A call is open to award (1) research grant within the R&D Project “REFINED - Refractory Engineering for Innovative and knowledge-based lining design”, Project number 16273, with reference COMPETE2030-FEDER-00743400, funded by Programa de Inovação e Transição digital (COMPETE2023), by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, by PORTUGAL 2030 and by European Union, in the following conditions:

RESEARCH FIELD: Civil Engineering or related fields.

CANDIDATES PROFILE / CANDIDATE ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Mandatory requirements:

In order to apply, the candidates must possess:

• A Master's degree in the field of Civil Engineering or related fields;
• Applicants must comply with the eligibility conditions laid down in article 9 of the Research Grants Regulation of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (2019).

At the time of the respective hiring, candidates must prove that they are enrolled in one of the following courses:

• PhD in Civil Engineering, or related fields;
• In a Course that do not confer an academic degree, integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution, in the area or area related to that requested in the tender (e.g.: postgraduate studies, advanced studies, specialized training).

Preferential factors:

• Professional or academic experience in Machine Learning;
• Professional or academic experience in Finite Element Modelling;
• English language proficiency.

Requirement for granting the fellowship:

• The applicants may apply without prior registration in the course for which the fellowship is open. The requirement to enroll in a degree course or non-academic degree course will be verified on the date of contracting the fellowship.
• Only fellowships whose selected applicants present a valid proof of enrollment in a degree course or non-academic degree course will be contracted, according to the type of the fellowship, indicating, respectively, the academic year or its duration (start and term).

APPLICATION / ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

The call is open from 30/07/2025 to 20/08/2025 (23:00 – Europe/Lisbon).

Applications must be sent exclusively by e-mail to jpereira@civil.uminho.pt, with the subject “Edital BI-ISISE-UMINHO-REFINED-16273-B1”, with the following documents: 

1. Elements of the National Identity Card/Citizen Card/Passport/Visa/Title of Residence;
2. Curriculum Vitae of the candidate, in Portuguese or in English;
3. Certificates of the academic degree(s) required, specifying the final grading (mandatory) and, if possible, the grades obtained in all the attended curricular units, or, alternatively, the candidate's declaration of honour that the degree was obtained until the end of the term of application;
4. Motivation letter, in Portuguese or in English.

Failure to comply with the application submission deadline, such as failure to submit or late submission of the application and the documents referred to in points 2) and 3), will result in the application being rejected.

Regarding the above mentioned admissibility requirements, the following should be noted:

• In the case of a degree granted by a foreign higher education institution, and in order to ensure the application of the principle of equal treatment to candidates holding foreign and national academic degrees, it is mandatory to recognize the degree and convert the respective final grading to the Portuguese grading scale. The academic degrees and diplomas documents, or their respective recognition when awarded by foreign higher education institutions are not mandatory in the application phase, being replaced by a declaration of honour of the candidate with the contents of academic results. The documents of academic qualification or respective recognition will be required in the contracting phase and must attest facts that occurred on a date prior to the application. In situations of divergence between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation submitted for contracting the grant, only the information contained in the latter will be consider. If the documents proving the ownership of the academic degree and diploma, or the respective recognition under the terms of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16, do not correspond to the classifications awarded in the evaluation of the academic path, which can change the candidate's ranking, the fellowship won’t be contracted.
• Applicants with degrees obtained abroad must present proof of recognition of qualifications in Portugal and conversion of the final classification obtained in them to the Portuguese classification scale or declaration under the terms indicated in the previous point. Candidates who do not comply with one of these provisions, the Selection Panel will assign “0” in the respective criteria. Candidates will be evaluated on the remaining parameters.
• Only candidates who have completed the required qualification by the end of the application period will be admitted. If they do not yet have the official degree certificate, a declaration of honour from the candidate stating that he/she has completed the qualifications required by the end of the application period, will be accepted. At the time of the respective hiring the candidate must present the official degree certificate.

DURATION OF THE RESEARCH GRANT

The research grant will last for 12 months, with a provisional starting date in October 2025.

The grant may be renewed until the maximum predicted in the project and/or applicable legislation, if it is necessary to complete the academic degree or to carry out activities that are essential for the conclusion of the project.

If the grant is awarded to candidates enrolled in a course that does not confer an academic degree, the grant cannot be renewed.

WORK PLAN AND OBJECTIVES

The work plan should contribute for the following activities of Task 1, Task 2, Task 3 and Task 4, and obtain the respective results: 

• Compilation of experimental and in situ databases regarding the thermomechanical behaviour of refractory masonry in the context of steel ladles used in the metallurgical industry;
• Development and validation of finite element models, considering the thermomechanical performance of the refractory masonry;
• Application of advanced statistical analysis algorithms, including sensitivity analyses and comparisons of different algorithm types;
• Development of applications based on advanced statistical analyses capable of predicting the thermomechanical behaviour of steel ladles in the metallurgical industry.

The work plan includes the support to the execution of the project deliverables, including scientific publications and periodic reports.

HOST INSTITUTION AND SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION

The work will be carried out at ISISE - Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering - Civil Engineering Department, School of Engineering of the University of Minho, located at Azurém (Guimarães), under the scientific supervision of Doctors João Miguel Pereira and Joaquim Agostinho Barbosa Tinoco.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation of the applications will focus on the Merit of the Candidate, by applying the following criteria on a scale of 0 to 5 points:

Candidate's Merit – CM (100%):

• Criterion A – Motivation Letter – 10%
• Criterion B – Academic performance (Final classification of the Master's Degree) - 50%;
• Criterion C – Personal Curriculum (reflecting scientific and professional background) - 40%;
  • Sub‑criterion C1 – Professional or academic experience in the field of data science – 35%
  • Sub‑criterion C2 – Professional or academic experience in the field of finite element modeling – 35%
  • Sub‑criterion C3 – Publications in journals and conferences relevant to the project theme – 30%

The final classification of the Candidate’s Merit (CM) will be obtained by applying the following formula: 

CM = (0,10 × A) + (0,50 × B) + (0,40 × ((0,35 × C1) + (0,35 × C2) + (0,30 × C3)))

Candidates with a final MC score lower than 3.0 points are immediately excluded from the selection process.

The jury may choose to conduct an interview. In this case, the top 3 candidates ranked on the MC ordered list will be selected for the interview.

Interview – INT (40%):

• Criterion E1 - Motivation, with a weighting of 30%;
• Criterion E2 - Technical knowledge necessary for the execution of the work plan, with a weighting of 30%;
• Criterion E3 - Overall assessment, with a weighting of 40%.

The Interview score (INT) will be calculated using the following formula:

INT = (E1 × 0,30) + (E2 × 0,30) + (E3 × 0,40)

The final classification (FC) combining the Candidate Merit (CM) and the Interview (INT) will be calculated using the following formula:

CF = (MC × 0,60) + (ENT × 0,40)

The Selection Committee reserves the right not to award the research scholarship in this call, based on the results of the candidate evaluation and their suitability for the project’s objectives.

SELECTION PANEL

The Selection Panel is composed by the following elements:

• President: Doctor João Miguel Pereira, Assistant Researcher, ISISE, School of Engineering, University of Minho.
• Effective members: Doctor Paulo José Brandão Barbosa Lourenço, Full Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering, ISISE, School of Engineering, University of Minho, and Doctor Joaquim Agostinho Barbosa Tinoco, Assistant Researcher, ISISE, School of Engineering, University of Minho.
• Substitute members: Doctor José Manuel Sena Cruz, Associate Professor with Habilitation of the Civil Engineering Department, ISISE, School of Engineering, University of Minho, and Doctor Miguel Ângelo Dias Azenha, Associate Professor with Habilitation of the Civil Engineering Department, ISISE, School of Engineering, University of Minho.

If the President of the Selection Panel is unavailable, he/she shall be replaced by the first effective member. The first substitute member will replace the effective member.

The Selection Panel, including the President, undertake the commitment to respect a set of responsibilities essential to the evaluation process, such as the duties of impartiality, of stating any potential situations of conflict of interest and confidentiality.

COMUNICATION OF RESULTS

The evaluation results, based on minutes, will be sent to the candidates by e-mail.

If the result is not in favour of the applicant, he/she has a period of 10 working days to comment the results, if he/she wishes it so, in the context of a prior hearing with the interested parties, under the terms of article 121 and 122 of the Administrative Procedure Code (DL nº 4 / 2015 of January 7).

COMPLAINT AND APPEAL PROCEDURES

The final results of the evaluation will be sent by email to all candidates, enclosing for that purpose, the minutes of the Selection Panel deliberations.

The selected candidate must indicate, in writing, the intention to accept the grant.

The final decision can be contested, having 15 working days for this purpose, by sending to the President of the Selection Panel the corresponding claim. Interested parties may also submit an optional hierarchical appeal, addressed to the Pro-Rector of the University of Minho for Scientific Projects and Research Management.

REQUIREMENTS FOR FINAL AWARDING OF THE GRANT

Research grant contracts are signed with the University of Minho, accordingly with the contract minute (annex II of the Regulation of Research Fellowships of the University of Minho).At the time of hiring, the following documents must be sent:

• National Identity Card/Citizen Card/Passport/Visa/Title of Residence;
• Copy of the certificate of the academic degree;
• Presentation of the certificate of recognition of foreign academic degree and conversion of the respective final grading into the Portuguese grading scale, if applicable;
• Document proving enrollment in the Doctoral Program or in a Course that does not confer an academic degree, identified in this application;
• Science ID;
• NIB/IBAN (document of the Bank with the name of the candidate);
• Tax Identification Number (NIF);
• Digital mobile key (digital signature).

The contract may only be concluded after all the documentation required is collected, which must take place within a maximum period of 6 months.Once all the documentation has been received, the contracting entity has a period of 60 working days to conclude the scholarship contract. Once received, the fellow must return the contract duly signed within 15 working days.

MONTHLY MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE

The Monthly Maintenance Allowance corresponds to the basic value of 1309,64 euros per month, according to the table of grants of FCT, I.P. in the country (Table of monthly maintenance allowances for the FCT I.P. Research Grant Regulation: http://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores).

Payments are made by bank transfer on the 23rd of each month through bank transfer to the Bank Identification Number of the fellow identified in the contractualization process.

OTHER BENEFITS

Reimbursement of the Voluntary Social Insurance, corresponding to the 1st tier of the contribution base (for grants of 6 months or more) and Personal Accident Insurance.

EXCLUSIVITY REGIME

The grantee will perform the activities under exclusivity, as foreseen in article 5º of the Research Fellow Statutes and applicable regulations.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR GRANT RENEWAL 

Grant may be renewed for additional periods, if this information is provided in “DURATION OF THE RESEARCH GRANT" and in the contract. This additional period may not exceed the regulatory limits or the end of the project.

The renewal of the grant always depends on a petition submitted by the grant holder, on a date prior to the end of the grant contract, accompanied by the following documents:

1. report issued by the supervisor(s) and by the host entity(ies) on the follow-up of the grant holder's work and the evaluation of his/her activities;
2. updated document proving compliance with the exclusive dedication regime;
3. document proving the renewal of enrollment in the study cycle leading to an academic degree or of a course that does not confer an academic degree. If, at the time of the renewal, the grant holder has already obtained the degree or completed the course, the contract may still be renewed if in its clauses it is specified that the renewal, in these situations, is intended to carry out activities that are indispensable for the completion of the project.

TERM AND CANCELLATION OF GRANT CONTRACTS

At the end of the grant, the grantee is obliged to present a Final Report of the work carried out, in accordance with the objectives and evaluation criteria defined with the scientific advisor, within 30 days after the end of the grant.

The Final Report must be prepared in accordance with Annex I of the Scientific Research Fellowships Regulation of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República n.º 81/2025, 2nd Serie of 2025-04-28, ratified through dispatch no RT-100/2025 of 27-06-2025.

APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS 

Research Fellowship Holder Statutes, approved by Law no. 40/2004 of August 18, in its current version published by Decree-Law no. 123/2019 of august 28; Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República n.º 81/2025, 2nd Serie of 2025-04-28, ratified through dispatch no RT-100/2025 of 27-06-2025; and Regulation of Research Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. - in force.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

You can find the Portuguese version of the application, templates for the declaration of honour, contract and final report at: https://isise.net/dissemination/recruitment/