Research Grant (BI) – Med-IREN Project, Civil Engineering

RESEARCH FIELD: Civil Engineering or related fields.

RECIPIENT CATEGORY:

• Degree courses: Students enrolled in a PhD.
• Non-conferring degrees courses: Masters enrolled in non-academic degree courses.

CANDIDATES PROFILE / CANDIDATE ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Mandatory requirements:

In order to apply, the candidates must possess:

• A Master’s degree in the field of Civil Engineering or related fields;
• Applicants must comply with the eligibility conditions established in point 8 of the University of Minho Scientific Research Grant Regulations (RBIC), approved by Order n. 4998/2025, published in the Official Gazette, 2nd series, n. 81, of April 28, rectified and republished through Rectification Statement n. 634/2025/2, published in the Official Gazette, 2nd series, n. 132, of July 11.

At the time of the respective hiring, candidates must prove that they are enrolled in one of the following courses:

• PhD in the field of Civil Engineering or related fields;
• In a Course that does not confer an academic degree, in the area or area related to that requested in the tender (e.g.: postgraduate studies, advanced studies, specialized training).

Preferential factors:

• Previous experience in risk and resilience assessment and management of civil infrastructure.
• Previous experience in structural modelling and data analysis applied to reliability assessment civil infrastructure performance.
• Previous experience in applying Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to the protection of critical infrastructure (CI).
• English language proficiency.

Requirement for granting the fellowship:

• The applicants may apply without prior registration in the course for which the fellowship is open. The requirement to enroll in a degree course or non-academic degree course will be verified on the date of contracting the fellowship.
• Only fellowships whose selected applicants present a valid proof of enrollment in a degree course or non-academic degree course will be contracted, issued by a Higher Education Institution, according to the type of the fellowship, indicating the academic year or its duration (start and term).

APPLICATION / ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

The call is open from 10/09/2026 to 24/09/2026 (23:00 – Europe/Lisbon).

Applications must be sent exclusively by e-mail to jmatos@civil.uminho.pt, with the subject “Edital BI-ISISE-UMINHO-Med-IREN-3”, with the following documents:

1. Elements of the National Identity Card/Citizen Card/Passport/Visa/Title of Residence;
2. Curriculum Vitae of the candidate, in Portuguese or in English;
3. Certificates of the academic degree(s) required, specifying the final grading (mandatory) and, if possible, the grades obtained in all the attended curricular units, or, alternatively, the candidate's declaration of honor that the degree was obtained until the end of the term of application (Annex I);
4. Certificate of recognition of foreign academic degree and conversion of the respective final grading into the Portuguese grading scale, or, alternatively, the candidate's declaration of honor (Annex II), if applicable;
5. Statement proving that meets the conditions for the grant typology, according to the application requirements (Annex III);
6. Motivation letter, in Portuguese or in English.

Failure to comply with the deadline for submitting the application, such as failure to submit or late submission of the application and the documents referred to in points 2) to 4), determines the exclusion of the application.

Regarding the above mentioned admissibility requirements, the following should be noted:

• In the case of a degree granted by a foreign higher education institution, and in order to ensure the application of the principle of equal treatment to candidates holding foreign and national academic degrees, it is mandatory to recognize the degree and convert the respective final grading to the Portuguese grading scale. The academic degrees and diplomas documents, or their respective recognition when awarded by foreign higher education institutions are not mandatory in the application phase, being replaced by a declaration of honor of the candidate with the contents of academic results. The documents of academic qualification or respective recognition will be required in the contracting phase and must attest facts that occurred on a date prior to the application. In situations of divergence between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation submitted for contracting the grant, only the information contained in the latter will be consider. If the documents proving the ownership of the academic degree and diploma, or the respective recognition under the terms of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16, do not correspond to the classifications awarded in the evaluation of the academic path, which can change the candidate's ranking, the fellowship won’t be contracted.
• Applicants with degrees obtained abroad must present proof of recognition of qualifications in Portugal and conversion of the final classification obtained in them to the Portuguese classification scale or declaration under the terms indicated in the previous point. Candidates who do not comply with one of these provisions, the Selection Panel will assign “0” in the respective criteria. Candidates will be evaluated on the remaining parameters.
• Only candidates who have completed the required qualification by the end of the application period will be admitted. If they do not yet have the official degree certificate, a declaration of honor from the candidate stating that he/she has completed the qualifications required by the end of the application period, will be accepted. At the time of the respective hiring the candidate must present the official degree certificate.

DURATION OF THE RESEARCH GRANT

The research grant will last for 12 months, with a provisional starting date in November 2026.

The grant may be, possibly, renewed until the end of the project and/or applicable legislation, if it is necessary to complete the academic degree or to carry out activities that are essential for the conclusion of the project.

If the grant is awarded to candidates enrolled in a course that does not confer an academic degree, the grant cannot be renewed.

WORK PLAN AND OBJECTIVES

The work plan involves implementing, testing, and refining the climate risk and resilience assessment framework in selected Med-IREN demonstrator and replicator regions. Activities will include adapting the assessment procedures to the specific characteristics and needs of each case study. The assessment will address the criticality, vulnerability, risk, and resilience of critical infrastructure at relevant spatial scales, comparing conditions with and without Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and considering the principal uncertainties associated with data, models, and climate scenarios. The methodology will also be extended to integrate heterogeneous monitoring sources, including in-situ measurements, Earth Observation products, local datasets and remote-sensing techniques.

HOST INSTITUTION AND SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION

The work will be carried out at ISISE - Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering - Civil Engineering Department, School of Engineering of the University of Minho, located at Azurém (Guimarães), under the scientific supervision of Doctor Hélder Manuel Silva Sousa and coordination of Doctor José Manuel Sena Cruz.

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation of the applications will focus on the merit of the candidate, by applying the following criteria on a scale of 0 to 5 points:

Candidate's Merit – CM (100%):

• Criterion A - Motivation letter, with a weighting of 20%;
• Criterion B - Academic path (final grade obtained in the Master’s degree), with a weighting of 50%;
• Criterion C - Personal curriculum (considering professional and scientific background), with a weighting of 30%:
• Sub‐criterion C1 - Professional or academic experience in civil engineering, particularly in structural engineering and risk assessment - 50%;
• Sub‐criterion C2 - Publications in journals and conferences on topics relevant to the project - 50%.

The final classification of the Candidate’s Merit (CM) will be obtained by applying the following formula:

CM = (A\*0,20) + (B\*0,50) + (0,30 \* ((C1\*0,50) + (C2\*0,50)))

Candidates with CM less than 3.5 points are immediately excluded.

The jury may choose to conduct an Interview. The first four candidates on the ranked list of the CM will be selected for the Interview.

Interview – INT (40%):

• Criterion E1 - Motivation, with a weighting of 30%;
• Criterion E2 - Technical knowledge required to carry out the work plan, with a weighting of 30%;
• Criterion E3 - Overall assessment, with a weighting of 40%.

The Jury also decided on the valuation of the Interview, according to the following levels:

• Excellent – 5 points;
• Good – 4 points;
• Satisfactory – 3 points;
• Unsatisfactory – 2 points;
• Poor – 1 point.

The final classification of the Interview (INT) will be obtained by applying the following formula:

INT = (E1\*0,30) + (E2\*0,30) + (E3\*0,40)

The final classification (FC) of Candidate’s Merit (CM) and Interview (INT) will be obtained by applying the following formula:

FC = (CM\*0,60) + (INT\*0,40)

The Selection Panel reserves the right not to award the research grant in the competition based on the evaluation results of the applicants and their suitability for the project objectives.

SELECTION PANEL

The Selection Panel is composed by the following elements:

• President: Doctor José António Silva Carvalho Campos Matos, Associate Professor with Aggregation at Department of Civil Engineering, ISISE, School of Engineering, University of Minho.
• Effective members: Doctor Hélder Manuel Silva Sousa, Assistant Researcher, ISISE, School of Engineering, University of Minho, and Doctor Monica Patrícia Santamaria Ariza, Invited Assistant Researcher, ISISE, School of Engineering, University of Minho.
• Substitute members: Doctor Joaquim Agostinho Barbosa Tinoco, Assistant Researcher, ISISE, School of Engineering, University of Minho, and Doctor Dang Ngoc Son, Invited Assistant Researcher, ISISE, School of Engineering, University of Minho.

If the President of the Selection Panel is unavailable, he/she shall be replaced by the first effective member. The first substitute member will replace the effective member.

The Selection Panel, including the President, undertake the commitment to respect a set of responsibilities essential to the evaluation process, such as the duties of impartiality, of stating any potential situations of conflict of interest and confidentiality.

COMUNICATION OF RESULTS

The results of the evaluation are announced by email to all candidates, attaching, for this purpose, the minutes of the jury's deliberations, within a maximum period of 60 working days from the deadline for submission of applications.

Candidates are informed, at a preliminary hearing, in accordance with Articles 121 and 122 of the Administrative Procedure Code (DL nº 4 / 2015 of January 7), of the likely outcome of the final decision, and may comment within 10 working days of this notification.

COMPLAINT AND APPEAL PROCEDURES

The selected candidate must indicate, in writing, the intention to accept the grant, within 10 working days of notification of the grant award.

The final decision can be contested, having 15 working days for this purpose, or an appeal may be lodged with the Rector within 30 working days, both after the respective notification.

REQUIREMENTS FOR FINAL AWARDING OF THE GRANT

The scholarship is awarded through the signing of a contract between the University of Minho and the scholarship recipient, in accordance with the draft contract in Annex II of the University of Minho Regulations (RBIC). At the time of hiring, the following documents must be sent:

• National Identity Card/Citizen Card/Passport/Visa/Title of Residence;
• Copy of the certificates of the academic degrees;
• Presentation of the certificate of recognition of foreign academic degree and conversion of the respective final grading into the Portuguese grading scale, if applicable;
• Document proving enrollment in the Doctoral Program or in a Course that does not confer an academic degree, identified in this application;
• Science ID;
• NIB/IBAN (document of the Bank with the name of the candidate);
• Tax Identification Number (NIF);
• Digital mobile key (digital signature).

The contract may only be concluded after all the documentation required is collected, which must take place within a maximum period of 6 months. Once all the documentation has been received, the contracting entity has a period of 60 working days to conclude the scholarship contract, in accordance with nº3 of the Article 14º the University of Minho Regulations (RBIC).

MONTHLY MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE

The Monthly Maintenance Allowance, according to the table of values of the Research scholarship of the University of Minho, updated annually, as decided by the Management Board, corresponds to the basic value of:

• Students enrolled in a PhD: 1359,64 euros per month (tax free)
• Masters enrolled in non-academic degree course: 1359,64 euros per month (tax free)

Payments are made by bank transfer on the 23rd of each month to the Bank Identification Number of the fellow identified in the contratualization process.

OTHER BENEFITS

Reimbursement of the Voluntary Social Insurance, if the candidate chooses to receive it, corresponding to the 1st tier of the contribution base (for grants of 6 months or more) and Personal Accident Insurance.

EXCLUSIVITY REGIME

The grantee will perform the activities under exclusivity, as foreseen in article 5º of the Research Fellow Statutes and applicable regulations.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR GRANT RENEWAL

Grant may be renewed for additional periods, if this information is provided in “DURATION OF THE RESEARCH GRANT" and in the contract. This additional period may not exceed the regulatory limits or the end of the project.

The renewal of the grant always depends on a petition submitted by the grant holder, on a date prior to the end of the grant contract, accompanied by the following documents:

1. report issued by the supervisor(s) and by the host entity(ies) on the follow-up of the grant holder's work and the evaluation of his/her activities;
2. updated document proving compliance with the exclusive dedication regime;
3. document proving the renewal of enrollment in the study cycle leading to an academic degree or of a course that does not confer an academic degree. If, at the time of the renewal, the grant holder has already obtained the degree or completed the course, the contract may still be renewed if in its clauses it is specified that the renewal, in these situations, is intended to carry out activities that are indispensable for the completion of the project.

TERM AND CANCELLATION OF GRANT CONTRACTS

Without prejudice to the other grounds laid down in the University of Minho's Scientific Research Scholarship Regulation and in the Research Fellow Statute, the scholarship will cease on completion of the contracted work plan, as well as on expiry of the period for which it was granted or renewed.

At the end of the grant, the grantee is obliged to present a Final Report of the work carried out, in accordance with the objectives and evaluation criteria defined with the scientific advisor, within 60 working days after the end of the grant.

The Final Report must be prepared in accordance with Annex I of the University of Minho Scientific Research Grant Regulations (RBIC).

APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS

Research Fellowship Holder Statutes, approved by Law no. 40/2004 of August 18, in its current version; University of Minho Scientific Research Grant Regulations (RBIC), approved by Order n. 4998/2025, published in the Official Gazette, 2nd series, n. 81, of April 28, rectified and republished through Rectification Statement n. 634/2025/2, published in the Official Gazette, 2nd series, n. 132, of July 11.

NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY

University of Minho actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, so that no candidate may be privileged, benefited, harmed or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty due, namely, to 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 convictions and trade union membership.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

You can find the Portuguese version of the application, templates for the declaration of honor and final report at:

https://isise.net/dissemination/recruitment/

ANNEX I

Declaration of Honor

Academic Habilitations

I, XXXXX (name), candidate for the (type of scholarship) vacancy within the scope of the project (name or project reference), with the reference XXXXX (ref. announcement), declare under honor that I have completed the academic degree (academic degree), qualifying for the type of scholarship in this competition, specifically the course (designation), from XXXXX (degree-granting university), on the date XX/XX/XXXX, with a final average of XX.

Since I am unable to present proof of qualifications until the end of the competition, I declare that I undertake to present said certificate until the date of the conclusion of the fellowship contract, in case of being selected for the vacancy in this competition.

As this is true, I hereby date and sign this declaration.

(Location), (date).

The declarant,

_____________________________

(full name of the candidate)

_____________________________

NOTE: The declaration may only attest to facts that occurred prior to the application.

In the event of a discrepancy between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation submitted for the purpose of contracting the scholarship, only the information contained in the latter will be taken into account.

ANNEX II

Declaration of Honor

Diploma Recognition

XXXXX (name), applicant to the research fellowship vacancy under the I&D project XXXXX (title or reference), reference XXXXX, hereby declares to have a degree on XXXXX (name of the course), concluded in the University of XXXXX, on the XX/XX/XXXX, with the final grade of XXXXX.

I have submitted my diploma for recognition in the University of XXXXX, according to the Decree-Law nº 66/2018 of August 16th, concluded in the XX/XX/XXXX, with the final grade of XXXXX.

I further declare that I undertake to present proof of my diploma recognition obtained under the Portuguese Law, until the date of the conclusion of the fellowship contract, in case of being selected for the vacancy in this competition.

As this is true, I hereby date and sign this declaration.

(Location), (date).

The declarant,

_____________________________

(full name of the candidate)

_____________________________

NOTE: The declaration may only attest to facts that occurred prior to the application.

In the event of a discrepancy between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation submitted for the purpose of contracting the scholarship, only the information contained in the latter will be taken into account.

ANNEX III

Declaration of Honour

I, ________________________ (full name), candidate for the competition ________________________ (reference of the call), within the scope of the project ________________________ (title of project), hereby declare, upon my honour, that I am solely and exclusively responsible for the veracity of the information contained in my Curriculum Vitae.

I further declare, under penalty of exclusion from this competition, that I fulfil all the following requirements for the award of the Research Fellowship (BI) for which I am applying, namely:

To be enrolled in an Integrated master’s or master’s degree programme (2nd Cycle of Higher Education), or in a doctoral programme (3rd Cycle of Higher Education), or in a non-degree course, as required in the call.

Not to exceed, with the execution of this new fellowship contract and its planned renewals, the cumulative duration of:

• 2 years, when the fellowship is awarded to students enrolled in a master’s degree;
• 2 years, when the fellowship is awarded to graduates or masters enrolled in a non-degree course (the total duration of the fellowship may not exceed a cumulative period of two years, whether consecutive or not);
• 4 years, when the fellowship is awarded to students enrolled in a doctoral programme.

To meet and comply with the eligibility requirements set forth in the Call, as well as those established the applicable regulations for the award of Research Fellowships by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., in the Research Fellowship Regulations of the University of Minho (currently in force), and in the Statute of the Research Fellow (EBI).

To provide, at the fellowship contracting stage, the supporting documents proving that I meet the requirements for admission to this competition, specifically:

• Proof of enrolment in an Integrated Master, Master, Doctoral, or non-degree course;
• Recognition record of academic degrees and record of conversion of the respective final classification into the Portuguese grading scale, in the case of degrees awarded by a foreign higher education institution.

To perform the duties of a fellow on an exclusive basis, under the terms set out in Article 5 of the Statute of the Research Fellow and in the applicable research fellowship regulations.

Being true, this declaration shall be dated and signed by me.

(Location), (date).

The declarant,

_____________________________

(full name of the candidate)

Where to apply

E-mail: jmatos@civil.uminho.pt

Requirements

Research Field: Engineering » Civil engineering

Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

Mandatory requirements:

In order to apply, the candidates must possess:

• A Master’s degree in the field of Civil Engineering or related fields;
• Applicants must comply with the eligibility conditions established in point 8 of the University of Minho Scientific Research Grant Regulations (RBIC), approved by Order n. 4998/2025, published in the Official Gazette, 2nd series, n. 81, of April 28, rectified and republished through Rectification Statement n. 634/2025/2, published in the Official Gazette, 2nd series, n. 132, of July 11.

At the time of the respective hiring, candidates must prove that they are enrolled in one of the following courses:

• PhD in the field of Civil Engineering or related fields;
• In a Course that does not confer an academic degree, in the area or area related to that requested in the tender (e.g.: postgraduate studies, advanced studies, specialized training).

Specific Requirements

Preferential factors:

• Previous experience in risk and resilience assessment and management of civil infrastructure.
• Previous experience in structural modelling and data analysis applied to reliability assessment civil infrastructure performance.
• Previous experience in applying Nature-based Solutions (NbS) to the protection of critical infrastructure (CI).
• English language proficiency.

Languages: ENGLISH

Level: Good

Additional Information

Benefits

MONTHLY MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE

The Monthly Maintenance Allowance, according to the table of values of the Research scholarship of the University of Minho, updated annually, as decided by the Management Board, corresponds to the basic value of:

• Students enrolled in a PhD: 1359,64 euros per month (tax free)
• Masters enrolled in non-academic degree course: 1359,64 euros per month (tax free)

Payments are made by bank transfer on the 23rd of each month to the Bank Identification Number of the fellow identified in the contratualization process.

OTHER BENEFITS

Reimbursement of the Voluntary Social Insurance, if the candidate chooses to receive it, corresponding to the 1st tier of the contribution base (for grants of 6 months or more) and Personal Accident Insurance.

Eligibility criteria

Requirement for granting the fellowship:

• The applicants may apply without prior registration in the course for which the fellowship is open. The requirement to enroll in a degree course or non-academic degree course will be verified on the date of contracting the fellowship.
• Only fellowships whose selected applicants present a valid proof of enrollment in a degree course or non-academic degree course will be contracted, issued by a Higher Education Institution, according to the type of the fellowship, indicating the academic year or its duration (start and term).
• In the case of a degree granted by a foreign higher education institution, and in order to ensure the application of the principle of equal treatment to candidates holding foreign and national academic degrees, it is mandatory to recognize the degree and convert the respective final grading to the Portuguese grading scale. The academic degrees and diplomas documents, or their respective recognition when awarded by foreign higher education institutions are not mandatory in the application phase, being replaced by a declaration of honor of the candidate with the contents of academic results. The documents of academic qualification or respective recognition will be required in the contracting phase and must attest facts that occurred on a date prior to the application. In situations of divergence between the information contained in the declaration and the documentation submitted for contracting the grant, only the information contained in the latter will be consider. If the documents proving the ownership of the academic degree and diploma, or the respective recognition under the terms of Decree-Law No. 66/2018, of August 16, do not correspond to the classifications awarded in the evaluation of the academic path, which can change the candidate's ranking, the fellowship won’t be contracted.
• Applicants with degrees obtained abroad must present proof of recognition of qualifications in Portugal and conversion of the final classification obtained in them to the Portuguese classification scale or declaration under the terms indicated in the previous point. Candidates who do not comply with one of these provisions, the Selection Panel will assign “0” in the respective criteria. Candidates will be evaluated on the remaining parameters.
• Only candidates who have completed the required qualification by the end of the application period will be admitted. If they do not yet have the official degree certificate, a declaration of honor from the candidate stating that he/she has completed the qualifications required by the end of the application period, will be accepted. At the time of the respective hiring the candidate must present the official degree certificate.

Selection process

EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation of the applications will focus on the merit of the candidate, by applying the following criteria on a scale of 0 to 5 points:

Candidate's Merit – CM (100%):

• Criterion A - Motivation letter, with a weighting of 20%;
• Criterion B - Academic path (final grade obtained in the Master’s degree), with a weighting of 50%;
• Criterion C - Personal curriculum (considering professional and scientific background), with a weighting of 30%:
• Sub‐criterion C1 - Professional or academic experience in civil engineering, particularly in structural engineering and risk assessment - 50%;
• Sub‐criterion C2 - Publications in journals and conferences on topics relevant to the project - 50%.

The final classification of the Candidate’s Merit (CM) will be obtained by applying the following formula:

CM = (A\*0,20) + (B\*0,50) + (0,30 \* ((C1\*0,50) + (C2\*0,50)))

Candidates with CM less than 3.5 points are immediately excluded.

The jury may choose to conduct an Interview. The first four candidates on the ranked list of the CM will be selected for the Interview.

Interview – INT (40%):

• Criterion E1 - Motivation, with a weighting of 30%;
• Criterion E2 - Technical knowledge required to carry out the work plan, with a weighting of 30%;
• Criterion E3 - Overall assessment, with a weighting of 40%.

The Jury also decided on the valuation of the Interview, according to the following levels:

• Excellent – 5 points;
• Good – 4 points;
• Satisfactory – 3 points;
• Unsatisfactory – 2 points;
• Poor – 1 point.

The final classification of the Interview (INT) will be obtained by applying the following formula:

INT = (E1\*0,30) + (E2\*0,30) + (E3\*0,40)

The final classification (FC) of Candidate’s Merit (CM) and Interview (INT) will be obtained by applying the following formula:

FC = (CM\*0,60) + (INT\*0,40)

The Selection Panel reserves the right not to award the research grant in the competition based on the evaluation results of the applicants and their suitability for the project objectives.

Additional comments

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

You can find the Portuguese version of the application, templates for the declaration of honor and final report at:

https://isise.net/dissemination/recruitment/

Website for additional job details: https://isise.net/dissemination/recruitment/

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available: 1

Company/Institute: Universidade do Minho - ISISE

Country: Portugal

City: Guimarães

Contact

City: Guimarães

Website: http://www.isise.net/

Street: Campus de Azurém

Postal Code: 4800-058