#5265

Public Notice - International Selection Procedure

PhD Scientific Researcher Recruitment (Initial Stage Researcher)

FCiências.ID/2026/DL57/ cE3c/8

FCiências.ID - Associação para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento de Ciências, through its President of the Administration Board, hereby announces the opening of an international call for the recruitment of a Scientific Researcher with a PhD degree, in the category of Initial Stage Researcher, of the FCiências.ID Scientific Research Career, within the scope of the project CRYPL - Unpuzzling the role of cryptic plasmids in bacterial evolution  (Ref. 2024.15642.PEX and DOI identifier https://doi.org/10.54499/2024.15642.PEX), financed by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. through national funds under the 2024 Call for Exploratory Projects in All Scientific Domains, in the form of an indefinite duration fixed-term employment contract, on an exclusive regime, according to the Portuguese Labour Code and Decree-Law No. 57/2016, of August 29th, as amended by Law No. 57/2017, of July 19th.

I. Admission Requirements

Portuguese nationals, foreign and stateless persons may submit applications to this selection procedure, provided they hold a doctoral degree* in Evolutionary Biology, Microbiology or similar areas, have specialised skills and/or expertise in Bioinformatics or associated fields, and fully comply with the following requirements:

1. The PhD must have been granted at less than 3 years;
2. Demonstrated scientific experience in the area of analysis of bacterial genomes and plasmids - information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter;
3. Experience in Python and R programming, and shell scripting - information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter;
4. Proven scientific experience in the above-mentioned topics, demonstrated by the quality and number (minimum of 5) of scientific articles published in peer-reviewed scientific journals - information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter.

* Please note that Degrees obtained in foreign countries need a Portuguese Recognition issued by a Portuguese high degree Institution, according to the Decree-Law nr. 66/2018, of August 16th and the Ministerial Order nr. 33/2019, of January 25th. The presentation of such Recognition is mandatory for contract signature. More information can be obtained in: https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/degree-and-diploma-recognition.

II. Preferential Requirements

1. R&D activity in the analysis of plasmid mobility - information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter;
2. R&D activity in Bioinformatics, including large-scale data analysis - information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter;
3. Proven previous professional and/or academic experience in microbial genomics - information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter;
4. Relevant scientific training and/or a master’s degree in bioinformatics and/or computational biology – information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter;
5. Experience in participation in national and/or international scientific projects in the scientific areas of this call for applications - information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter;
6. Scientific publications: scientific experience demonstrated by the number, areas and/or at least five publications as 1st author in international peer-reviewed scientific journals in the field of microbial genomics - information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter;
7. Proven experience in outreaching activities in the scientific area(s) of this call for applications - information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter;
8. Proven experience in supervising postgraduate students in the scientific area(s) of this call for applications - information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter;
9. Proficiency in Portuguese and English (written and spoken) - information provided in the CV and/or in the motivation letter.

III. Applicable Law

1. Decree-Law No. 57/2016, of August 29th (RCD), in the wording conferred on it by Law No. 57/2017, of July 19th (RCD);
2. Portuguese Labour Code, as approved by Law No. 7/2009, of February 12th, in its current version (CT);
3. Regulatory Decree No. 11-A/2017, of December 29th;
4. Administrative Procedure Code, as published in Decree-Law No. 4/2015, of January 7th, in its current version (CPA).

IV. Work plan

The work plan to be executed includes the following tasks:

1) Functional characterization of plasmids: cryptic versus non-cryptic;

2) Preparation of a manuscript for publication in an international peer-reviewed journal and of the final project report;

3) Participation in the supervision of a Master’s student in Bioinformatics;

The work plan is included in tasks 3 and 4 of the project CRYPL.

V. Composition of the Jury

In accordance to article 13 of the RCD, the members of the jury are:

• President - Teresa Isabel Vitorino Nogueira;
• 1st Member of the jury - Maria Helena Machado Trindade de Donato;
• 2nd Member of the jury - Joana Isabel Reis Castro;
• 1st Alternate Member of the jury – Daniela Eira Araújo;
• 2nd Alternate Member of the jury - Francisco André de Campos Pereira Dionísio.

VI. Place of work

Work will be developed at the facilities of Research Center cE3c – Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, in Campo Grande, Lisboa, Portugal.

VII. Contract Duration

The full-time indefinite duration fixed-term employment contract, on an exclusive regime, is expected to start in August 2026, and will last until the Work Plan referred to in section IV is completed. It will have an expected duration of 12 months, will not exceed the limits set in the RCD, including an initial experimental trial period of 30 days.

VIII. Monthly Allowance

The gross monthly salary corresponds to 2408.11 Euros, on an exclusive regime, which complies with one of the Levels of the Salary Table (NTS) for a Initial Stage Researcher, in step 1level 33, equivalent to the same level of the Single Remuneratory Table, as approved by Government Order No. 1553-C/2008, of December 31st, in its current version, on which legal discounts will apply, plus holiday and Christmas allowances, as well as food allowance in the amount and conditions set out for workers with a legal employment relationship under the Labour Code.

IX. Evaluation of applications

1. Failure to comply with the Admission Requirements implies the non-admission of candidates in absolute merit.
2. According to article 5 of the RCD, the selection of the candidates approved in absolute merit will rely on the evaluation of their scientific and curricular achievements in the last five (5) years, taking into consideration the quality and relevance of the scientific production, and the professional activity indicated as more relevant by the candidate, within the scope of the project.
3. Based on the assessment of the candidates' scientific and curricular background in the last five (5) years, each member of the jury presents a justified proposal for admission (final classification equal to or greater than 60%) or exclusion (final classification below 60%) for each candidate, according to the evaluation criteria referred to in no. 5
4. The final classification of candidates is given on a scale of 0 to 100%.
5. Evaluation of the relative merit of candidates, will rely on the following criteria:

• a) Scientific publications in the area - 35%;
• b) Motivation letter - 10%;
• c) Participation in relevant scientific projects in the area - 20%;
• d) Pedagogical, extension and outreaching of knowledge activities, in particular in the context of the promotion of scientific practices, organization of courses, seminars and conferences for promotion and dissemination in the area of the call - 5%;
• e) Assessment of the selected publications relevant for the objectives of the Work Plan - 30%;
• f) Interview, if deemed necessary by the jury - 10%.

6. The jury may decide to interview the 3 best ranked candidates [in criteria a) to e) of no. 5], for clarifications and improved explanations of curricular elements. If there is an interview, the sum of the classification obtained in the evaluation criteria a) to e) will correspond to 90% of the final classification and the interview will correspond to 10%.
7. The jury shall deliberate by means of a roll-call vote based on the evaluation criteria.
8. Minutes of the jury meetings are drawn up, summarizing all relevant elements considered by jury members, as well as their individual votes and justifications.
9. After completion of the evaluation process, the jury will draw up a ranking of successful candidates with their classifications.
10. Hiring will be decided by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of FCiências.ID, based on the final jury recommendation.
11. The candidates will be individually notified of the evaluation results by e-mail sent to the address indicated in the "Personal Data" section of the submitted form.
12. With the notification referred to in the no. 11, the hearing phase of interested parties referred to in Article 121 et seq. of the CPA will begin, and last for ten working days.
13. The possible pronouncement of the candidate in a prior hearing must be addressed to the President of the jury and submitted in writing to concursos@fciencias-id.pt. The President of the jury will convene a jury’s meeting to produce the final decision, within thirty working days.
14. Within five working days of the final jury decision, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of FCiências.ID will approve it and the candidates will be notified.
15. The communication between FCiências.ID (concursos@fciencias-id.pt) and the candidates will be electronic and will comply with the following rules:
    1. At the time of electronic submission of any document - namely in the case of no. 13 - the candidates must generate proof of "sent message".
    2. FCiências.ID will send an email message acknowledging documents received to the email address used by the candidates, within two working days.
    3. In case of absence of a confirmation receipt by FCiências.ID – showing the possibility of technical problems that should neither be the responsibility of the candidate nor FCiências.ID - the candidates should contact FCiências.ID, with the proof referred to in point (a), to ensure delivery and proper receipt of the documents concerned.

X. Processing of personal data

1. FCiências.ID - Associação para a Investigação e Desenvolvimento de Ciências, as the responsible for processing the personal data, in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation, collects and processes the personal data requested in the context the job application, under paragraphs b) and c) of Article 6.1 of the General Data Protection Regulation (RGPD).
2. The personal data shall be kept for the period necessary for the execution of the purposes for which they are intended, and the processing and protection, in an appropriate and diligent manner, of the confidentiality and integrity of such data shall be ensured through appropriate technical and organisational measures.
3. Personal data may be transmitted to third parties, namely the entity funding the research project, solely for the purposes specifically established. In this sense, whenever necessary the transfer of personal data to countries outside the European Union and/or international organizations, compliance with the applicable legal provisions shall be ensured.
4. You have the right to request access, rectification, erasure, limitation of processing, the right to object and also data portability (if technically feasible) by sending an e-mail to: dpo@fciências-id.pt. You also have the right to lodge a complaint with the National Data Protection Commission.
5. For more information, we recommend that you consult the Internal Rules of Data Protection of FCiências.ID - Association for Research and Development of Sciences at https://fciencias-id.pt/.

XI. Compliance with public policies

1. FCiências.ID actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, so that no candidate can be privileged, benefited, disadvantaged or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty due to, inter alia, ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, economic situation, education, social origin or condition, genetic heritage, reduced working capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs and trade union membership.
2. Under the terms of D.L. No. 29/2001, of February 3rd, a disabled candidate has a preference in equal classification, which prevails over any other legal preference. Candidates must declare their respective degree of disability, the type of disability and the means of communication / expression to be used in the selection process, under the terms of the above-mentioned diploma.

XII. Submission of Applications

1. The present call will be open from the 16th of March 2026 to the 30th of March 2026.
2. The application and all the required documents must be submitted in Portuguese or English.
3. Applications will be submitted online, through the electronic platform of FCiências.ID (http://concursos.fciencias-id.pt).
4. On the electronic platform, applicants will complete a mandatory section on Personal Data [name, address, date of birth, contact email, nationality and scientific identifiers] and upload files with the documents listed below:

• Detailed Curriculum vitae in PDF format- mandatory;
• A motivation letter clearly demonstrating that the candidate has an adequate profile for the position and fully complies with the Admission Requirements (written in English) - mandatory;
• Up to five publications relevant for the objectives of the Work Plan - mandatory;
• Reference letter(s) (maximum 3) – (e.g. inclusion in the motivation letter of names and contact details of references who will subsequently be contacted by the jury) - optional;
• Digital copies of documents proving formal required academic degree (PhD) - original documents must be provided in case of actual recruitment - mandatory;
• Digital copies of documents proving other scientific and professional qualifications – optional;
• Other documents that candidates consider relevant for the assessment of their scientific merit, or to declare the personal situation in the cases covered in section XI-2 of this Notice - optional.

5. By decision of the Chairman of the Board of Directors of FCiências.ID, candidates who do not submit the documents identified in no. 4 will not be admitted to the call. In case of doubts, the Chairman may also invite candidates to substantiate specific data or statements with official supporting documents, before accepting the candidates’ submission.

This Public Note was approved by the jury on the 11th of March 2026.