Master's Research Grants (BI) – CyberPRAISE

Offer Description

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR A RESEARCH GRANT WITHIN THE SCOPE OF AN R&D PROJECT. A call for applications is open for 10 consecutive days for the awarding of two Master's Research Grants (BI), on an exclusive basis, within the scope of the project “CyberPRAISE – Cybersecurity research for PRivAte, Intelligent and truStablE solutions” (Project Code: NORTE2030-FEDER-01820300), funded by the Norte 2030 Program, under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications.

Admission requirements: Candidates for the grants must be enrolled in a Master's degree program in the area of Cybersecurity.

Candidates should possess:

• Programming and software engineering: Solid knowledge of programming (preferably Python) and information/application prototypes. Development of systems.
• System detection and security: Knowledge of threat and intrusion detection, security in OT/IoT environments, M2M networks and protocols, and integration with SOAR/SIEM platforms.
• Machine learning and AI security: Knowledge of machine learning/federated learning, anomaly and outlier detection techniques, and understanding of vulnerabilities such as poisoning and backdoors.
• Compliance and regulation: Familiarity with privacy frameworks and regulatory compliance (GDPR, AI Act), applicable to both operational data management and AI training pipelines.
• Soft skills and research: Ability to work independently and in a team, good written and oral communication (Portuguese and English), and motivation for applied research in cybersecurity and/or trustworthy AI.

Work plan to be developed throughout the scholarship period: The research fellow will develop the following tasks throughout the project:

1. Support in the collection and characterization of network, endpoint, and telemetry data from OT and IoT environments (flows/PCAP, endpoint/IdP/AD logs);
2. Contribution to the development and prototyping of intrusion detection agents based on hybrid AI models;
3. Support in the integration of detection mechanisms with SOAR and SIEM platforms, including the development of automated response and containment playbooks;
4. Participation in the performance evaluation of the developed prototypes (metrics such as ROC/PR, FPR, MTTD/MTTR);
5. Support in conducting pilots in OT/IoT environments and in validating results with industrial partners.
6. Support in identifying and characterizing poisoning threats in training data (label flipping, malicious outliers, backdoors);
7. Contribution to the development and testing of detectors for poisoned samples and sources, using statistical techniques and anomaly detection (Isolation Forest, LOF, HDBSCAN, deduplication);
8. Support in building training sandboxes for validating detections before integration into production;
9. Participation in evaluating the effectiveness of detectors (reduction of attack success rate, false positive rate) and in documenting audit processes;
10. Contribution to the compliance analysis of the developed processes with the GDPR and the AI Act.
11. Support for literature review and monitoring of the state of the art in the research area;
12. Participation in team meetings and coordination activities;
13. Contribution to the drafting of technical reports, documentation of results and support for the preparation of scientific articles;
14. Participation in project dissemination activities (seminars, workshops, meetings with partners).

Applicable legislation and regulations: Current Research Grant Holder Statute (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/estatutobolseiro) and Research Grant Regulations of the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo approved by Order No. 7347/2020, of July 22.

Workplace: The work will be carried out at the School of Technology and Management of the Polytechnic University of Viana do Castelo.

Gratification duration: The grant is scheduled to begin in November 2026, with a duration of 6 months, with the possibility of renewal for an equal period up to a maximum of 24 months, as provided for in paragraph 4 of article 4 of the UNIPVC Research Grant Regulations and subject to project funding authorization.

Monthly maintenance allowance amount: The scholarship amount corresponds to €1090.98 as per the table of allowances for research grants at IPVC, updated by Order from the President of IPVC dated 07-04-2026, and will be paid via bank transfer.

Special requirement for awarding the scholarship amount: It is necessary to present a national Tax Identification Number (NIF) by the end of the month in which the contract is signed, otherwise payment will not be possible.

Application evaluation: Applications will be evaluated taking into account the admission and selection criteria outlined below.

Selection criteria: Selection will be carried out through curriculum evaluation and, if applicable, an interview. The curriculum evaluation will take into account the following criteria: academic qualifications (30 points), experience in the necessary development technologies (50 points) and research experience in the planned activities (20 points). If the sum of the different selection criteria is less than 50 points for all candidates, this notice may be cancelled. In the event of a tie among the top-ranked candidates, an interview will be conducted with the following weighting: Curriculum evaluation (50%) and interview (50%). This interview will, in turn, be weighted as follows: motivation for the project objectives (20 points), scientific communication skills (10 points), fluency in Portuguese (10 points), and proficiency in English (10 points). The final ranking will result from the weighted average of each evaluated component.

Applications will be evaluated taking into account the selection criteria stated above. In the event of withdrawal by the selected scholarship recipient, the second candidate on the ranked list of candidates will automatically be selected, and so on sequentially, until all admitted candidates are exhausted.

Composition of the Selection Jury: Professor Dr. Silvestre Lomba Malta (President), Professor Dr. Luís Barreto (Full Member) and Professor Dr. Ricardo Freitas (Full Member). Professor Pedro Coutinho will be the Alternate Member.

Method of publication/notification of results: The evaluation results will be published, through an ordered list with the final grade obtained, posted on the UNIPVC Portal (www.ipvc.pt), and the approved candidate(s) will be notified by email.

After the publication of the results, candidates should consider themselves notified so that, if they wish, they may comment in a prior hearing within a maximum period of 15 working days after that date. At the end of this period, the selected candidate should consider themselves summoned to begin the scholarship.

Application deadline and submission method: The application period runs until the 10th consecutive day following the date of publication.

Applications must be formalized by sending a cover letter stating the title and reference of the project, describing the candidate's motivation and professional objectives, accompanied by the following documents:

• Curriculum vitae;
• Cover letter/motivation letter (maximum one A4 page);
• Copy of qualification certificates and/or document detailing the grades obtained in the subjects of the respective course and final grade;
• Updated document proving professional status, indicating the nature of the employment relationship, functions, and average annual workload (if applicable), which may be replaced by a declaration under oath if the candidate does not perform any professional activity or provide services;
• Proof of valid enrollment in a second-cycle degree program;
• A letter of reference;
• Science ID.

Applications must be sent by email to bolsasinvestigacao@ipvc.pt (the subject line must include the following reference: BI_01_2026_CyberPRAISE).

Where to apply

E-mail: bolsasinvestigacao@ipvc.pt

Requirements

Research Field: Other

Education Level: Bachelor Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Scientific Area: Computer Science, Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications.

Admission Requirements: Candidates for scholarships must be enrolled in a master's degree program in the area of Cybersecurity.

Specific Requirements

Candidates should possess:

• Programming and software engineering: Solid knowledge of programming (preferably Python) and information/application prototypes. Development of systems.
• System detection and security: Knowledge of threat and intrusion detection, security in OT/IoT environments, M2M networks and protocols, and integration with SOAR/SIEM platforms.
• Machine learning and AI security: Knowledge of machine learning/federated learning, anomaly and outlier detection techniques, and understanding of vulnerabilities such as poisoning and backdoors.
• Compliance and regulation: Familiarity with privacy and regulatory compliance frameworks (GDPR, AI Act), applicable to both operational data management and AI training pipelines.
• Soft skills and research work: Ability to work independently and in a team, good written and oral communication (Portuguese and English), and motivation for applied research in cybersecurity and/or trustworthy AI.

Internal Application form(s) needed: EDital_CyberPRAISE__signed.pdf (English, 596.69 KB - PDF)

Additional Information

Benefits

Duration of the grant: The grant is scheduled to begin in November 2026, with a duration of 6 months, with the possibility of renewal for the same period up to a maximum of 24 months, as provided for in paragraph 4 of article 4 of the UNIPVC Research Grant Regulations and subject to project funding authorization.

Monthly maintenance allowance: The grant amount corresponds to €1090.98, according to the table of allowances for research grants at IPVC, updated by Order of the President of IPVC of 07-04-2026, and will be paid by bank transfer.

Special requirement for grant allocation: It is necessary to present a national tax identification number (NIF) by the end of the month in which the contract is signed, otherwise payment will not be enforceable.

Eligibility criteria

Applications will be evaluated taking into account the selection criteria stated above. In the event of withdrawal by the selected scholarship recipient, the second candidate on the ranked list of candidates will automatically be selected, and so on sequentially, until all admitted candidates are exhausted.

Selection process

Selection criteria: Selection will be carried out through curriculum evaluation and, if applicable, an interview. The curriculum evaluation will take into account the following criteria: academic qualifications (30 points), experience in the necessary development technologies (50 points) and research experience in the planned activities (20 points). If the sum of the different selection criteria is less than 50 points for all candidates, this notice may be cancelled. In case of a tie among the top-ranked candidates, an interview will be conducted with the following weighting: Curriculum evaluation (50%) and interview (50%). This, in turn, will be weighted as follows: motivation for the project objectives (20 points), scientific communication skills (10 points), fluency in Portuguese (10 points) and proficiency in English (10 points). The final classification will result from the weighted average of each evaluated component.

Additional comments

Composition of the Selection Jury: Professor Dr. Silvestre Lomba Malta (President), Professor Dr. Luís Barreto (Full Member) and Professor Dr. Ricardo Freitas (Full Member). Professor Pedro Coutinho will be the Alternate Member.

Method of publication/notification of results: The evaluation results will be published, through an ordered list with the final grade obtained, posted on the UNIPVC Portal (www.ipvc.pt), and the approved candidate(s) will be notified by email.

After the publication of the results, candidates should consider themselves notified so that, if they wish, they may comment in a prior hearing within a maximum period of 15 working days after that date. At the end of this period, the selected candidate should consider themselves summoned to begin the scholarship.

Application deadline and submission method: The application period runs until the 10th consecutive day from the date of publication.

Applications must be formalized by sending an application letter stating the title and reference of the project, describing the candidate's motivation and professional objectives, accompanied by the following documents:

• Curriculum vitae;
• Cover letter/motivation (maximum one A4 page);
• Copy of qualification certificates and/or document detailing the grades obtained in the subjects of the respective course and final grade;
• Updated document proving professional status, indicating the nature of the employment relationship, functions, and average annual workload (if applicable), which may be replaced by a declaration under oath if the applicant does not perform any professional activity or provide services;
• Proof of valid enrollment in a second-cycle degree program;
• A letter of reference;
• Science ID.

Applications must be sent by email to bolsasinvestigacao@ipvc.pt (the subject line must include the following reference: BI_01_2026_CyberPRAISE).

Work Location(s)

• Number of offers available: 1
• Company/Institute: Universidade Politécnica de Viana do Castelo
• Country: Portugal
• State/Province: Viana do Castelo
• City: VIANA DO CASTELO
• Postal Code: 4900-472
• Street: Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial Nun'Álvares, 34

Contact

• City: VIANA DO CASTELO
• Website: https://www.ipvc.pt/pt/
• Street: Rua Escola Industrial e Comercial Nun’Álvares, 34
• Postal Code: 4900-472
• E-Mail: bolsasinvestigacao@ipvc.pt