Research Grant | project DESignSX, ref 101116461 of CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials Porto

Research Grant | project DESignSX, ref 101116461 of CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials
Porto
Porto, Porto District, Portugal

Organisation/Company University of Aveiro Department CICECO - Aveiro Institute of Materials Research Field Engineering » Chemical engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Master Positions Country Portugal Application Deadline 15 May 2025 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon) Type of Contract Not Applicable Job Status Not Applicable Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 1 Jun 2025 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Horizon Europe - ERC Reference Number 101116461 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

A tender is hereby opened for the award of 1 (one) ResearchGrant (RG)under project DESign
SX, “Hydrophobic Eutectic Solvents for Tailored Metal Separation and Recycling“, reference Horizon — ERC-2023-STG— 101116461from CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials under the following conditions:

1. Scientific Area :Chemical Engineering

3. Admission Requirements:Students enrolled in a Doctoral programme of Chemical Engineering or Masters enrolled in courses that do not confer academic degree integrated into the educational project of a Higher Education Institution.

The proof of enrolment must be made available until the contract is awarded, and the candidate may attach a declaration of honor to confirm that they meet the requirements for enrolment in an integrated master's degree, master's or doctoral program or in a course that does not confer an academic degree.

If the qualification has been conferred by a foreign higher education institution it must be recognized by a Portuguese higher education institution, under the terms of the provisions of article 25 of Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of August 16th, which approves the legal regime of recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of Higher Education, attributed by foreign higher education institutions, and of paragraph e) of no. 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law no. 60/2018, of August 3rd, and any formalities established therein must be fulfilled by the date of the hiring act .

4. Eligibility: Applicants are eligible if they comply with paragraph a) of no. 1 of article 2, of the Research Fellow Statute in the wording given by Decree-Law no. 123/2019, of August 28th, and also the provisions of article 9 of the Scientific Research Grant Regulations of the University of Aveiro. The duration of the RG is, as a rule, annual, extendable to a maximum of two years, in the case of master's degrees, integrated master's degrees and
- degree courses, and the respective duration, including renewal, may be consecutive or interpolated, pursuant to no. 5 of Article 9 of the above mentioned Regulation.

5. Work plan: This grant will investigate the use of
- inspired
- ionic hydrophobic eutectic solvents (DES) towards the improved solvent extraction separation of lanthanides. DES are binary
- melting liquid mixtures with promising potential as an alternative to existing
- derived organic solvents. However, the application of DES in solvent extraction separations has so far been limited in large part due to a lack of fundamental understanding of their pure liquid phase structuration and the influence of solutes of varying polarity on the latter. Through a tandem
- computational approach spanning multiple time and size scales, from a molecular description of
- wise interactions to
- scale process optimisation, this project will investigate how the modification of the DES composition influences the energy penalty associated with the structuration of the apolar phase and how this can be rationally adjusted to increase the selectivity between adjacent lanthanides. Major objectives include (i) the improvement of solvent extraction systems for lanthanide separation and (ii) the determination of the relationship between solvent structure, metal speciation, and extraction performance. Previous experience in metal separation and recovery and/or computational simulation (thermodynamic software such as COSMO; molecular dynamics) are relevant for this position but not mandatory.

6. Applicable legislation and regulations: Research Fellow Statute, as amended by Decree-Law No. 123/2019, of August 28th; Scientific Research Grant Regulation of the University of Aveiro, Regulation No. 292/2020, published in Diário da República No. 61, Series II, of March 26th; Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16th (Legal regime of recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of higher education awarded by foreign higher education institutions).

7. Workplace: The work will be carried out at Instituto de Materiais de Aveiro (CICECO) of the University of Aveiro, under the scientific supervision of Doctor Nicolas Gislain Schaeffer.

8. Duration of the grant(s): The grant duration will be 12 months, starting in June of 2025, and may be renewed for additional periods of 12 months, up to the maximum limit of approved funding. Under no circumstances shall it exceed the limits defined in nos. 5 and 6 of article 9, of Regulation no. 292/2020, of February 28th, published in Diário da República, no. 61, Series II, of March 26th (Scientific Research Grant Regulation of the University of Aveiro).

9. Amount of monthly maintenance allowance: The amount of the grant corresponds to €1, 309. 64, according to the table of values of monthly maintenance allowances, set out in Appendix III of the Scientific Research Grant Regulation of the University of Aveiro , subject to any updates that may occur and are applicable. If the candidate is enrolled in a Ph
D program, they will additionally receive a monthly supplement of up to €229. 20, as stipulated in Rector's Order no. 58 -REIT/2022 of the University of Aveiro, to be determined based on the specific Doctoral Program in which they are enrolled. The amount is subject to any updates that may occur and be applicable. The candidate may also be reimbursed for the amount corresponding to the Voluntary Social Security, in case of adherence to this plan.

10. Selection methods: The selection methods to be used will be the following: curriculum vitae assessment , with the respective value of 70% assigned to the average of the last academic degree obtained and 30% for relevant e xperience of R&D in the area of the grant. The jury reserves the right to not assign the Research Grant if no candidates reach the minimum score of 15 points in a scale of 0 to 20 points.

12. Deadline for applications and how to submit applications: The call is open from 30th of April 2025 to 15th of May 2025, and only applications submitted within the deadline will be admitted.

Applications must be formalized by sending a letter of application accompanied by the following documents: Curriculum Vitae, certificate of qualifications, declaration of honor and other supporting documents deemed relevant . They shall also indicate the
- mail address to which by such indication they accept to be notified for all purposes within this procedure.

13. Form of publication/notification of results: The results of the evaluation shall be made public no later than 10 working days after the closing date for submission of applications and shall be notified to the applicants. The candidates are informed, in a prior hearing, under the terms established in the Code of Administrative Procedure, of the probable meaning of the final decision, and may, within 10 working days of this notification, express their opinion on this decision. The final results may be appealed to the Rector, to be submitted within 10 working days from the respective notification.

14. Tender duration: The final ranking list of candidates will be valid until 23rd of May 2025 for the purpose of constituting a reserve list for selection.