ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE ATTRIBUTION OF ONE RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS– BI/SuberSafe-CBMA/2025 Braga

ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE ATTRIBUTION OF ONE RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS– BI/SuberSafe-CBMA/2025
Braga
Braga, Braga, Portugal

Organisation/Company Universidade do Minho Department Escola de Ciências Research Field Agricultural sciences » Other Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Master Positions Country Portugal Application Deadline 1 Jul 2025 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon) Type of Contract Permanent Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 16 Jun 2025 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO
Centro de Biologia Molecular e Ambiental (CBMA)
ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE ATTRIBUTION OF ONE RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIPS– BI/Suber
Safe-CBMA/2025
A call for tenders is now open for the attribution of one Research Scholarship within the scope of the R&D project “Suber
Safe - Finding sustainable strategies for protecting cork oak forests from phytopathogens”, reference COMPETE2030-FEDER- 00737100, with support of the Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation (COMPETE) through the European Regional Development Fund (FEDER), and by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through national funds (OE), under the following conditions:
1. Scientific Area: Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (Agronomy, Plant Production and Protection)
2. Recipients: Candidates with a Master degree in Plant Biology/Genetics/Biochemistry and related areas, and
• Enrolled in Doctoral Programmes
OR
• Enrolled or available to enroll in courses that do not confer an academic degree.
Preference will be given to candidates with experience in biochemical and molecular studies of plants and microorganisms. Candidates must demonstrate excellent proficiency in English, both spoken and written, as well as initiative, the ability to work in a methodical and rigorous manner, and strong teamwork skills. In addition, candidates should be available to travel to Bragança for field and laboratory activities.
3. 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
- 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
- academic degree course will be contracted, according to the type of the fellowship, indicating, respectively, the academic year or its duration (star and term).
4. Profile:
The following are eligible to apply for this competition:
• Nationals or citizens of other member states of the European Union;
• Citizens of third countries;
• Stateless persons;
• Citizens with political refugee status
5. Admissibility requirements:
It is essential, under penalty of not being admitted to the competition, to attach the following documents to the application:
• The candidate's curriculum vitae;
• Certificates of the academic degrees obtained or, if applicable, the candidate's declaration of honour that he/she has completed the degrees required in the notice by the application deadline (not applicable to research initiation grants);
• A representative document (such as an article, thesis, or conference presentation) aligned with the field of the call and the proposed work;
• For degrees obtained abroad, the record of recognition of the academic degrees and record of the conversion of the respective final classification to the Portuguese classification scale must be presented, or, alternatively, the candidate's declaration of honour (not applicable to research initiation grants).
6. Eligibility of applicants: applicants must meet the eligibility conditions established in article 9 of the FCT I. P Research Grant Regulation (2019).
7. Work plan: The selected candidates will carry out research and development (R&D) activities within the framework of the Suber
Safe project, under the supervision of the Principal Investigator and project team members, with the objective of consolidating their scientific training and contributing to the advancement of the project’s goals.
The Suber
Safe project builds on an existing collection of endophytes and plant
- promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) isolated from cork oak (Quercus suber) stands. The project aims to integrate existing knowledge and microbial resources to develop effective biocontrol strategies targeting major cork oak pathogens. These activities are aligned with broader objectives of sustainable forest management and plant health.
Throughout the contract period, the candidates will engage in laboratory and field work, data analysis, and dissemination activities. Specific tasks to be undertaken include:
Task 1: Preparation, identification, and selection of endophyte and PGPR isolates from the available collection, including culture maintenance and molecular characterization where required.
Task 2: Determination and confirmation of the antagonistic potential of selected isolates against key cork oak pathogens, through in vitro antagonism assays and other relevant bioassays.
Task 3: Characterization of the nature of antagonistic compounds produced by selected isolates, including the use of biochemical and molecular techniques to determine whether activity is due to volatile, diffusible, or enzymatic compounds.
Task 4: Production and optimization of aqueous extracts enriched in antagonistic compounds, with a view to evaluating their potential use as localized biocontrol agents and minimizing ecological risks.
Task 5: Integration of results and assessment of applicability, including comparative analysis of individual isolates versus consortia, and the preparation of reports and scientific communications.
In addition to these technical tasks, candidates will be expected to:
• Participate in regular project meetings and progress reviews;
• Contribute to scientific publications and dissemination activities;
• Engage in collaborative work with team members and project partners;
• Take part in fieldwork in Bragança.
The work plan is designed to provide advanced scientific training in microbial ecology,
- microbe interactions, biocontrol strategies, and analytical methods, and to foster the development of transferable skills relevant to academic and professional careers in environmental biotechnology and forest health.
8. 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”, 2nd series, nº 119, through dispatch nº 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration nº 447/2021 of 22-06-2021 and Regulation of Research Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I. P. - in force.
9. Host institution and scientific supervision: The work will be developed at the Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, Campus de Gualtar-Braga, and will be supervised by Prof. Teresa Lino Neto.
10. Duration of the Research Scholarship: The research scholarships will last 12 months, starting on 1st September 2025.
11. Monthly Maintenance Allowance: The monthly maintenance allowance corresponds to the basic value of 1 309, 64 euros, , in accordance with the stipends values published by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT I. P. ) in the country (Annex I – Monthly Stipends Values for the maintenance allowances of the FCT Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships) and Annex II of the Regulation of Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in “Diário da República”, 2nd series, nº 119, through dispatch nº 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration nº 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, according to the applicable regulation.
Payment is made on the 23st 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 scholarships of 6 months or more) and Personal Accident Insurance. Payments are made by bank transfer to the account identified by the scholarship holder.
12. Exclusivity regime:
The grantees will perform the activities under exclusivity, as foreseen in article 5º of the Research Fellow Statutes and applicable regulations.
13. Composition of the selection jury:
President: Rui Manuel Peixoto Tavares, Assistant Professor, Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, School of Sciences, University of Minho;
Effective members:
Maria Teresa Correia Guedes Lino Neto, Associate Professor with Habilitation, Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, School of Sciences, University of Minho;
Maria Manuela Ribeiro Costa, Assistant Professor, Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, School of Sciences, University of Minho;
Substitute members:
Cristina Alexandra Almeida Aguiar, Assistant Professor, Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, School of Sciences, University of Minho;
Pedro Miguel Amadeu Costa Santos, Assistant Professor, Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology, School of Sciences, University of Minho.
If the President of the Jury is unavailable, she shall be replaced by the first effective member. The first substitute member will replace the effective member.
The Jury, 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.
14. Evaluation and Selection Process: The evaluation of the applications will focus on the merit of the applicant (MC), by applying the following criteria on a scale of 1 (insufficient) to 5 (excellent):
A. Merit of the applicant (MC)
A. 1: (30%) Academic background of the candidate, assessing their performance in degrees and courses relevant to the field of the call and the work to be developed, as well as previous experience in research projects.
A. 2: (40%) Experience and interest in the specified areas, highlighting experimental skills and providing access to a representative document (such as an article, thesis, or conference presentation) aligned with the field of the call and the proposed work.
A. 3: (30%) Motivation letter, which will be evaluated in terms of clarity, relevance, and alignment of the candidate’s goals with the project topic.
The classification of the Candidate's Merit (MC) will be determined using the following formula:
MC = (A. 1*0. 3) + (A-2*0. 4) +(A. 3*0. 3)
The jury may also decide not to assign the Scholarship if none of candidates meets the minimum required conditions (final grade above 4). Documents proving the ownership of academic degrees and diplomas, or their respective recognition when foreign higher
education institutions have awarded them may be dispensed with at the application stage, being replaced by a declaration of honour by the candidate, with the verification of this condition occurring only in phase of contracting the scholarship. This statement 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 the purpose of contracting a grant, only the information contained in the latter will be considered. If it is verified that 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 and may, consequently, changing the candidate's ranking, the scholarship will not be contracted.
Note: 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 jury will assign the minimum grade in the grade of the degree and/or master's course, according to the defined scale of values. of a higher education institution, in the area or area related to that requested in notice.
15. Communication of results: The evaluation results project, based in the selection panel minutes, will be send to the applicants by email, in accordance with article 13 of UMinho's RBIC.
If case of unfavourable results, the candidates have a period of 10 working days to comment, if desired, in a prior hearing to interested parties, pursuant to articles 121 and 122 of the Code of Administrative Procedure (DL nº 4 / 2015 of January 7th).
16. Complaint and appeal procedures: The final results of the evaluation will be publicized through an ordered list (alphabetically, by final grade obtained), by email to all candidates, attaching, for that purpose, the minutes with the deliberations of the jury. The selected candidate must state in writing their intention to accept the scholarship. In case of
- acceptance, the scholarship will be awarded to the next candidate in order of final ranking, provided the final grade remains above 3. A complaint may be filed against the final decision, within 15 working days, addressed to the President of the Jury. Interested parties may also present an optional hierarchical appeal, addressed to the Vice-Rector for Scientific Projects and Research Management, Professor Dr. Sandra Paiva.
17. Deadline for application and form of submission of applications:
The application is open from June 16th - July 1st, 2025
Applications must be formalized, obligatorily, through the following documents: i) Detailed curriculum vitae (pdf form), including the telephone and email contacts of the candidate; ii) official academic degrees certificates or declaration of the candidate; iii) Detailed list of grades (pdf format); iv) Motivation letter explaining the interest in the position (pdf format).
All documents must be submitted in PDF format.
Applications must be sent by email to tlneto@bio. uminho. pt , indicating the reference of the competition BI/ Suber
Safe-CBMA/2025 in the subject line. Applications sent through other means will not be accepted.
18. Fellowship contractualization:
The fellowship will be attributed by signing a fellowship contract between the University of Minho and the fellow, accordingly with the contract minute (annex IV of the Regulation of Research Fellowships of the University of Minho (RBIC), published in Diário da República, 2nd Série, nº 119, through dispatch nº 6524/2020 of 22-06-2020, ratified by ratification declaration nº 447/2021 of 22-06-2021, as indicated in 2. 4 of the FCT document: “Rules for Granting and Management of Grants within the scope of R&D
projects, including infrastructure projects, the
- annual financing program for R&D units and other FCT financing instruments (Version 2021)”.
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 15 working days to conclude the scholarship contract, UMinho's RBIC, under the terms of nº2 of Article 15º. Once received, the fellow must return the contract duly signed within 15 working days.
The activities under the fellowship contract can only began after proper authorization by the contracting entity.
19. Term and cancellation of fellowship contracts:
Without prejudice to the other causes provided the fellowship regulations (FCT and UMinho) and in the Statute of the Research Fellow, the fellowship ends with the completion of the work plan, as well as with the expiration date for which it was granted or renewed.
At the end of the fellowship, the grantee