Master’s Fellowship – 1 vacancy

Within the project – INDRA
Project number: EXPL/CTA-CLI/0612/2021

Ref. ª: CCMAR/BM/16/2021

The Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) opens one (01) Master's Fellowship (Bolsa de Mestrado)  for a person with a Bachelor degree, of any nationality, including stateless candidates, and holders of political refugee statute, in the scientific field of Earth Sciences or related areas, within the research project: “INDRA - Indian monsoon and vegetation dynamics: lessons from two contrasting glacial-interglacial cycles of the Middle Pleistocene” Ref. EXPL/CTA-CLI/0612/2021 funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P./MCTES through national funding (PIDDAC) 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 in the field of Earth Sciences or related areas at the beginning of the fellowship, 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:
The INDRA project aims to reconstruct vegetation and climate changes in Central India during specific contrasting glacial-interglacial cycles with diverse baseline climatic conditions, namely the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 15-16 (630-564 thousand years ago (ka)) and MIS 11-12 (434-382 ka). This study will use deep-sea sediments from the IODP Site U1446 to generate high-fidelity monsoon proxy data, allowing the comparison of pollen-based vegetation dynamics with marine environmental changes and climate model experiments.

Specifically, the fellowship holder will be involved in the following tasks and objectives:

(1) Acquire the necessary training on the tropical fossil pollen flora and the vegetation from the core convective region in Central India, also known as the Core Monsoon Zone, to perform pollen analysis on IODP Site U1446.
(2) Analyse the pollen content on the marine sediments of IODP Site U1446 across the glacial period of MIS 16, and provide a robust reconstruction of the vegetation that can be used to monitor monsoon rainfall dynamics. 
(3) Compare the new reconstructions with the available marine and terrestrial climate proxy records from the same site, climate model results, Asian monsoon profiles and relevant world-wide archives to further constrain the monsoon-related hydroclimate change during MIS 16. Perform the appropriate suite of statistical analyses (e.g., cluster analysis, spectral analysis).
(4) Discuss the interpretation of the datasets with the interdisciplinary team of INDRA. 
(5) Write the master's thesis and a manuscript for an ISI journal based on the reconstruction of Indian vegetation and monsoon dynamics during MIS 16.
(6) Participate in the scientific dissemination activities and diffusion actions of the project.

Scientific Supervisor:
Dr. Dulce Oliveira, Coordinator of the project and researcher at CCMAR and IPMA. 

Work place:
The work will be developed at IPMA, IP, Divisão de Geologia Marinha at Rua Alfredo Magalhães Ramalho n.º 6, 1495-165 Algés, but it may be necessary to go abroad  for INDRA’s scientific activity and diffusion actions (2 x stays of up to 2 weeks).

Requirements for the application:
Candidates must meet all the following requirements: 
1.    The candidate must hold a bachelor degree in the fields of earth sciences, geology, biology, ecology and/or environmental sciences, or in related scientific fields. 
2.    The candidate must agree to be enrolled in a master’s degree at the beginning of the fellowship.
3.    Have a good knowledge of spoken and written English.

Non-compliance justifies exclusion from the procedure.

Preference will be given to applicants with (as demonstrated in their Curriculum Vitae):
1.    Work experience in a scientific research laboratory, demonstrated initiative and good level of independence.  
2.    Experience in pollen and/or micropalaentological analyses.
3.    Experience in light microscopy procedures and techniques.
4.    Analytical skills, including experience in statistical analyses.

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.    Academic assessment (including bachelor's area and disciplinary specificity) (30%)
2.    Curriculum Vitae and previous experience in a scientific research laboratory (30%)
3.    Experience and/ or motivation in the field of study related to the work plan (30%)
4.    Fluency in English, with good communication skills (oral and written) (10%)

The selection committee reserves the right to contact and interview candidates if additional information or clarification about their application 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 6 months of the date of the present announcement.

Fellowship conditions: The fellowship will have a duration of 12 months, expected to start from March 2022 eventually renewed for periods of 04 months, or until the end of the project never exceeding a total maximum of 24 months. The fellowship must be carried out under an exclusivity regimen, according to the FCT Fellowship Regulation (RBI) and of the  CCMAR fellowship regulations (see here) 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 835.98€ 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 12th January 2022 to 1st February 2022 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:
⦁    a motivation letter in English or in Portuguese;
⦁    a detailed Curriculum Vitae in English or in Portuguese;
⦁    a copy of the Bachelor degree Certificate (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution) or a copy of the certificate of recognition of the bachelor degree by a Portuguese Public Higher Education Institution or by DGES – Directorate General for Higher Education (if the degree was awarded by a foreign University);
⦁    the complete declaration of honour, available from the application platform, if they are unable at the time of application, to provide a copy of the bachelor degree certificate (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution) or a copy of the certificate of recognition of the bachelor degree (if the degree was awarded by a foreign University), as indicated above; 
⦁    the email contact of up to 2 referees.

Non-compliance with these 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.

Candidates holding degrees awarded by a foreign university should have their degree recognized in Portugal no later than the date indicated in the communication of selection for the position. Non-compliance justifies exclusion from the procedure. Information about the recognition procedures can be obtained at any Portuguese public higher education institution or by Directorate General for Higher Education – DGES (here https://bit.ly/3afyQQU). The CCMAR board of Directors reserves the right to extend the above mentioned period, after request from the selected applicant, and as long as it does not cause a negative impact the working plan. 

Selection Committee: 
Dr. Dulce Oliveira, Coordinator of the project and researcher at CCMAR and IPMA (president of the jury), Dr.  Filipa Naughton, researcher at CCMAR (member) and IPMA and Dr. Teresa Rodrigues, researcher at CCMAR (member) and IPMA.

Notes:
Hiring Documents 
After the candidate is selected and for the hiring purpose the following documentation/information will be requested: 
- proof of the enrolment (Recibo de inscrição/matricula) from the Academic Services in a master degree course (in accordance with the declaration on honour).
-  If applicable, copy of the bachelor degree (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution). 
- If applicable, certificate of recognition of the bachelor degree by a Portuguese Public Higher Education Institution or by DGES – Directorate General for Higher Education (if the degree was awarded by a foreign University).
- 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 grant-holder will be evaluated by the supervisors, by applying the following criteria, in accordance with the model below using the following scale:
- Compliance with the activity plan (30%) 
- Technical and scientific performance (30%) 
- Dissemination of the scientific findings and outreach (25%) 
- Commitment, responsibility and assiduity (15%)

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

If there is some unexpected shortcoming with the approval of the funding application the jury reserves the right to close the 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, 04/01/2022