Research Fellowship – 1 vacancy

Within the project – DISROLF
Project number: EXPL/BIA-ECO/1161/2021

Ref. ª: CCMAR/BINCGAM/12/2021

The Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) opens one (01) Research Fellowship for a person with a Master Degree (Bolsa de Investigação não conducente à obtenção de grau académico para pessoa com mestrado), for applicants of any nationality, including stateless candidates, and holders of political refugee statute, in the scientific field of Biological Sciences or Analytical Chemistry, within the research project: EXPL/BIA-ECO/1161/2021, named as  “Olfactory Disruption in the Ria Formosa: Disrolf” funded by the  Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P./MCTES through national funding (PIDDAC)  under the following conditions:

Host and Contracting Institution: CCMAR
This fellowship is intended for Master’s Degree holders that are enrolled in a non-academic degree course, integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution and developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units at the starting date of the fellowship.

Work Plan, Tasks to perform and objectives:
The DISROLF project aims to assess possible interference of compounds released in waste-water from treatment plants on the chemical communication systems of animal in the Ria Formosa, Portugal. This will involve electrophysiological investigation of the olfactory/chemosensory systems of fish, crustaceans and molluscs, and the subsequent chemical identification of both natural and human-derived odorants.

Specifically, the fellowship holder will be involved in the following tasks and objectives:

i.    Carry out scientific research tasks in the fields of electrophysiology and analytical chemistry.
ii.    Participate in routine laboratory tasks, and wastewater sampling.
iii.    Prepare scientific articles and present the results.
iv.    Participate in the daily management of the research project.
v.    Supervising students in the final year of their bachelor degree.
vi.    Participate in scientific dissemination to the general public.

Scientific Supervisor:
Dr. Peter Hubbard, Coordinator of the project and researcher at CCMAR and Professor Teresa Modesto, Professor at UALG and researcher at CCMAR.
Work place:

The workplace is CCMAR (Gambelas Campus of the Algarve University, Faro, Portugal) but it might be necessary to perform some field work.

Requirements for the application:
Applicants must meet all the conditions stated below:

1.    M.Sc. in biological sciences and/or analytical chemistry.
2.    Experience in basic laboratory techniques.
3.    Fluency in English and/or Portuguese
4.    Availability to start in January, 2022.
5.    This fellowship may only be granted to those who do not exceed, with the conclusion of the present fellowship contract, an accumulated period of two years in this type of fellowship, consecutive or otherwise, to be confirmed through the candidate’s CV.

Non-compliance justifies exclusion from the procedure.

Evaluation criteria: 
Through the analysis of the application documents the evaluation criteria for the applications and their relative weight for ranking are as follows:
1) CV and experience of the candidate (70%)

2) Final grade of M.Sc. (30%)

The selection committee reserves the right to contact and interview candidates if additional information or clarification of any curricular aspect is necessary. In case it takes place, the interview aims to evaluate in more detail the curricular items used to grade the candidate according to the list above.

In the event that no applicant has the necessary profile, the selection committee reserves the right to close the call without any recruitment. In the event that the selected person does not take up the position because of failure to comply with documentary requirements or any other reason, or later during the contract if they resign, the jury reserves the right, upon convenience and opportunity, to assign the post to the next applicant in accordance with the ranking positions based on the selectable reservation list that can be used up to 6 months of the date of the present announcement.

Fellowship conditions: The fellowship will have a duration of 12 months, expected to start from  January  2022. The fellowship must be carried out under an exclusivity regimen, according to the FCT Fellowship Regulation (RBI) and of the  CCMAR fellowship regulations (see here) based on the Portuguese law 40/2004, of 18 of August (Scientific Research Fellowship holder statutes) amended by the Decree-Law 123/2019 of 28 of August. A maintenance allowance of 1104.64€ will be paid monthly, through bank transfer, and will be updated as stipulated by the Foundation for Science and Technology (see here https://bit.ly/2ZcxUGJ). 

Application period: from 8th  November to 22th  November 2021 at 23:59 (Lisbon time, Portugal). 

Application process and mandatory documents: 
Complete applications must be submitted online at https://www.ccmar.ualg.pt/list/job and must include:
⦁    a motivation letter in Portuguese or English;
⦁    a detailed Curriculum Vitae in Portuguese or English;
⦁    the declaration of honour, available from the application platform, declaring the intention to enrol in a non-academic degree course, integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution and developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D unit, if the candidate is selected for the position;
⦁    a copy of the Master degree Certificate with the final classification (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution) or a copy of the certificate of recognition of the Master degree by a Portuguese Public Higher Education Institution or by DGES – Directorate General for Higher Education (if the degree was awarded by a foreign University) with the conversion of the final classification in the Portuguese scale; 
⦁    the complete declaration of honour, available from the application platform, if they are unable at the time of application, to provide a copy of the Master degree certificate with the final classification (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution) or a copy of the certificate of recognition of the Master degree with the conversion of the final classification in the Portuguese scale (if the degree was awarded by a foreign University), as indicated above; 
⦁    the email contact of up to 3 referees.

Non-compliance with these documents/information determines the immediate rejection of the application.

Results and Preliminary Hearing: The admission and evaluation results will be communicated by email within 90 working days after the application deadline. After notification, candidates have 10 working days to contest the preliminary decision.

Candidates holding degrees awarded by a foreign university should have their degree recognized in Portugal no later than the date indicated in the communication of selection for the position. Non-compliance justifies exclusion from the procedure. Information about the recognition procedures can be obtained at any Portuguese public higher education institution or by Directorate General for Higher Education – DGES (here https://bit.ly/3afyQQU). The CCMAR board of Directors reserves the right to extend the above mentioned period, after request from the selected applicant, and as long as it does not cause a negative impact the working plan. 

Selection Committee: 
Dr. Peter Hubbard, Coordinator of the project and researcher at CCMAR (president of the jury), Professor Teresa Modesto, Professor at UALG and researcher at CCMAR (Member) and Dr. Zélia Velez, researcher at UALG and CCMAR (member).

Notes:
Hiring Documents 
After the candidate is selected and for the hiring purpose the following documentation/information will be requested: 
- proof of the enrolment (Recibo de inscrição/matricula) from the Academic Services in a non-academic degree course (in accordance with the declaration on honour).
-  If applicable, copy of the master degree (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution) with the final classification in the Portuguese scale. 
- If applicable, certificate of recognition of the master degree by a Portuguese Public Higher Education Institution or by DGES – Directorate General for Higher Education (if the degree was awarded by a foreign University) with the final classification in the Portuguese scale. 
- Declaration of commitment stating the exclusivity regime.
- Civil, fiscal and social security Identification (if applicable).
- Account Number – IBAN
- Ciência ID: https://www.ciencia-id.pt/CienciaID/HomePage.aspx

Fellowship Agreement model
After the candidate selection and all information is received, it will be signed a fellowship agreement in accordance with the model  here

Fellowship holder Assessment
At the end of each period of duration of the fellowship contract, the activity developed by the grant-holder will be evaluated by the supervisors, by applying the following criteria, in accordance with the model below using the following scale: unsatisfactory;satisfactory; good; excellent. The grant-holder must achieve satisfactory (or above) in at least four of the six criteria listed below:

⦁    Capacity to work independently;
⦁    Capacity to understand and use the techniques involved in the project;
⦁    Obey laboratory regulations;
⦁    Capacity to work as a member of a team;
⦁    Capacity to analyse and interpret scientific data;
⦁    Capacity to write scientific reports. 

Supervisor report model here

Fellowship holder report
By the end of each fellowship period, the fellowship holder must present a report. You can find the fellowship holder final report model here

If there is some unexpected shortcoming with the approval of the funding application the jury reserves the right to close the call without any recruitment. 

Disabled candidates shall be preferred in a situation of equal ranking, and said preference supersedes any legal preferences. Candidates must declare, on their honour, their respective disability degree, type of disability and communication / expression means to be used during selection period on their application form, under the regulations above.

CCMAR’s non-discrimination and equal access opportunities policy – No candidate can be privileged, benefited, jeopardised or be deprived of any right or exempt of any claim in regards to descendent, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, economic situation, origin, social economy, genetic heritage, disability, chronic disease, nationality, ethnicity, territory of origin, language, religion, politics, ideology or union membership.  

Faro, 03 November 2021