Research Scholarship

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?: No

Offer Description

NOTICE FOR RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP (1 vacancy)

A tender is open for the attribution of one (1) Research Scholarship to holders of a master’s degree enrolled in courses that do not lead to an academic degree to conduct research activities taking place at LEAF – Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture and Food of Instituto Superior de Agronomia, financed by national funds through FCT, I.P., reference UID/04129/2025, under the following conditions:

1. TYPE, DURATION OF THE SCHOLARSHIPS and EXPECTED BEGINNING PERIOD OF THE SCHOLARSHIP

The tender is intended for the attribution of one (1) Research Scholarship to holders of a master’s degree enrolled in courses that do not lead to an academic degree, for a duration of 6 months, non-renewable, scheduled to start on October 2026.

2. WORK PLAN AND WORKPLACE:

The work to be carried out stems directly from the work plan of the LEAF internal strategic project 2026 ClimDRust - Deciphering host-pathogen dual responses: How heat waves and elevated CO2 compromise coffee immunity and Hemileia vastatrix virulence. The work plan is part of Task 3 (Transcriptomic Profiling of Coffee–Hemileia vastatrix Interactions Under Abiotic Stress), aiming to assess the impact of abiotic stresses on plant defense responses and fungal virulence.

The work plan comprises the following activities:

1. Bioinformatics analysis of long-read RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) data generated using the Oxford Nanopore platform, including quality control, data processing, and read mapping against the available coffee and H. vastatrix reference genomes;
2. Gene expression quantification and identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and transcript isoforms (DEIs) between compatible and incompatible interactions under abiotic stress;
3. Functional enrichment analyses (Gene Ontology and KEGG), construction of gene interaction networks, and identification of candidate genes associated with coffee resistance and rust virulence;
4. Participation in the statistical analysis of the results, preparation of technical and scientific reports, drafting of scientific publications, and dissemination of project outcomes.

The work will be carried out at the Laboratories of the Coffee Rust Research Centre (CIFC) located in the Ferreira Lapa Building at the School of Agriculture (Instituto Superior de Agronomia), under the supervision of Dr. Maria do Céu Silva.

3. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

Applications must be formalized, obligatorily, by sending an application letter, with the reference "BI-ClimDRust-Refª-BL-33-2026”, accompanied by the following documents: Curriculum Vitae, copy of certificate of qualifications, motivation letter and other supporting documents considered relevant.

Exceptionally, in duly justified situations, proof of enrolment in a cycle of studies or courses that do not lead to an academic degree may be delivered up to the date of the effective contracting;

If the selected candidate has a qualification awarded by a foreign higher education institution, this must be recognized by the Portuguese higher education institution by the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES, only in case of automatic recognition), under the terms of Decree-Law no. 341/2007, of 12 October, regulated by Notice no. 227/2017, of July 25 and updated by Decree-Law No. 66/2018, published in the Diário da República, 1st series, No. 157, of August 16, 2018. For getting more information about this, we suggest consulting the DGES portal (http://www.dges.gov.pt). It may be waived to present it during the application phase for the support in question, with this condition being verified only during the grant contracting phase.

The applications must be sent to LEAF and Maria do Céu Silva via emails: leaf@isa.ulisboa.pt; mariaceusilva@isa.ulisboa.pt

The application period will run from August 28 to September 11, 2026.

4. SCHOLARSHIP RENEWAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Scholarships may be renewed for additional periods up to their maximum duration, provided that, at the renewal date, the conditions for their grant are verified, always depending on the request submitted, within 60 working days prior to the start date of the renewal, accompanied by the following documents: a) Detailed report of the work carried out, including the URL addresses of communications, publications and scientific creations resulting from the activity carried out, if any; b) Statement of the supervisor on the documents referred to in the preceding paragraph; c) Work plan for the renewal period. D) Document proving the renewal of enrollment in the cycle of studies required for granting the scholarship, in scholarships associated with cycles of studies or courses that do not confer an academic degree, except when this has already been concluded.

5. SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENTS

The scholarship is aimed at carrying out R&D activities by holders of a master’s degree enrolled in courses that do not lead to an academic degree.

Candidates must hold, preferably, a Bachelor's degree in Biology or a related field, and a Master's degree in Computational Biology and Bioinformatics.

Candidates should demonstrate experience in transcriptomics and/or genomics, preferably applied to the study of plant–fungus interactions in tropical systems. In addition, candidates should possess: (1) Knowledge of bioinformatics tools and pipelines for the analysis of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data, as well as experience working in Linux/Unix environments and with programming or scripting languages, namely R, Python, or Bash; (2) Experience in association studies, functional enrichment analyses (Gene Ontology and KEGG), and the identification of candidate genes involved in plant resistance mechanisms and/or fungal virulence factors/effectors; (3) Good organizational, planning, and independent working skills, together with strong communication and teamwork abilities; (4) Good skills of written and spoken English;(5) Immediate availability.

Preference will be given to candidates with prior knowledge and experience of the coffee–rust biological system (Coffea–Hemileia vastatrix).

6. FUNDING AND SCHOLARSHIP COMPONENTS

The grant will be financed by national funds through FCT, I.P., reference UID/04129/2025.

The amount of the monthly allowance is 1.090,98€ plus the reimbursement of voluntary social insurance (applicable to scholarships lasting six months or more), according to the table of values of monthly allowances, set out in Annex I of Regulation No. 950/2019 (https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM-2026.pdf).

The payment will be made via bank transfer.

7. EVALUATION CRITERIA

The evaluation of applications will be carried out by applying the selection criteria and respective parameters described below.

• Criterium A – Curricular assessment with a weighting coefficient of 40%
• Criterium B – Professional experience with a weighting coefficient of 50%
• Criterium C – Motivation letter with a weighting coefficient of 10%

Candidates who have obtained a rating lower than 9.5 points (out of 20 points) in any of the criteria will be excluded from the procedure, with the following selection criteria not being applied to them.

The Final Classification (FC) of candidates will be expressed on a scale of 0 to 20 points, considering the valuation up to hundredths, using the following formula:

FC = (CA x 40%) + (PE x 50%) + (ML x 10%)

where:

FC = Final Classification; CA = Curricular Assessment; PE = Professional Experience; ML = Motivation Letter

8. EVALUATION

Composition of the Assessment Committee:

• Maria do Céu Machado Lavado da Silva (President) - Assistant researcher, Instituto Superior de Agronomia
• Andreia Sofia Brotas da Costa Loureiro - Technical Specialist with a PhD, Instituto Superior de Agronomia
• Inês Isabel Plácido dos Santos Diniz - Assistant researcher, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária
• Filipa Isabel de Almeida Monteiro (Substitute) -Assistant researcher, Instituto Superior de Agronomia
• Mónica Guita Sebastiana (Substitute) - Assistant researcher, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária

9. DISCLOSURE OF RESULTS

Form of advertising/notification of results: The final results of the evaluation will be publicized, through a list ordered, alphabetically, by final grade, posted in a visible and public place of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, with the candidate being approved notified via email.

10. TERMS AND PROCEDURES FOR PRIOR HEARING, CLAIM AND APPEAL

After communicating the provisional list of the evaluation results, the candidates with a project of decision unfavorable to the granting of the scholarship, have a period of 10 working days to, if they wish, do their statements in the preliminary hearing of interested parties, pursuant to articles 121 and following of the Code of Administrative Procedure. The final decision will be rendered after the analysis of the statements presented during a prior hearing of interested parties.

In the event that a scholarship holder terminates his scholarship in advance, the evaluation of the contest in question may be used to contract a new scholarship with the candidate who was in the position immediately after. The recruitment reserve is valid for a period of 18 months from the date of approval of the final ranking list, pursuant to article 25 of Ordinance 233/2022, of 9 September.

11. SCHOLARSHIP AGREEMENT MODEL AND FINAL REPORTS

11.1 - The scholarship contract must include:

a) The identification of the scholarship holder and the scientific advisor or coordinator;

b) The identification of the host and financial entities;

c) The applicable legislation, Regulation No. 950/2019;

d) The plan of activities to be developed by the scholarship holder;

e) Indication of the duration and start date of the grant.

11. 2 - The scholarship contract will be made in writing and a copy will be sent to the Foundation for Science and Technology, IP for inclusion in the national register of scholarship holders.

11. 3 - The Scholarship Holder Status is automatically granted with the signing of the contract, always referring to the start date of the scholarship.

11.4 - The scholarship holder must submit to ISA, within 60 working days after the end of the scholarship, in electronic format, a final report of their activities containing the activities developed and results obtained, including communications, publications and scientific creations resulting from the developed activity, and respective URL addresses, accompanied by the opinion of the supervisors.

12. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY

No candidate may be privileged, benefited, harmed or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty due, in particular, to ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological convictions and union membership.

13. APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS:

Statute of the Scientific Research Fellow, approved by Law no. 40/2004, published in Diário da República no. 194/2004, Series I-A, 2004‐08‐18, in the wording given by Decree-Law no. 123/2019, of August 28 and FCT Scholarship Regulation - Regulation No. 950/2019, of December 16, 2019 (https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/regulamentos.phtml.pt).

Authorized on August 25, 2026 by President of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Professor António Guerreiro de Brito.

Where to apply

E-mail: leaf@isa.ulisboa.pt

Requirements

Research Field: Biological sciences » Biology

Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available: 1

Company/Institute: Instituto Superior de agronomia

Country: Portugal

Contact

State/Province: Lisboa

City: Lisboa

Website: https://www.isa.ulisboa.pt/recrutamento/bolsa-de-investigacao-para-atividades-de-id-0

https://www.isa.ulisboa.pt

Street: Tapada da Ajuda

Postal Code: 1349-017 Lisboa

E-Mail: gp@isa.ulisboa.pt