Doctoral Fellowship – 1 vacancy

Within the project –541666287
HealthyBi4Namibe 

Ref. ª: CCMAR/BD/05/2022

The Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) opens one (01) Doctoral  Fellowship (BD) for applicants of any nationality, including stateless candidates, and holders of political refugee statute, in the scientific field of Biological Sciences within the research project: “HealthyBi4Namibe - Development of technological tools to improve and reduce health risks for bivalve consumption in Angola” project reference 541666287  funded by Aga Khan, Development Network and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. under the following conditions:

Host and Contracting Institution: CCMAR
This fellowship is intended for R&D activities carried out by students enrolled in a doctoral programme, at the beginning of the fellowship, with a view to consolidating their scientific training through the development of research work leading to the award of a doctoral degree.

Work Plan, Tasks to perform and objectives:
The HealthyBi4Namibe project will study and characterize the impact of environmental threats (pathogens, toxic blooms, and environmental pollutants) on marine bivalves to develop and implement technologies to assess and ameliorate their quality and safety risk for human consumption in Namibe (Angola).

Specifically, the fellowship holder will be involved in the following tasks and objectives:
1.    Participation in sampling campaigns for collection environmental samples and bivalves (mussels and oysters) in Faro and Namibe; 
2.    Sample preparation for transcriptomics and metagenomics analysis;
3.    Bioinformatic analysis of transcriptomes and confirmation using molecular biology techniques;
4.    Bioinformatic analysis of microbiomes; 
5.    Planning and experimental design in the context of the project objectives;
6.    Develop and participate in activities of technology/knowledge transfer and outreach and scientific paper writing in the context of the project objectives;
7.    Contribute to the general lab maintenance of the host laboratory

Scientific Supervisor:
Doctor João Cardoso, researcher at CCMAR and coordinator of the project and Professor Deborah Power, Full Professor at Algarve University and group leader at CCMAR. 

Work place:
The workplace is CCMAR (Gambelas Campus of the Algarve University, Faro, Portugal). 

Requirements for the application:
Applicants must meet all the conditions stated below:

1)    Master’s degree in Biotechnology, Molecular Biology, Biology, Aquaculture or related fields.
2)    Good knowledge of written and spoken English. 
3)    Availability to travel and work for short periods (up to 2 months) to Angola

Non-compliance justifies exclusion from the procedure.

It is considered as an advantage:
Preference will be given to applicants with previous experience in a scientific research laboratory and with demonstrated expertise in several of the following activities: molecular biology techniques (RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, PCR, qPCR); bioinformatic tools applied to transcriptomes and metagenomes of marine organisms and marine environmental samples.

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.    Master academic degree grade - 30%;
2.    Experience in molecular biology techniques – 20%;
3.    Experience in microbiome and transcriptome data analysis - 25%; 
4.    Previous work experience in a scientific research laboratory - 10%;
5.    Published scientific articles in the field of knowledge - 15%;

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 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 and eventually renewed for periods of 12 months or until de end of the project up to a maximum of 48 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 1144.64€ 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 18th of February 2022 to 7th of March 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);
⦁    a detailed Curriculum Vitae (in English); 
⦁    a copy of the Master degree Certificate with the final classification in the Portuguese scale (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution) or a copy of the certificate of recognition of the Master degree with the final classification in the Portuguese scale 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 Master degree certificate with the final classification in the Portuguese scale (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution) or a copy of the certificate of recognition of the Master degree with the final classification in the Portuguese scale (if the degree was awarded by a foreign University), as indicated above; 
⦁    the email contact of up to 3 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). 

Selection Committee: Doctor João Cardoso, researcher at CCMAR and coordinator of the project (President); Professor Deborah Power, Full Professor at Algarve University and group leader at CCMAR (member) and Doctor Rute Castelo Félix, researcher at UALG and CCMAR (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 (Certidão de inscrição/matricula) from the Academic Services in a doctoral degree course (in accordance with the declaration on honour).
-  If applicable, copy of the master degree (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution).
- If applicable, certificate of recognition of the master 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
- Proof of country of residence, residence authorization, or other document legally equivalent, if applicable, in force at the time of fellowship start date.
 

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 - Compliance with the activity plan (30%)
Criteria 2 – Technical and scientific performance (30%) 
Criteria 3 – Development of scientific activity reports and knowledge transfer activities (30%)
Criteria 4 – Responsibility and assiduity (10%)

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, February the 15th, 2022