PUBLIC NOTICE FOR AN INTERNATIONAL CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR THE POST OF DOCTORAL RESEARCHER

                                                                                                                                                                             Portuguese Version

Application Reference: 2023.15056.TENURE.047 | CBQF Chair in Biotechnology Tools for Soil Health Assistant Researcher |Universidade Católica Portuguesa

1. Framework

The Rector of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Prof. Dr. Isabel Capeloa Gil, hereby announces the opening of an international call for applications for one vacancy of doctoral researcher auxiliar, with an exclusivity clause, to perform duties of scientific research, in the scientific field of Agriculture Biotechnology. The research activities will be carried out at the Centro de Biotecnologia e Química Fina (CBQF), integrated at the Escola Superior de Biotecnologia of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, in Porto within the framework of the FCT-Tenure first edition call by the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. (FCT,IP), and its call procedure (articles 17, 19 and 28 of the Regulamento do Emprego Científico – REC).

The selected candidate will investigate advanced microbial based processes for environmental protection and restoration with a primary focus on the development of biotechnology tools as part of novel strategies for sustainable soil management. The candidate will tackle the challenges of preserving and promoting soil health under sub-optimal conditions, such as longer drought periods and water scarcity, and high salinity, through combining biotechnological tools with sustainable soil management practices. The selected candidate will be involved in developing tools for the efficient delivery of microbial inoculants within wider practices of sustainable soil management, incorporating highly efficient microbial consortia and suitable carriers, with a new generation of carrier materials sourced from agricultural wastes and by-products, paving the way for a new generation of biofertilizers characterized by improved consistency and efficacy. The candidate will have access to pre-existing field trials, such as vineyards and maize, to validate biofertilizers’ efficiency in improving plant growth and soil health and biodiversity enabling the effective translation of innovations into real-scale applications. The supervision of Master/Doctoral students and the application for national and international projects, with a strong ambition to contribute towards securing international funding in the above-mentioned areas, are also part of this position's responsibilities. The candidate will also have an important role in the bridge between research and academic programs and the communication of science to different audiences.
 

2. Framework and Applicable Legislation

This selection procedure is open under the FCT-Tenure funding instrument, with the aim of promoting the hiring of doctoral graduates for permanent positions through integration into the research career.

This selection procedure is governed by the terms of the Statute of the Teaching and Research Career of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, hereinafter ECDI-UCP, and other regulations and statutes associated to the first FCT Tenure call, and applicable labour legislation. 

3. Workplace

The workplace is located at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa facilities of the Porto.

4. Remuneration

The gross monthly pay is €3.501,28 plus meal allowance, to which will be added annual leave and Christmas allowances.

5. Admission requirements

5.1. Framework.

5.1.1- Eligibility of the candidates 

Only national, foreign, or stateless candidates who hold a doctoral degree can submit their application. 

If the Doctoral Degree has been awarded by a non-Portuguese higher education institution, said degree, to be eligible, must comply with the provisions of the Portuguese legislation on the recognition of foreign degrees, as set out in Decree-Law no. 66/2018 of August 16th. Entering into a contract with the selected candidate is conditional to the submission of the formal document. For additional information on this matter candidates are advised to check the website of the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES): https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/degree-and-diploma-recognition.

The following will also determine the exclusion of the application:

I. Applications from PhD holders with permanent employment positions in the careers of Scientific Research, University Teaching and Polytechnic Higher Education Teaching, and those with permanent positions in national institutions not covered by the Career Statutes, will not be eligible for this support.

ii. Failure to comply with the deadline for submission of the application.

iii. Failure to submit, or submitting after the deadline, any of the documents required in the application formalization process.

iv. The applications that do not meet the requirement to be presented in English.

5.1.2. System for assessment of the merit of the application 

In the first phase of the evaluation process, applications will be assessed based on absolute merit. To this end, the jury deliberates on approval on absolute merit based on the requirements indicated in this notice. Absolute merit is expressed by the formulas “rejected” or “approved”.

Once the aforementioned admission phase of the competition has ended, the panel begins to assess the relative merit of the applications approved on absolute merit, taking into account the selection requirements and criteria set out in the notice.

To this end, each member of the jury must produce a written document, duly substantiated, which will be attached to the minutes of the respective meeting, with the final classification on a numerical scale of 0 to 100 obtained by each candidate, based on the evaluation criteria and parameters, and corresponding weighting factors, as set out in this notice. Each member of the jury orders the candidates in descending order of merit, and based on their ordered list of candidates participates in the voting for 1st place, then for 2nd place, and so on, until all candidates approved on absolute merit have been ranked. No abstentions will be permitted.

Once the application of the selection methods has been completed, the jury prepares the provisional unitary list for ranking the candidates. All candidates will be notified electronically via the email address provided for the purpose of holding a Hearing of interested parties, as provided for in item 10 of this notice. After this period or after the Hearing of interested parties has taken place, the panel, in a subsequent meeting, will assess, if applicable, the allegations presented and approve the final list.

5.2. Admissibility and selection requirements 

5.2.1- Eligibility requirements for the purposes of assessing the absolute merit of the application 

a) Holders of a Doctoral degree in Biotechnology, Biology or related areas.

b) Minimum of 10 years of relevant working experience in the fields of biotechnology/microbiology.

c) Expertise in the use of biotechnology tools and sustainable management strategies for agriculture or soil remediation in laboratory or field experiments, with at least 10 publications in SCOPUS bibliometric system related to microbiology/biotechnology applied to those areas.

d) Experience in integrating research projects, with proven capacity to attract funding in competitive calls, and experience in supervision of young researchers, including formal supervision of doctoral students. 

e)  Experience in science communication to both scientific and non-scientific audiences.

5.2.2- Specific requirements for the purposes of assessing the relative merit of the application.

5.2.2.1. Scientific and technological outputs

a) Scientific outputs in the area for which the recruitment process is open (e.g., indexed publications, citations).                       

b) Coordination and/or participation in national and international projects in the area.                       

c) Supervision/co-supervision of undergraduate, master's, and doctoral students in the area.                       

d) Scientific impact (e.g. relevance of results, collaboration network).         

5.2.2.2. Applied or practice-based research activities

a) Prototypes and intellectual property                       

b) Implementation and monitoring of field trials                       

c) Participation in partnership projects, including cooperation with industry and international partnerships                          

5.2.2.3. Extension activities and knowledge dissemination activities

a) Experience in scientific evaluation, including participation in academic juries and in project evaluation panels.                                              

b) Participation in peer review and editorial activities.                                              

c) Participation and coordination of science dissemination events (scientific meetings, outreach events).                                              

d) Teaching activities in the area for which the recruitment process is open, particularly through participation in curricular units.                                      

5.2.2.4. Career Development Plan 

Career development plan, for 6 years, on the research to be developed, its contextualisation at the CBQF and the expected scientific and societal impact, as well as the motivation for those choices (up to 10 pages).

6. Selection Process

The selection process must comply with the ECDI-UCP.

In case of doubt, the panel is entitled to request that candidates present further documentation attesting to their written statements, or to conduct interviews to obtain clarification on elements contained in the application.

Interviews will not constitute a selection method and as such, are not subject to classification.

Failure to submit the requested clarification, information, or documents, within five working days of being requested to do so, determines the dismissal of the application. 

Any false statements made or provided by the candidates are punishable by law.

7. Assessment criteria

The assessment criteria are the following: scientific output and its relevance, participation in scientific projects and conferences, student supervision, scientific dissemination activities, knowledge transfer, and other relevant activities and experience, and a career development plan.

The candidate classification shall be given on a scale of 0 to 100. The value shall be calculated considering that, for each item, only those activities relevant to the field of the present call for applications are to be considered, with the following weighting model:

Scientific and curricular background 

a) Scientific and technological output: 45%;

b) Applied or practice-based research activities: 15%; 

c) Knowledge extension and dissemination activities: 25%;

d) Career development plan:15%

8. Tender Selection Panel

Pursuant to the ECDI-UCP and other relevant regulations, the jury shall be formed by: 

President of the Jury: Prof. Doctor Maria Manuela Estevez Pintado; Escola Superior de Biotecnologia da Universidade Católica Portuguesa; Full Professor.

Other members:  Prof. Doctor Tim Hogg; Escola Superior de Biotecnologia da Universidade Católica Portuguesa; Full Professor; Prof. Dr. Isabel Henriques; Departamento de Ciências da Vida da Universidade de Coimbra; Associate Professor;  Prof. Dr. Artur Jorge da Costa Peixoto Alves;Departamento de Biologia da Universidade de Aveiro; Associate Professor;  Prof. Dr. José Alberto Cardoso Pereira;Instituto Politécnico de Bragança; Principal Coordenator Professor.

9. Deliberation and publication 

The panel shall deliberate based on the adopted and disclosed selection criteria, with no abstentions allowed. Minutes of panel meetings shall be taken. These shall contain a summary of events, as well as details of the votes cast by each of the members and their respective reasoning. After all selection criteria have been applied, the panel shall prepare a ranked list of approved candidates. The panel’s final decision shall be approved by the Rector, who shall also approve the hiring of the selected candidate.

The ranked list of approved candidates will be posted at the  Porto facilities of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, located at Universidade Católica Portuguesa – Centro Regional do Porto, Rua de Diogo Botelho, 1327, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal and will be published on the websitehttps://cbqf.esb.ucp.pt/ Candidates will be notified by email once this list has been made available.

10. Preliminary Hearing and Final Decision Deadline

After notification of the results, candidates have ten working days to respond. In the following five working days (counting from the end of the candidates’ response period), the panel’s final decision is issued.

11. Formalizing applications

Applications are formalized by completing the application form available at https://hr-ucpporto.inqueritos.porto.ucp.pt/785754?lang=en.

Applications must be submitted in English.

Applications shall include the following documents:

a) Curriculum vitae, containing all the relevant information for assessing the application and duly structured in accordance with the requirements of nº 5 of this notice;

b) Doctoral Certificate with date of admission to the degree, and when applicable, the recognition of the degree; 

c) Declaration of commitment by the candidate to attest that he/she is not the holder of an employment legal relationship of indefinite period in the careers of Scientific Research, University Professor and Professor of Polytechnic Higher Education, and/or without term in national institutions not covered by the Career Statutes;

d) Document proving that the candidate has been awarded a fixed-term contract or scholarship, as a doctor, at an institution of the National Science and Technology System, on a date prior to the publication of this notice; 

12. Application deadline

Candidates may submit their application, pursuant to the terms mentioned in the previous point, from July 9, 2025 until July 24, 2025 (until 5pm, Continental Portugal time).

13. Privacy Policy

Universidade Católica Portuguesa is the controller responsible for the processing of Personal Data in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 – General Regulation on Data Protection.

The personal data submitted within the scope of this tender procedure is processed within the framework of said tender procedure only, and will be treated by Universidade Católica Portuguesa with the purpose of verifying the fulfillment, by the candidates, of the assumptions established in the applicable legislation for their contracting.  Opposition to the processing of data by the candidates will make it impossible to accept the application and, therefore, to analyze and evaluate it. 

The personal data of the Data Subject, if it be indispensable for the fulfillment of the obligations of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, may be conveyed to third parties, namely to the Financing Entities identified in this announcement.

The data retention period shall correspond to the legally defined period of five years.

The Data Subject is entitled to oppose to the collection and processing of data, has the right to verification, the right to rectification, the right to deletion, and the right to restriction of processing of the data collected. However, the exercise of such rights may be excluded when the personal data is used to protect public interest, namely in the detection and prevention of crimes or when subject to professional rules of confidentiality.

The Data Subject has the right of access and portability of the data.

Rights of Personal Data Subjects: https://www.ucp.pt/rights-data-subjects. 

For purposes of exercising the respective rights, contact the University through the e-mail address compliance.rgpd@ucp.pt or by using the address found at the end of this announcement, through the means set out in "Contacts for clarification". 

The Data Subject is always entitled to contact and file a complaint with the Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (Portuguese Supervisory Authority for Personal Data).

14. Non-discrimination and equal access policy

Universidade Católica Portuguesa actively promotes a non-discrimination and equal access policy, wherefore no candidate can be privileged, benefited, impaired or deprived of any rights whatsoever, or be exempt of any duties based on their ancestry, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, family and economic conditions, instruction, 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 convictions, and/or union membership.

15. Final notes

This notice for applications is exclusively intended to fill this specific vacancy and can be terminated at any time up to the approval of the final candidate list. The call for applications expires once the vacancy has been filled. 

The present call for applications and the contract signed as a result thereof shall only take effect if financing conditions are met.

The present call for applications may be cancelled when it is vacant, when any case of force majeure occurs, or when other reasons of a budgetary nature, occurring after the opening of the competition, determine it.

The selected candidate shall be hired by Universidade Católica Portuguesa as a  auxiliary researcher under a permanent contract, in the framework of Article 66 of the ECDI of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, predicted to start on September 15, 2025.

16. Contacts for further information:

Universidade Católica Portuguesa – Centro Regional do Porto, Rua de Diogo Botelho, 1327, 4169-005 Porto, Portugal

Direção de Recursos Humanos

drh.recrutamento.porto@ucp.pt