Assistant Researcher, in the scientific field of Mechanical Engineering Aveiro

Organisation/Company Aveiro University Department Mechanical Engineering Department Research Field Engineering » Mechanical engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Ph
D Positions Country Portugal Application Deadline 12 Dec 2025 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon) Type of Contract Permanent Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 40 Offer Starting Date 2 Feb 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number CI-CTTI-274-SGRH/2025 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

CI-CTTI-274-SGRH/2025 - Doctor Paulo Jorge dos Santos Gonçalves Ferreira, Full Professor and Rector at the University of Aveiro, hereby announces that, for a period of thirty working days from the working day immediately following that on which the notice corresponding to this notice is published, by notice (extract), in the Diário da República , an international open call is being held for the recruitment of one (1) position of Assistant Researcher, in the scientific field of Mechanical Engineering, under an employment contract for an indefinite period, concluded under the Labor Code, with the monthly salary corresponding to the first salary position of the respective category, on an exclusive dedication basis (€3501. 28), to be carried out at University of Aveiro.

The opening of this call was authorized by order 43-REIT/2025 of August 1st, 2025and authorized by order of 17th of October 2025, both issued bythe Rector of University of Aveiro, issued on a proposal from the Scientific Council. This call is open under University of Aveiro's program to hire researchers for certain scientific fields, including those covered by article 3, in particular no. 4, of Law no. 55/2025, of April 28th, and is governed by the provisions of this law, the Statute of the Scientific Research Career and the common system of the proper careers of scientific research under private law, and the Regulation on the System of the Proper Career of the Research Staff under Private Law of University of Aveiro and respective hiring (Regulation no. 609/2015, published in Diário da República no. 174 , 2nd series, of September 7), and by other applicable legislation and regulations.

1 - Scientific field

1. 1 - The scientific field of this call is Mechanical Engineering.

1. 2 - The Scientific Council has not identified any other related scientific field.

2 - Admission requirements:

2. 1 - Admission to the call is subject to the following requirements: holding a doctoral degree in the scientific field of the call or those who, although holding a doctorate in a different area, have a relevant scientific curriculum in that area.

2. 2 - Candidates for the call who hold qualifications obtained abroad must provide proof of the recognition, equivalence or registration of the doctoral degree in the scientific area for which the competition is open, under the terms of the applicable legislation. This formality must be fulfilled by the time the contract is concluded.

3 - Formalization of applications:

3. 1 - Applications must be accompanied by the following documents:

• a) Application form addressed to the Rector of University of Aveiro;
• b) A detailed curriculum vitae containing all the information relevant to the evaluation of the application, taking into account the evaluation aspects set out in no. 5. 3. 2. of this notice, which must be organized in accordance with the evaluation criteria and sub‑factors set out in no. 6;
• c) Copies of works selected by the candidate as being most representative of their curriculum vitae, up to a maximum of five;
• d) Submission of a single document justifying the works selected in the previous paragraph;
• e) Report on scientific performance and other activities considered relevant to the University's mission (the candidate should include the contributions they have made and consider relevant, particularly in the context of the work they have selected as being most representative);
• f) Scientific project: a document with a maximum of 10 pages to support a future mission letter, which should include a proposal of the activities that the candidate intends to carry out during the first five years of his/her activity as an Assistant Researcher, explaining how he/she can contribute to the progress and development of the scientific field for which the call is open, in the scientific aspects and cooperation with society;
• g) A document that objectively shows the number of citations (if applicable) to the publications indicated in the curriculum and an explanation of the method used to count them, in sufficient detail for the jury to be able to reproduce the procedure, in accordance with no. 6. The candidate must provide a form of name identification for the search;
• h) Any other elements that the candidate considers relevant to the assessment of their merit.

3. 3 - The curriculum vitae must include:

• a) Candidate's full name;
• b) Specialty appropriate to the scientific field for which the call has been opened;
• c) A copy of the qualifications certificate with the respective classification or other suitable document legally recognized for this purpose. Applicants for the call who hold a doctoral degree obtained abroad must provide proof of recognition, equivalence or registration of the doctoral degree by a Portuguese higher education institution, under the terms of the applicable legislation.
• d) All the information relevant to the evaluation of the application, taking into account the assessment aspects set out in no. 5. 3. 2. of this notice, which must be organized in accordance with the evaluation criteria and sub‑factors set out in no. 6;
• e) Documents proving all the elements identified in paragraphs b), c) and d) of this 3. 3;

3. 4 - Candidates belonging to University of Aveiro are exempt from submitting the documents referred to in paragraph c) of no. 3. 3, which are included in their individual file.

3. 5 - Form of application:

3. 5. 1 - Applications, which may be submitted in Portuguese or English, must be sent electronically to the address of University of Aveiro's Contracts and Working Conditions Area (sgrh-avct-recrutamento@ua. pt), by the deadline set out in this Announcement. The Services will issue a message confirming that it has been electronically validated.

3. 5. 3 - When formalizing the application, if a classified document is submitted that reveals a commercial or industrial secret, or a secret relating to literary, artistic or scientific property, or requires a reservation, the candidate must identify the document with this information, failing which the work in question will be freely accessed by any of the other candidates when they consult the file.

3. 5. 6 - Failure to comply with the application submission deadline, as well as failure to submit or late submission of the documents referred to in paragraphs a) to g) of no. 3. 1 will result in the application being rejected. The decision to exclude candidates will be communicated to them by email, so that they can be heard, in accordance with articles 121 et seq. of the Code of Administrative Procedure.

4 - Selection Jury:

4. 1 - The jury is made up as follows:

4. 2 - Decisions are taken by reasoned roll‑call vote, by an absolute majority of the votes of the members of the jury present at the meeting, with no abstentions allowed.

5 - Admission and exclusion of applications

5. 1 - Approval on absolute merit:

The admission of candidates is subject to their approval on absolute merit, based on the merit of their overall curriculum in the scientific field of the call, taking into account, cumulatively, the fulfillment of at least one of the following requirements:

• 5. 1. 1 - To be the author or co‑author of at least 5 articles in the scientific field for which the call is open, indexed in the Science Citation Index Expanded of the Web of Science of Clarivate Analytics as document type = article or document type = review or in SCI Verse of SCOPUS with the same characteristics;
• 5. 1. 2 - To have obtained a total of at least 50 (excluding self‑citations) of the scientific works produced in the scientific field for which the call is open and indexed as indicated in no. 5. 1. 1;
• 5. 1. 3 - Have an h‑index, according to SCOPUS or Web of Science by Clarivate Analytics, of at least 5 for scientific works produced in the scientific field for which the call is open.

5. 2 - Candidates must prove that they meet the requirement(s) expressed above (5. 1. 1 to 5. 1. 3), indicating the key to be used in the Web of Science or SCOPUS search that proves it, or including in their CV a list from the same database that confirms it.

5. 3 - Selection method and public hearings

5. 3. 1 - The selection method is curricular assessment, which aims to assess scientific performance and performance in other activities relevant to the mission of higher education institutions.

5. 3. 2 - In the curricular assessment, the following aspects must be considered and weighted according to the requirements of the duties corresponding to the category for which this call relates:

• a) The candidate's scientific performance in the field for which the call is open;
• b) The transfer of knowledge;
• c) Participation in management bodies;
• d) Scientific project.

5. 3. 3 - In assessing the aspects referred to in paragraphs a), b) and c) of the previous no. , the length of the candidates' CVs must be taken into account and particular emphasis will be placed on the activity carried out in the last 5 (five) years, which will account for 80% of the assessment in each of these aspects.

6 - Assessment criteria.

The following criteria are assessed in the application of the evaluation strands referred to in no. 5. 3. 2, to which the indicated weighting factors are assigned:

6. 1 - Criteria for assessing the Scientific Performance aspect:

6. 1. 1 - Scientific production. Quality and quantity of scientific production in the field for which the call is open (books, book chapters, articles in magazines, communications at congresses) expressed by the number and type of publications, and by the recognition given to them by the scientific community (reflected in the quality of the places of publication and the references made to them by other authors).

6. 1. 2 - Participation in scientific projects. Quality and quantity of scientific projects in which you have participated, in the area for which the call was opened, financed on a competitive basis by public funds, through national or international agencies, or financed by companies. When assessing quality, account should be taken of the funding obtained, the role played in the project (e. g. principal investigator, guest consultant, participant), the degree to which the call was demanding, the evaluations of the projects carried out and the prototypes completed, in particular whether they resulted in products or services.

6. 1. 3 - Intervention in the scientific community. Evaluating the ability to intervene in the scientific community, expressed in particular through the organization of events, participation as (co‑) editor of journals, participation in project and article evaluation functions, presentation of guest lectures, as well as participation in academic juries and consultancy activities and the recognition obtained through the awarding of prizes or other distinctions and their impact.

6. 1. 4 - Setting up scientific teams and supervising students in post‑doctoral, doctoral and master's work, in the area and field for which the call is open.

6. 2 - Criteria for assessing the Knowledge Transfer aspect

6. 2. 1 - Patents, registration and ownership of rights, drafting of technical standards and legislation. Authorship and co‑authorship of patents, registrations of ownership of intellectual property rights on software, mathematical methods and rules of mental activity. Participation in standardization committees and in drafting legislation and technical standards. The assessment of this criterion should also take into account the economic value resulting from patents and intellectual property rights;

6. 2. 2 - Consulting, testing and measurement services. Participation in consultancy, testing and measurement activities involving the business environment and/or the public sector. Participation as a trainer in professional training or technological specialization courses for companies or the public sector. The assessment of this criterion should also take into account the economic value of the research results achieved, measured by the development and technology transfer contracts to which they have given rise and the spin‑off companies to whose creation they have contributed;

6. 2. 3 - Dissemination of science and technology. Participation in initiatives to disseminate science and technology to the scientific community (e. g. organization of congresses and conferences) and to various audiences. Scientific and technological publications. Presentation of lectures and seminars for the general public. The impact that the work developed by the candidate in the area for which the call is open has on the wider scientific community (e. g. references in scientific dissemination forums).

6. 3 - Criteria for assessing the Institutional Management aspect

6. 3. 1 - Participation of the candidate in scientific, pedagogical or institutional management activities and participation in academic juries outside the institution itself.

6. 4 - Criteria for assessing the scientific project

6. 4. 1 - The clarity of its structure and the quality of its presentation. The scientific topicality of the content and the suitability of the proposed program, taking into account the frontier of knowledge in the area and field for which the call is open. The degree of innovation introduced.

6. 5 - The weights associated with the strands and criteria are indicated in the following table:

Table - Weights associated with the strands and evaluation criteria

Aspect

Weights

Criteria

Weights

Scientific Performance

P1 = 0. 60

Scientific production (C11)

P11 = 0. 30

Participation in scientific projects (C12)

P12 = 0. 30

Intervention in the scientific community (C13)

P13 = 0. 10

Setting up scientific teams (C14)

P14 = 0. 30

Knowledge Transfer

P2 = 0. 10

Knowledge transfer or industrial activities, consultancy services, tests and measurements and science dissemination or management activities (C21)

P21 = 1. 00

Institutional Management

P3 = 0. 10

Management activities (C31)

P31 = 1. 00

Scientific Project

P4 = 0. 20

Scientific project (C41)

P41 = 1. 00

7 - Evaluation and selection

7. 1 - At the end of the admission phase, the jury will begin to assess the applications, taking into account the aspects and criteria set out in this notice.

7. 2 - At a first meeting, which may be held by teleconference by decision of the president of the jury, and after examining and admitting the applications, the jury will first decide whether to approve the candidates on absolute merit. To this end, each member of the jury will present the applications that they feel are not of a scientific standard compatible with the category for which this call is open. We will then vote on the proposals for exclusion, with no abstentions allowed. An application will be rejected outright if at least one proposal to this effect receives a majority of votes in favor from among the members of the jury present at the meeting, in which case the other proposals to the same effect for the same applicant will no longer be voted on.

8 - Voting order and methodology

8. 1 - The ranking of candida