NOTICE OF OPENING OF AN INTERNATIONAL SELECTION PROCEDURE FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF A TRAINEE RESEARCHER POSITION

By order of 21-11-2024, the Dean of FEUP, Professor Rui Artur Bártolo Calçada, deliberated to open an international selection procedure for the recruitment of 1 Trainee researcher within the scope of Agenda “SMART WAGONS - DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTION CAPACITY IN PORTUGAL OF SMART WAGONS FOR FREIGHT”, nr. C644940527-00000048, investment project nr. 27, of the Incentive System “Agendas for Business Innovation”, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR) and by European Funds NextGeneration EU, in the form of an Individual Uncertain Term Employment Contract, and will be maintained only for the period necessary to execute the tasks defined in the project and identified below, whose expected duration is 3 months, never exceeding the maximum limit of four years. 

The purpose of this contract is the performance of activities corresponding to the category of Trainee Researcher, as stated in Article 8 of the Regulations for Research, Science and Technology Staff of the University of Porto.

The Trainee Researcher executes, under the guidance of a researcher or professor of higher institution, tasks corresponding to an introduction phase to scientific research and development of activities integrated in scientific projects. The Trainee Researcher will integrate the project team “SMART WAGONS - DEVELOPMENT OF PRODUCTION CAPACITY IN PORTUGAL OF SMART WAGONS FOR FREIGHT”, in the introduction phase to scientific research and development activities, according to the guidelines of the Work Plan of the project.

In particular, he/she will contribute to the following project work, in the introduction phase to scientific research and development activities:

1. Work Package 3 – Operation/Maintenance:

• Atividade 3.1 – Equipment’s integration and analysis of subsystems.
• Atividade 3.2 – Demonstrator Project of predictive maintenance services with the ability to act proactively.
• Atividade 3.3 – Project Demonstration of the use of simulation and virtualization models to support maintenance tasks.

2. Work Package 5 – Certification, Dissemination and Exploitation of results:

• Activity 5.2 – Dissemination of Results

1. The scientific area of this selection procedure is Mechanical Engineering.
2. Applicable Legislation: Regulation nº 487/2020, of 22 May - Regulation of Research, Science and Technology Staff of the University of Porto in its current wording and and by the other applicable legislation, namely the Labour Code, Law on 7/2009, of 12 February, in its current wording and applicable regulations.
3. In accordance with articles 22.º, n.º 3 and 4  of the Regulation n.º 487/2020, of 22 May, the Recruitment board is composed as follows:

President: Pedro Aires Moreira Montenegro Marques e Almeida, Researcher at FEUP 

Effective member:  Joaquim Gabriel Magalhães Mendes, Full Professor at FEUP

Effective member:  Abílio Manuel Pinho de Jesus, Full Professor at FEUP

Substitute Member: Diogo Rodrigo Ferreira Ribeiro, Investigador Externo na FEUP, membro integrado do Instituto de I&D em Estruturas e Construção 

Substitute Member: Paulo José Lopes Machado Portugal, Associate Professor at FEUP

4. The work will be developed at Department of Mechanical Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto (FEUP).
5. The monthly remuneration to be paid  corresponds to level 2, position 2 predicted in the Annex I and Annex II of the Regulation of Research, Science and Technology Staff of the University of Porto , being € 1.600,46, full time. 

6. Admission Requirements

1. General Admission Requirements:

This competition is open to national candidates, foreigners and stateless persons holding a BSc degree or equivalent higher education degree in Mechanical Engineering.

Any master awarded by a foreign higher education institution must be recognized by a Portuguese higher education institution in accordance with article 25 of the Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of August 16, which approves the legal regime for the recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of Higher Education, awarded by foreign higher education institutions and paragraph e) of no. 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law no. 60/2018, of August 3, and any formalities established therein must be complied with by the date of the hiring act.

2. Specific Admission requirements: 

The following specific criteria must be fulfilled to determine the appropriate profile for the activity to be developed: skills and previous experience in i) sensoring; ii) energy harvesting systems; iii) experience in laboratorial work with mechanical components, iv) experience in research projects related with railways.

8. Recruitment method:

In accordance with articles 26 of the Regulation of Research, Science and Technology Staff of the University of Porto, the selection methods are:

1. Evaluation of the curricular path and scientific career of the applicants (APCC) (90%);

b)           Interview (ENT) (10%) 

8. Evaluation of the curricular path and scientific career (APCC) (90%)

8.1. Evaluation of the curricular path and scientific career, considering a profile that is suited to the requirements of the duties corresponding to the category covered by this competition and focusing on the relevance, quality, and currentness of the following aspects:

8.1.1 Scientific performance in the areas and subareas for which the competition is open.

8.1.2 Knowledge transfer.

8.1.3 Science and technology management and communication.

8.2 In the evaluation of the dimensions of the aspects described in 8.1, the following parameters are considered, and the following weighting factors are attributed:

A1) Criteria for evaluating Scientific Performance (DC) (90%)

A1.1.) Thesis and scientific publications in the area of aerodynamics modeling of railway vehicles (40%).

A1.2.) Participation in national and/or international research projects in the area of the project (60%).

A2) Criteria for Knowledge Transfer and Science and Technology Management and Communication (10%):

A2.1.) Participation in extension works, services and knowledge transfer projects (25%).

A2.2.) Organization of scientific events (25%);

A2.3.) Participation in national and international scientific meetings with peer review as well as by invitation (25%);

A2.4.) General technical communication skills (25%);

9. The final classification of the (APCC) is obtained by the following formula: APCC = (0,90 x A1) + (0,10 x A2).

10. Evaluation of the Interview (ENT) (10%):

The interview is held with the applicants with score equal or higher than 80 points, of all members of the Jury, in the evaluation of their curricular path and scientific career will be admitted, and the board will evaluate aspects related to the research conducted by the applicants.

The interview will be conducted in Portuguese and English.

11. Final classification: 

The Final Classification (CF) of the Evaluation of the applicants’ Curricular Path and Scientific Career (APCC) and interview (ENT), will be obtained by applying the following formula: CF = (APCC*0.9) + (ENT*0.1). 

12. Evaluation of the selection methods:

12.1. Each member of the Board evaluates the applicants’ curricular path and scientific career on a scale from 0 to 100 points, with a weighting up to the hundredths, and the classification is obtained through the weighting defined in the criteria to be evaluated.

12.2. The interview evaluation is expressed on a scale of 0 to 100 points, with a weighting to the hundredths.

12.3. The position can only be filled by candidates whose final classification is equal or higher than 60 points, obtained through all members of the Jury.

13. Evaluation methodology:

13.1. After the admission of the applicants, and before starting the voting for their final ranking in the evaluation of their scientific and curricular background, each member of the Board presents a written document, to be attached to the meeting minutes, with the list of the applicants in descending order of merit, duly substantiated, considering the criteria and parameters of this competition notice.

13.2. The Board deliberates employing reasoned roll-call voting following the selection criteria adopted and disclosed. Abstentions are not allowed.

13.3. The seriation methodology is that which is indicated in article 29 of the Regulation.

13.4. If an absolute majority of votes is not reached after the voting explained in the previous number, or in case of a tie, the Chair's vote will be used for the final ranking.

13.5. Each member of the Board must respect, in the various voting rounds, the order he or she presented in the document referred to in paragraph 13.1.

13.6. The interview, has a maximum duration of one hour and is exclusively aimed at clarifying aspects related to the research carried out by the applicants.

13.7. The Board’s discussions will be briefed in minutes taken during its meetings, containing a summary of what occurred, as well as the votes cast by each member and respective reasoning.

13.8. After concluding the application of the selection criteria, the jury proceeds to produce an ordered list of the approved applicants with the respective classification.

13.9. The Board's final decision is approved by the head of the institution responsible for opening the tender notice. The final decision on hiring is the responsibility of the top manager of the hiring entity.

14.  Formalization of applications:

14.1. Applications must be formalized at http://www.fe.up.pt/concursos , reference on-line nº 1259, until de 23h59m (local time) of 18/07/2025.

The application must include: full name, number and date of identity card or citizen card, or civil identification number, tax identification number, date of birth, residence, and contact address, including e-mail and telephone contact.

 14.2 The application must be accompanied by documentary evidence of the conditions described in point 6 of this notice, namely: 

1. a) Copy of bachelor's certificate or diploma.
2. b) Detailed curriculum vitae, containing all information relevant for the evaluation of the application, as well as for demonstrating compliance with the criteria set out in point 6 of this announcement, organized in accordance with the seriation criteria set out in no. 8.
3. c) Letter of motivation.
4. d) Copies of up to 3 publications considered most relevant by the candidate, associated with the position;
5. e) Other supporting documents considered relevant to the eligibility of the application and documents that the applicant considers relevant to the assessment of his/her merit. 

14.3. Failure to submit the documents mentioned in 14.2 will lead to the exclusion of the application. For purposes of hearing of the interested parties, the exclusion decision is notified to the applicants by e-mail.

14.4. The Board may, whenever it deems necessary, ask the applicants to provide complementary documents for the facts described in the submitted curriculum, setting a deadline for that purpose.

15. False statements made by applicants will be punished according to the law.

16. Notices of the results:

The minute(s) of the Board meeting(s) for evaluating the applications will be sent via e-mail with a delivery receipt.

17. Parties hearing and deadline for final decision:

In accordance with article 121 of the Administrative Procedure Code, after being notified, the applicants have 10 working days to comment. Within 90 days, counting from the deadline for submitting applications, the Board's final decisions are made.

18. The present competition is exclusively aimed at filling the indicated vacancy and may be terminated until the final ranking list of applicants is ratified, expiring with the respective occupation of the job position on offer. If none of the applicants has the appropriate profile for the performance of the functions described above within this project's scope, the Board reserves the right not to award the position in the competition.

19.  Non-discrimination and equal access policy: FEUP actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, so that no candidate can be privileged, beneficiary, disadvantaged or private 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.