Master’s Fellowship – 1 vacancy

 

Within the project – PREHAB

 

Project Ref.º: 100010434

 

Ref. ª: CCMAR/BM/02/2024

 

The Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) opens one (01) Master’s Fellowship (Bolsa de Mestrado), for applicants of any nationality, including stateless candidates, and holders of political refugee statute, in the scientific field of Biology, Botany and Analytical Chemistry within the research project number 100010434  -  named as “PREHAB: Predator-Prey Chemical Warfare and the Forecasting of Harmful Algal Blooms”, funded by the Caixa d'Estalvis i Pensions de Barcelona Banking Foundation under the "la Caixa" Junior Leader Scholarship Programme, under the following conditions:

 

Host and Contracting Institution: CCMAR

This fellowship is intended for R&D activities, by a student with a bachelor degree enrolled in a Master's Degree, with a view to consolidating his/her scientific training, through the development of research work leading to the achievement of a Master's degree.

 

Work Plan, Tasks to perform and objectives:

PREHAB seeks to develop an early warning of the timing, location, and magnitude of Harmful Algal Blooms and their associated biotoxins, allowing the aquaculture sector to plan and mitigate their losses and ensure the protection of both human and shellfish health. To achieve this goal, the fellowship holder will be involved in the following activities:

-Cultivation of microalgae;

-Sampling and handling environmental samples for chemical analysis;

-Extraction and analysis of biotoxins using LC-HRMS;

-Chromatographic data processing;

-Experimental planning and design in the context of the project's objectives;

-Technology/knowledge transfer activities and dissemination and writing of scientific articles;

-Contributing to the general maintenance of the laboratory.

 

Scientific Supervisor:

Doctor Sandra Lage, Researcher at CCMAR, Invited Assistant Professor at University of Algarve and coordinator of the project.

 

Work place:

The workplace is CCMAR (Gambelas Campus of the Algarve University, Faro, Portugal) and other places necessary for the execution of the work plan.

 

Requirements for the application:

Applicants must meet all the conditions stated below:

 

1.  Bachelor´s degree in Biology, Marine Sciences or related area;
2.  Good knowledge of written and spoken English.
3.  Availability to work on weekends, holidays, and after regular business hours as needed to complete the ongoing experiments.

 

Non-compliance justifies exclusion from the procedure.

 

It is considered as an advantage:

Preference will be given to applicants with previous experience in:

1. Scientific research laboratory;
2. Demonstrated expertise in paralytic shellfish toxins extraction;
3. Analysis with liquid chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS);
4. Chromatographic data processing with XCalibur.

 

In the event of a tie between candidates during the selection process, this argument may be used to select the candidates.

 

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. Curriculum Vitae (25%)
2. Experience in paralytic shellfish toxins extraction (25%)
3. Experience in analysis with liquid chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) and chromatographic data processing with XCalibur (25%)
4. English level (25%)

 

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 12 months of the date of the present announcement.

 

Fellowship conditions: The fellowship will have a duration of 12 months, expected to start from May 2024 and eventually renewed for additional periods until the end of the project, and never exceeding a maximum of 24 months. The fellowship must be carried out full-time (exclusive regime), according to the FCT Fellowship Rules (RBI) and the  CCMAR fellowship rules (see here), which are 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 990.98€ 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 11 to 25 of March of 2024 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:

1. A motivation letter (in English);
2. A detailed Curriculum Vitae (in English);
3. A copy of the Bachelor’s degree (Licenciatura) certificate;
4. A copy of certificates of participation in courses, workshops, or congresses mentioned in the CV.
5. The email contact of up to 3 references.

 

Non-compliance with this 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.

 

Selection Committee:

Doctor Sandra Lage, Researcher at CCMAR, Invited Assistant Professor at University of Algarve and coordinator of the project (President of the jury); Doctor José Paulo da Silva, Researcher and Research Infrastructure Manager at CCMAR (member) and Doctor Pedro Reis Costa, Researcher at CCMAR and IPMA (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 (Comprovativo de inscrição/matricula) from the Academic Services in a master degree (mestrado).
• 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 fellowship holder will be evaluated by the supervisor, by applying the following criteria, in accordance with the model below:

Criteria 1 – Performance of proposed tasks (50%)

Criteria 2 – Ability to analyse data and scientific writing (50%)

 

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

 

 

The board of Directors reserves the right, due to a change in circumstances at the date of the present announcement, to cancel the present 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, March 6th,2024