Research Initiation Scholarship

Offer Description

A tender is open for the attribution of 1 Research Initiation Scholarship within the scope of the R&D project/institution “Um centro único de cobre envolvido na mitigação do gás de estufa”/LAQV, with the ref. 2022.01152.PTDC, funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. /MCTES (FCT, I.P.), through national funds (PIDDAC) (OE) under the following conditions:

Work Plan: Nitrous oxide is a potent greenhouse gas, that can also react with the ozone, destroying it. The only enzyme able to reduce nitrous oxide is the nitrous oxide reductase, an enzyme that catalysis the last step of denitrification. Nitrous oxide reductase is a copper enzyme with a unique tetranuclear copper center as an active center. In this Project we aim at studying the catalytic activity and activation of Pseudomonas stuzteri nitrous oxide reductase and some variants obtained by site-directed mutagenesis.

Workplace: The work will be carried out at Department of Chemistry of the Faculty of Sciences and Technology of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (NOVA FCT), under the scientific supervision of Prof. Dr. Sofia Pauleta, with the contracting entity being NOVA.id.FCT – Associação para a Inovação e Desenvolvimento da FCT.

Fellowship duration: The fellowship will have a duration of 3 months, starting on October 2026.

Application deadline and form of application submission: The competition is open from 15th to 28th September 2026.

Documentation to be provided when applying: Applications must be formally submitted through a single PDF document containing the following:

a) Curriculum Vitae;

b) Motivation Letter;

c) Certificate of Academic Qualifications or a declaration on honor containing the same information as described in point 2;

d) Proof of enrollment in a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree programme or, in the case of candidates who already hold an academic degree, in a non-degree course, in the field of Biochemistry or a related field, during the 2026/2027 academic year or declaration on honor containing the same information as described in point 2.

Procedure of submission of applications: Applications must be sent by email to Sofia Pauleta (srp@fct.unl.pt), indicating in the subject “#NOVAID-B534 - Application”.

Documentation required for contracting: Proof of enrollment in a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree programme or, in the case of candidates who already hold an academic degree, in a non-degree course, in the field of Biochemistry or a related field, during the 2026/2027 academic year.

Applicable legislation and regulations: Law No. 40/2004, of August 18, amended and republished by Decree-Law No. 202/2012 of August 27 (Statute of the Scientific Research Fellow) and amended by Decree-Law No. 233/2012 of October 29, by Law No. 12/2013 of 29 January, by Decree-Law No. 89/2013, of 9 July and Decree-Law No. 123/2019, of 28 August; Regulation of Research Grants of NOVA.id.FCT – Association for Innovation and Development of FCT; Regulation of Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. in force (https://files.dre.pt/2s/2019/12/241000000/0009100105.pdf).

Where to apply

E-mail: srp@fct.unl.pt

Requirements

Research Field: Chemistry » Biochemistry

Education Level: Undergraduate

Skills/Qualifications

Recipients profile/category: Candidates must be enrolled, during the 2026/2027 academic year, in a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree programme or, in the case of candidates who already hold an academic degree, in a nondegree course, in the field of Biochemistry or a related field (*1).

(*1) - (Supporting documents proving the award of academic degrees and diplomas, or their recognition when awarded by foreign higher education institutions, are not required at the application stage and may be replaced by a declaration of honor from the candidate); (Documents proving enrolment must be submitted no later than the grant contracting stage and may, prior to that, be replaced by a declaration of honor).

BIIs may only be awarded to those who do not exceed, with the signing of the scholarship contract in question, including possible renewals, an accumulated period of one year in that type of scholarship, consecutive or interpolated.

Obligatory factors: The candidate should have experience in the purification of heterologously produced proteins, biophysical characterization of metaloproteins, and kinetic and electrochemical assays under anaerobic conditions.

Languages: ENGLISH

Level: Good

Additional Information

Benefits

Monthly maintenance allowance amount: The amount of the grant is 701,12 €, with reference to the table of values of grants awarded directly by FCT, I.P. in Portugal, payment being made monthly by bank transfer.

Eligibility criteria

Selection criteria: The selection methods to be used will be as follows: (i) Evaluation of the Curriculum vitae (70%), in which the scientific and curricular background should be indicated, (ii) a motivation letter, which should include the experience in the requested area and the reasons that led the student to apply for this scholarship and how it will contribute to the continuation of his/her scientific career (20%), and (iii) and interview (10%), which will be held for candidates who have obtained a weighted score of 16 in the first two criteria. Each of the criteria will be graded from 0 to 20 values, for a total of 20 values after weighting.

Selection process

Composition of the Selection Jury:

President of the Jury: Professor Dr. Sofia Pauleta, UCIBIO and DQ-NOVA FCT

Effective Jury Member: Professor Dr. Isabel Moura, LAQV and DQ-NOVA FCT

Effective Jury Member: Professor Dr. Marta Carepo, LAQV and DQ-NOVA FCT

Form of advertising/notification of results: The evaluation results proposed by the juri will be notified, up to 90 days after the deadline for the submission of applications, by email, of the results proposed by the jury, with access to the minutes and the final ranking list. After notification, candidates will have 10 working days to comment on the draft decision (prior hearing of interested parties, under the terms of the Code of Administrative Procedure). The final decision will be taken after the expiry of the prior hearing period, again notified to all candidates by e-mail. Of this final decision the candidates can file a complaint within 15 working days (to the e-mail address used for the notification), or a hierarchical appeal, within 30 working days, addressed to NOVA.ID.FCT's Board through the address coord1@novaidfct.pt.

Additional comments

Drafts: The templates for: i) grant contract, ii) final report to be submitted by the grant holder, iii) final report to be submitted by the scientific supervisor, and iv) declaration under oath of honor, can be found on the NOVA.id.FCT website.

Website for additional job details: https://www.novaidfct.pt/content/NOVAID.B534.EDI.0.pdf

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available: 1

Company/Institute: NOVA FCT

Country: Portugal

State/Province: CAPARICA

City: ALMADA

Postal Code: 2829-516

Contact

City: Caparica

Website: http://www.novaid.fct.unl.pt/

Street: Campus de Caparica

Postal Code: 2829-516 Caparica