Research Grant - Project SWATE: Socially-Aware AI for Teamwork Enhancement and Training

Reference Number: BI|2026/957-Proj. SWATE

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

Offer Description

Public notice for one Research Grant - Refª BI|2026/957

Proj. SWATE: Socially-Aware AI for Teamwork Enhancement and Training– Refª LISBOA2030-FEDER-00777100

This work was co-funded by the European Union through the Lisboa 2030 Programme (ERDF) and by national funds through FCT, I.P., under project no. 16594.

Application submission from 25-september to 9-october 2026

WHO WE ARE

INESC-ID (www.inesc-id.pt), “Instituto de Engenharia de Sistemas e Computadores: Investigação e Desenvolvimento em Lisboa” is a Research and Development and Innovation Organization (R&D+i) in the fields of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering.

INESC-ID’s research impact is focused on four Thematic Lines

• Energy transition
• Life and health technology
• Security and privacy
• Societal digital transformation

INESC-ID promotes cooperation between academia and industry by addressing research on daily life issues, such as healthcare, space, mobility, human language technologies, agri-food, industry 4.0, and smart grids. This high level of knowledge transfer is achieved through both competitive research projects and direct contracted research. Therefore, public and private entities have access to a pool of knowledge, resources and services provided through the unique competencies available at the institution.

INESC ID has a strong international academic environment and inclusive work environment.

The Project SWATE was co-funded by the European Union through the Lisboa 2030 Programme (ERDF) and by national funds through FCT, I.P., under project no. 16594.

ONE (1) Research Grant for students with BSc degree with the reference number BI|2026/957 under the scope of the Project SWATE: Socially-Aware AI for Teamwork Enhancement and Training– Refª LISBOA2030-FEDER-00777100, is now available under the following conditions:

OBJECTIVES | FUNCTIONS

SWATE explores the creation of a Socially-Aware AI agent to enhance team training by providing real-time insights and actionable feedback from multimodal data. We envision that humans and agents will work in teams, complementing each other, due to their different competencies. Teams with high task interdependence spatially organize themselves to facilitate communication, task execution, and action coordination. These spatial arrangements provide valuable insights into team dynamics and coordination processes. The work developed will build upon the segmented motion data captured in the context of an Escape Room, this subtask will develop machine learning methods to identify and model temporal patterns of team spatial organization and interaction.

The research will investigate both probabilistic sequence models and generative machine learning approaches. In particular, generative models, such as Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) will be explored to learn the underlying distribution of team spatial configurations and interaction patterns, enabling the generation and prediction of plausible event sequences and the identification of recurring coordination patterns. Where appropriate, graph-based representations will be incorporated to explicitly model spatial and interaction relationships between team members.

The resulting models will be used to construct interpretable event storylines that capture how team spatial configurations evolve over time, providing a data-driven characterization of communication, coordination, and task execution dynamics.

BINDING LEGISLATION

Law 40/2004 of 18th of August (Scientific Research Fellow Status) in its current wording.

https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/RBi_Republicado_2025.pdf

Regulations for Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology in force

https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/RBi_Republicado_2025.pdf

INESC-ID Lisboa Grant Regulations in force

https://www.inesc-id.pt/scholarship-regulations/

The fellowship contract is awarded on an exclusive dedication basis – art. 5 of Scientific Research Fellow Status and art. 16 of Regulations for Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology.

DURATION

SIX (6) months, starting in November 2026, renewable subject to suitable performance within the period of the project, not exceeding the maximum period set by FCT for such grants.

RENEWAL

Renewable is subject to performance if the candidate is enrolled in a

MSc program - art. 6º, n.4 b)

https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/RBi_Republicado_2025.pdf

subject to suitable performance within the period of the project, not exceeding the maximum period set by FCT for such grants – 2 years (included contract renewals)

Non-Renewable is subject to performance if the candidate is enrolled in a

Non-degree programme – art. 6º, n. 4 a)

https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/RBi_Republicado_2025.pdf

subject to suitable performance within the period of the project, not exceeding the maximum period set by FCT for such grants – 1 year (included contract renewals)

MONTHLY AMOUNT

The monthly amount of the grant is 1090,98€ according to the “Regulations for Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology” in force.

The payment will be made through a monthly bank transfer to a portuguese bank account, held by the grantee.

https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM-2026.pdf

SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION

The activity will be supervised by:

• Joana Campos, Researcher at INESC ID and Assistant Professor at IST.
• Rui Prada, Researcher at INESC ID and Full Professor at IST.

WORKPLACE

• INESC ID - Headquarters Rua Alves Redol, 9, 1000-029 Lisboa
• INESC-ID - Taguspark Avenida Professor Cavaco Silva, Edifício IST 2744-016 Porto Salvo
• INESC-ID Energia IST - Departamento de Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores, Área de Energia, Av. Rovisco Pais 1049-001 Lisboa

ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS

Any national, foreign and stateless candidate(s) holding a BSc degree in Computer Science or related areas, and with a suitable scientific and professional curriculum may apply.

The candidate(s) must be enrolled in a

MSc program - art. 6º, n.4 b)

https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/RBi_Republicado_2025.pdf

or

Non-degree programme – art. 6º, n. 4 a)

https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/RBi_Republicado_2025.pdf

The applicants are required to have proficiency in Portuguese and English, both written and spoken, as well as being enthusiastic, proactive, collaborative and able to work individually and as a team.

Preferential factors:

The research grant will be awarded preferably to a candidate with:

• BSc in Computer Science and experience in Machine Learning.
• Strong algorithm development skills and experience with Generative Adversarial Networks.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The selection will be based on the following criteria:

1. Curriculum vitae: 60%
2. Previous experience in related projects and development of the technology: 20%
3. Motivation letter: 20%

The evaluation panel assigns a classification to each of the candidates on a scale of 0 to 100 points, ranking the candidates according to their classification consisting on the sum of the partial classifications assigned in each evaluation criterion, and considering the weighting factor given to each parameter. In this process abstentions are not allowed.

The CV will be primarily evaluated based on scientific and technical production, with emphasis being given to publications in top workshops / conferences and journals. Other types of output from research activities, such as technical reports and open-source software, will also be considered. The CV should also mention the participation in national and international research projects.

The Evaluation Panel reserves the right to conduct interviews. If an interview is conducted, the punctuation proposed by the evaluation panel is obtained by assigning a weighting factor of 70% to the CV, and a weighting factor of 30% to the interview.

Additionally, the evaluation panel retains the discretion to withhold the scholarship if the candidates fail to fulfil the stipulated requirements.

The evaluation panel may also decide not to assign the scholarship, if none of candidates meets the required conditions.

If the requirements mentioned above are not fulfilled, the evaluation panel may choose not to select a candidate.

Candidates with an average score below 70, are not recommended for hiring

Minutes of the evaluation panel meeting are drawn up with a summary of what has taken place in the meeting, as well as the votes emitted by the jury, being available to the candidates whenever requested.

EVALUATION PANEL

Jury

Name

Professional Status

Institutions

President

Rui Prada

Researcher / Full Professor

INESC ID - Tecnico | ULisboa

Member

Soraia Paulo

Pos-Doc Researcher

INESC-ID

Member

Joana Campos

Researcher / Assistant Professor

INESC ID - Tecnico | ULisboa

Substitute member

Ana Maria Paiva

Researcher / Full Professor

INESC ID - Tecnico | ULisboa

Substitute member

Carlos Martinho

Researcher / Associate Professor

INESC ID - Tecnico | ULisboa

APPLICATION

The application and supporting documents must be submitted via email to bolsas@inesc-id.pt.

The application email should clearly state the reference of the grant on the subject.

BI|2026/957 - Project SWATE

Applications without the reference of the grant will not be considered

The candidate should clearly state his / her consent so that the communications and notifications in the context of this call can take place to the electronic address bolsas@inesc-id.pt.

The application and supporting documents may be submitted in Portuguese or English, although the President of the evaluation panel, when a member of the evaluation panel is a non-native Portuguese speaker, may request that, within a reasonable time, the candidate translates into English a document previously presented in Portuguese.

Candidates who submit their application incorrectly or who do not prove the requirements required in this public notice are excluded from admission. In case of doubt, the evaluation panel may demand any candidate to present documents proving those statements.

False statements by the candidates will be punished according to the law.

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

The supporting documents listed below must be presented in pdf form.

Applications without the requested documents may not be considered.

Supporting documents presented in another format will not be considered by the evaluation panel.

1. Motivation letter — Addressed to the Evaluation Panel, including full name, and contact address, including email address and telephone.;
2. Detailed curriculum vitae;
3. Single copy of official academic degree certificate required in the ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS — In the application submission, the candidates may replace the copy of official academic degree certificate by a declaration of honour, stating that they have the required academic degree. It is mandatory for the approval of the fellowship contract that the selected candidate presents a single copy of the official academic degree certificate, required in education level. In the application submission, the candidates from foreign education institutions may replace the copy of the official academic degree certificate by a declaration of honour, stating that they have the required academic degree. It is mandatory for the approval of the fellowship contract that the selected candidate presents a single copy of the official diploma recognition, required in education level. For more information about diploma recognition: https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/degree-and-diploma-recognition
4. Detailed list of grades
5. Proof of enrolment required in the ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS at grant starting date; — In the application submission, the candidates may replace the proof of enrolment by a declaration of honour, stating that they are/will be enrolled in the program required ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS. It is mandatory for the approval of the fellowship, that the selected candidate present the official proof of enrollment required in the ELIGIBILITY CONDITIONS.

NOTIFICATION, PRIOR HEARING, COMPLAIN AND APPEAL DEADLINES

The admitted and excluded candidates will be notified by email of the final ranking list.

After being notified, all candidates have 10 working days to submit a formal rebuttal. After that period, the evaluation panel notifies the candidates of the final report.

Excluded candidates may complain about the evaluation panel final report for 15 working days after notification or appeal to the evaluation panel decision to the INESC ID Board of Directors for 30 working days, after notification.

Non-discrimination and equal access policy

INESC-ID actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, so that no candidate can be privileged, benefited, disadvantaged or deprived of any right or exemption from any duty owing, in particular, to ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, economic situation, education, social origin or condition, genetic heritage, reduced working capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs and trade union membership.

Under the terms of D.L. No. 29/2001, of February 3, a disabled candidate has a preference when in equal classification, which prevails over any other legal preference. Candidates must declare on the application form their respective degree of disability, the type of disability and the means of communication / expression to be used in the selection process, under the terms of the aforementioned diploma.