be held with the 3 best-ranked candidates. It will have a weight of 10% and CF will be translated into the following formula:

CF=AC*90%+E*10%

The candidate who has a foreign academic degree or diploma whose final classification is expressed on a different classification scale from the Portuguese one or does not have a classification, for evaluation purposes, must present a document proving the recognition of the foreign degree or diploma and the conversion of the classification for the Portuguese classification scale until the closing date of applications for the competition.

If the documents attesting the degree submitted by the candidates do not present the final classification of the degree required in this notice with the respective grade converted to the Portuguese classification scale, the jury will consider, for evaluation purposes, that the candidate has the minimum classification (10 points) of a maximum of 20 points) required to obtain a degree in Portugal.

Candidates whose application has been assessed with a final classification less than 70 points are not eligible to sign the contract of the fellowship.

Selection committee:

• President – Nuno André Mariz da Ponte, Researcher, Laboratório Associado para a Química Verde (LAQV) - Rede de Química e Tecnologia (REQUIMTE);
• 1.º member – Sónia Marina Pinto Nunes da Silva, PhD Researcher, Universidade de Aveiro;
• 2.º member – Emil Eduardovich Gimranov, Researcher, specialist in microbial analysis, Faculty of Science of the University of Porto;
• 1.º alternate member – Catarina da Cuna Maia Leal, PhD Researcher, Specialist in microbiome characterization, Laboratório Associado para a Química Verde (LAQV) - Rede de Química e Tecnologia (REQUIMTE)
• 2.º alternate member – Paulo Ricardo oliveira Pinto, PhD candidate, specialist in plant physiology and HPLC analysis, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto;

Advertisement of final decision: The final results of the evaluation will be published through a list ordered by final classification, sent to candidates by email. It is further informed that, pursuant to the provisions of articles 121 et seq. of the Code of Administrative Procedure, it has a legal period of 10 working days from the day immediately following the notification, to make a decision, if it so wishes. A complaint may be filed against this decision within 15 working days or, alternatively, an appeal may be filed within 30 working days, addressed to the Director of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, pursuant to article 191 et seq. of the Code of Administrative Procedure. The host entity may use the final ranking list to replace the selected grantee in case he/she gives up the position, up to one year.

Deadline for applications and form of presentation of the applications: The deadline for submitting applications will be 10 days from the date of publication of the Research Grant Announcement. Applications must be formalized, mandatorily, through the web page of Infociências of this opening (https://info.fc.up.pt/fcup/pedidos/users/novo.php?f_id=1291&formulario=816) accompanied by the following documents:

1. Motivation letter;
2. Detailed Curriculum Vitae;
3. Certificate of academic qualifications;
4. Declaration of eligibility (in attached);
5. Other relevant documents;
6. Up to three letters of recommendation, one is mandatory. The candidate should access to the link: https://info.fc.up.pt/fcup/recursos_humanos/cartas_recomendacao/index.php?f_id=1351, where he/she has to select the recruitment is applying, identify his/her name, email, identification number (citizen card or passport), and subsequently indicate the name(s) of the person(s), email address(es) of the persons that will write the recommendation letter. These persons will be notified by email, where a link will be sent to make the upload of the letter, by the end of the last day of application, 23:59 h - mainland Portugal time. The candidates will be notified when the letter has been submitted.

The documents indicated in points a) to e) must be submitted in a single file in zip format on the tender page.

Supporting documents for the contract: At the time of signing the contract, the grant holder must provide the following documents:

• Biographic form;
• Photocopy of Passport and/or residency permit (if applicable);
• Photocopy of Portuguese IBAN/NIB;
• proof of enrolment in PhD in Biology, Agrarian Sciences or Biochemestry or proof of non-degree course; Proof document or statement duly signed by the institution's highest body that the course is provided for in the respective educational project and that it is developed in association or cooperation with at least one R&D unit (indicate which one(s) specifically); and Statutes of the entities that develop the course together with the higher education institution, in order to verify if they are considered R&D units, for the purposes of the provisions of article 16 of Decree-Law No. 63/2019, of May 16th;
• Foreign academic degree recognition (if applicable);
• Exclusivity declaration;
• Ciência ID and ORCID ID.

Commitment

In compliance with paragraph h) of Article 9 of the Constitution, the University of Porto, as an employer, actively promotes a policy of equal opportunities between men and women in access to employment and professional advancement, scrupulously avoiding any form of discrimination. In this spirit, terms such as “candidate,” “author,” or “teacher,” among others that refer to the people who apply for this recruitment tender are used as gender neutral.

In addition, no candidate may be privileged, benefited, impaired or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty on grounds of ancestry, age, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social status, genetic heritage, reduced working capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological convictions and trade union membership.

The call is open from 16/10/2026 to 29/10/2026.

Where to apply

Website: https://info.fc.up.pt/fcup/pedidos/users/novo.php?f_id=1291&formulario=816

Requirements

Research Field: Biological sciences » Other

Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Internal Application form(s) needed

3 - Edital_3.pdf (English, 825.29 KB - PDF) Download

Declaraçao de Elegibilidade_0.pdf (English, 555.42 KB - PDF) Download

Additional Information

Website for additional job details: https://sigarra.up.pt/fcup/pt/noticias_geral.ver_noticia?p_nr=142923

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available: 1

Company/Institute: Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto

Country: Portugal

City: Porto

Street: University of Porto – Pólo do Campo Alegre

Website: https://sigarra.up.pt/fcup/pt/web_page.inicial