진학프로석·박사 채용 접수 플랫폼

Call open for applications for 2 research grant (Master’s Degree), enrolled in the PhD or courses that do not confer academic degree, within the framework of project with the reference BIODIV, financed by own funds, under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Biological Sciences

Admission requirements:

• To have a Master’s degree in Biological Sciences or equivalent, with proven training in the field of Genetics and Evolution;
• To be enrolled in PhD Programme in Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution (BIODIV) or courses that do not confer academic degree.

Although the recipients must be enrolled in a cycle of studies leading to the attribution of an academic degree or in a course not conferring an academic degree, at the time of application it is not necessary for the candidate to have made such an enrollment, and proof of enrollment must be presented until thefellowship is contractualized. Candidates are only required to meet the requirements to enroll in the training offer. If there are candidates already enrolled (including attending a course), they compete on an equal footing with those who are not enrolled.

Note: In the case of masters who are enrolled in courses that do not confer academic degree, the research grant can only be awarded to those who do not exceed, with the signing of the research grant contract in question, including possible renewals, an accumulated period of two years in this type of grant, consecutive or interpolated.

Preferences Requirements:

TOPIC A: Preference will also be given to candidates with experience in: (a) processing and analysis of genetic data, namely microsatellite and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data; (b) population genetics, preferably applied to African antelopes; and (c) oral and written communication in Portuguese and English, as well as the ability to work independently.

TOPIC B: Preference will also be given to candidates with experience in: (a) population genetics and genetic data analysis of canids; (b) bioinformatics, including programming in Linux, Python, and R; and (c) oral and written communication in Portuguese and English, as well as the ability to work independently.

Hiring Requirements: If the qualification has been granted by a foreign higher education institution, it will have to be recognized by a Portuguese higher education institution, pursuant to article 25 of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of 16 August, which approves the regime legal recognition of academic degrees and diplomas in Higher Education, arising from foreign higher education institutions, and paragraph e) of paragraph 2 of article 4 of Decree-Law No. 60/2018, of August 3, all of which the formalities must be fulfilled there until the contracting act.

Activity Outline: In their letter of motivation, candidates must indicate the topic they are applying for.

TOPIC A: The candidate will be responsible for analysing a genetic dataset comprising two types of nuclear markers, naamely microsatellites and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), generated from thousands of samples of sable antelope (Hippotragus niger), collected from both wild individuals and those kept in captivity. The objective of the project is to compare the performance of the different marker types in terms of resolution, reliability, and discriminatory power in characterising genetic diversity, detecting population structure, and identifying signs of admixture between distinct genetic groups. To achieve this, the candidate will generate simulated datasets based on the empirical data, followed by bioinformatic and statistical analyses of the multiple datasets using various methods for assessing genetic diversity, population clustering, and ancestral inference. The results are expected to inform the development of conservation strategies for captive breeding programmes of this antelope species, while being applicable to other wild species with large captive populations aiming to maintain genetic diversity and the representativeness of wild populations.

TOPIC B: The candidate will be responsible for analysing existing data of 700,000 genomic regions from six native livestock guardian dog breeds from Romania and Bulgaria, as well as whole-genome data from wolves from the same regions. The scholarship holder will be expected to implement appropriate bioinformatic processing for the different data types, including mapping to the reference genome, SNP calling, and inference of global and local ancestry. These results will be integrated into a broader panel, including contemporary samples from other livestock guardian dog breeds and Eurasian wolves, using strategies such as variant imputation based on canid reference panels, in order to maximise the density and reliability of the final dataset. This combined database will then be explored to address a broad set of biological questions related to wolf–dog hybridisation in regions where traditional pastoral practices persist and wolf densities are high. In this context, the candidate will focus on characterising patterns of hybridisation at different temporal scales using methods of global and local ancestry analysis.

Legislation and regulations: Law no. 40/2014, updated by Decree-Law no. 123/2019, of 28 August (Statute of Scientific Research Grant Holder); Regulation no. 950/2019 of 16 December (Regulation of Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology); Regulation no. 184/2021, of 3 March (Regulation of Research Grants of the University of Porto) and Decree-Law no. 66/2018 of 16 August (Legal Regime of Recognition of academic degrees and diplomas of Higher Education awarded by Foreign Higher Education Institutions).

Work place: The work will be developed in the Department of Biology (and in CIBIO-BIOPOLIS, Research Centre In Biodiversity and Genetic Resources), Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto (FCUP), under the guidance of Dr.ª Raquel Godinho

Grant duration: Initial duration of three (3) months, with beginning on 01/11/2025, not renewable up

Maintenance allowance amount: The grant stipend amounts to 1309,64€ according to the table of values of the grants awarded directly by FCT, I.P. in the Country (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/valores). The payment will be made by bank transfer.

Voluntary Social Insurance: As long as the grant lasts 6 months or more, and in compliance with the provisions of the current version of the Grant Holder Statute, the grant holder will be entitled to have FCUP support the costs resulting from the contributions that fall into the first of the tax brackets. The grant holder will be responsible for contributions beyond the first tax bracket, should the grant holder opt for a higher coverage.

Personal Accident Insurance: During the grant period, the grant holder will be covered by a personal accident insurance policy.

Selection procedure: The selection methods to be used are as follows:

X: Relevance of the scientific curriculum to the work plan (80%)

Y: Publicações em revistas científicas indexadas (20%)

The candidate classification (CF) will be obtained using the following formula:

CF=AC=X*80% +Y*20%

The candidate who has a foreign academic degree or diploma whose final classification is expressed on a different classification scale from the Portuguese one or does not have a classification, for evaluation purposes, must present a document proving the recognition of the foreign degree or diploma and the conversion of the classification for the Portuguese classification scale until the closing date of applications for the competition.

If the documents attesting the degree submitted by the candidates do not present the final classification of the degree required in this notice with the respective grade converted to the Portuguese classification scale, the jury will consider, for evaluation purposes, that the candidate has the minimum classification (10 points) of a maximum of 20 points) required to obtain a degree in Portugal.

Candidates whose application has been assessed with a final classification less than 16 points are not eligible to sign the contract of the fellowship.

Selection committee:

• President – Professor Paulo Célio Pereira Martins Alves, Full Professor at the Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto;
• 1.º member – Maria Raquel Barata Godinho, Invited Assistant Professor, Faculty of Sciences, University of Porto: Senior Researcher; CIBIO-BIOPOLIS, Research Centre In Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto;
• 2.º member – Rita Gomes Rocha, Assistant Researcher; CIBIO-BIOPOLIS, Research Centre In Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto;
• 1.º alternate member – Professor Doutor David Afonso da Rocha Gonçalves, Professor Auxiliar da Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto;;
• 2.º alternate member – Diana Carina da Costa Lobo, Junior Researcher, CIBIO-BIOPOLIS, Research Centre In Biodiversity and Genetic Resources, University of Porto.

Advertisement of final decision: The final results of the evaluation will be published through a list ordered by final classification, sent to candidates by email. It is further informed that, pursuant to the provisions of articles 121 et seq. of the Code of Administrative Procedure, it has a legal period of 10 working days from the day immediately following the notification, to make a decision, if it so wishes. A complaint may be filed against this decision within 15 working days or, alternatively, an appeal may be filed within 30 working days, addressed to the Director of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto, pursuant to article 191 et seq. of the Code of Administrative Procedure. The host entity may use the final ranking list to replace the selected grantee in case he/she gives up the position, up to one year.

Deadline for applications and form of presentation of the applications The deadline for submitting applications will be 10 days from the date of publication of the Research Grant Announcement. Applications must be formalized, mandatorily, through the web page of Infociências of this opening (https://info.fc.up.pt/fcup/pedidos/users/novo.php?f_id=1291&formulario=…) accompanied by the following documents:

a) Motivation letter, indicating the topic you are applying for;

b) Detailed Curriculum Vitae;

c) Certificate of academic qualifications;

d) Declaration of eligibility (in attached);

e) Other relevant documents;

f) Letter of recommendation, one is mandatory. The candidate should access to the link: https://info.fc.up.pt/fcup/recursos_humanos/cartas_recomendacao/index.p…, where he/she has to select the recruitment is applying, identify his/her name, email, identification number (citizen card or passport), and subsequently indicate the name(s) of the person(s), email address(es) of the persons that will write the recommendation letter. These persons will be notified by email, where a link will be sent to make the upload of the letter, by the end of the last day of application, 23:59 h - mainland Portugal time. The candidates will be notified when the letter has been submitted.

The documents indicated in points a) to e) must be submitted in a single file in zip format on the tender page.

Supporting documents for the contract: At the time of signing the contract, the grant holder must provide the following documents:

• Biographic form;
• Photocopy of Passport and/or residency permit (if applicable);
• Photocopy of Portuguese IBAN/NIB;

• proof of enrolment in PhD in Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution (BIODIV)

  or

  proof of non-degree course; Proof document or statement duly signed by the institution's highest body that the course is provided for in the respective educational project and that it is developed in association or cooperation with at least one R&D unit (indicate which one(s) specifically); and Statutes of the entities that develop the course together with the higher education institution, in order to verify if they are considered R&D units, for the purposes of the provisions of article 16 of Decree-Law No. 63/2019, of May 16th;

• Foreign academic degree recognition (if applicable);
• Exclusivity declaration;
• Ciência ID and ORCID ID.

Commitment

In compliance with paragraph h) of Article 9 of the Constitution, the University of Porto, as an employer, actively promotes a policy of equal opportunities between men and women in access to employment and professional advancement, scrupulously avoiding any form of discrimination. In this spirit, terms such as “candidate,” “author,” or “teacher,” among others that refer to the people who apply for this recruitment tender are used as gender neutral.

In addition, no candidate may be privileged, benefited, impaired or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty on grounds of ancestry, age, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social status, genetic heritage, reduced working capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological convictions and trade union membership.

The call is open from 09/09/2025 to 22/09/2025.