Research Fellowship – 1 vacancy

Within the project – Plastifish

MACAU/0001/2019
 
Ref. ª: CCMAR/BINCGAM/08/2021

The Centre for Marine Sciences (CCMAR) opens one (01) Research Fellowship for a person with a Master Degree (Bolsa de Investigação não conducente à obtenção de grau académico para mestre), for applicants of any nationality, including stateless candidates, and holders of political refugee statute, in the scientific field of Biological Sciences within the research project Plastifish with reference MACAU/0001/2019, named as “Methods, effects and risk analysis of microplastics in fish production.” funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P./MCTES (FCT) through national funds (PIDDAC) under the following conditions:

Host and Contracting Institution: CCMAR
This fellowship is intended for master’s degree holders that are enrolled in a non-academic degree course, integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution and developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units at the starting date of the fellowship.

Work Plan, Tasks to perform and objectives:
The Plastifish project will study the effects of contamination with micro (nano) plastics in fish production focusing on their role as a vehicle for emerging chemical pollutants and its physiological consequences in marine organisms.

Specifically, the fellowship holder will be involved in the following tasks and objectives:
1.    Development of cell culture assays including routine maintenance of cell lines; 
2.    Development of in vitro medium-throughput biosensor assays to determine the mode of action and effects of micro and nanoparticles on vertebrate cell lines;
3.    Contribute to bioinformatic analysis of transcriptomics and proteomics data and confirmation using molecular biology techniques;
4.    Activities of technology/knowledge transfer and outreach in the context of the project objectives;
5.    Contribute to the general lab maintenance of the cell culture suite.

Scientific Supervisor:
Professor Deborah Power, Full Professor at Algarve University and group leader at CCMAR and Dr. Rute Félix, auxiliary researcher at UALG and CCMAR. 

Work place:
The workplace is CCMAR (Gambelas Campus of the Algarve University, Faro, Portugal). 

Requirements for the application:
Applicants must meet all the conditions stated below:

1.    Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Biology or related fields; this information should be explicit in the candidate’s CV.
2.    Master’s degree in Biochemistry, Biotechnology, Molecular Biology, Biology or related fields. 
3.    Good knowledge of spoken and written English.
4.    This fellowship will only be granted to those who do not exceed, with the conclusion of the present fellowship contract, an accumulated period of two years in this type of fellowship, consecutive or otherwise, and the required information should be explicit in the candidate’s CV.

Non-compliance justifies exclusion from the procedure.

It is considered as an advantage:
Preference will be given to applicants with previous experience in a scientific research laboratory and with demonstrated expertise in several of the following activities: cell culture and routine assays (cell toxicity, proliferation, migration, cell death); molecular biology techniques (RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, PCR, qPCR, transcriptomics); immunofluorescence imaging techniques; bioinformatic tools applied to proteomics and transcriptomics analysis.

Evaluation criteria: 
Through the analysis of the application documents the evaluation criteria for the applications and their relative weight for ranking are as follows:
1.    Master academic degree grade - 25%;
2.    Proven experience in cell culture - 25%; 
3.    Proven experience in molecular biology techniques - 25%;
4.    Experience in imunofluorescence – 10%; 
5.    Work experience in a scientific research laboratory - 10%;
6.    Published scientific articles in the field of knowledge - 5%.

The selection committee reserves the right to contact and interview candidates if additional information or clarification of any curricular aspect is necessary. If required, an interview may be requested to evaluate and verify in more detail the criteria (1 -6 above) used to grade the candidate.

In the event that no applicant has the necessary profile, the selection committee reserves the right to close the call without any recruitment. In the event that the selected person does not take up the position because of failure to comply with documentary requirements or any other reason, or later during the contract if they resign, the jury reserves the right, upon convenience and opportunity, to assign the post to the next applicant in accordance with the ranking positions based on the selectable reservation list that can be used up to 6 months of the date of the present announcement.

Fellowship conditions: The fellowship will have a duration of 12 months, expected to start from September 2021. The fellowship must be carried out full-time (exclusive regime), according to the FCT Fellowship Rules (RBI) and the  CCMAR fellowship rules (see here), which are based on the Portuguese law 40/2004, of 18 of August (Scientific Research Fellowship holder statutes) amended by the Decree-Law 123/2019 of 28 of August. A maintenance allowance of 1104.64€ will be paid monthly, through bank transfer, and will be updated as stipulated by the Foundation for Science and Technology (see here https://bit.ly/2ZcxUGJ).

 

Application period: from 16th of August to 10th of September 2021.

 

Application process and mandatory documents:

Complete applications must be submitted online at https://www.ccmar.ualg.pt/list/job and must include:

1. a motivation letter (in English);
2. a detailed Curriculum Vitae (in English);
3. the declaration of honour, available from the application platform, declaring the intention to enrol in a non-academic degree course, integrated in the educational project of a higher education institution and developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D unit, if the candidate is selected for the position;
4. a copy of the Master’s degree certificate with the final classification (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution) or a copy of the certificate of recognition of the Master’s degree by a Portuguese Public Higher Education Institution or by DGES – Directorate General for Higher Education (if the degree was awarded by a foreign University) with the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese scale;
5. the complete declaration of honour, available from the application platform, if they are unable at the time of application, to provide a copy of the Master’s degree certificate with the final classification (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution) or a copy of the certificate of recognition of the Master’s degree with the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese scale (if the degree was awarded by a foreign University), as indicated above;
6. the email contact of up to 3 referees.

 

Non-compliance with these documents/information determines the immediate rejection of the application.

 

Results and Preliminary Hearing: The admission and evaluation results will be communicated by email within 90 working days after the application deadline. After notification, candidates have 10 working days to contest the preliminary decision.

 

Candidates holding degrees awarded by a foreign university should have their degree recognized in Portugal no later than the date indicated in the communication of selection for the position. Non-compliance justifies exclusion from the procedure. Information about the recognition procedures can be obtained at any Portuguese public higher education institution or by Directorate General for Higher Education – DGES (here https://bit.ly/3afyQQU).

 

Selection Committee:

Professor Deborah Power, Full Professor at Algarve University and group leader at CCMAR (president of the jury), Dr. Rute Félix, auxiliary researcher at Algarve University and CCMAR (member) and Professor Adelino Canário, Full Professor at Algarve University, President of the board of Directors of CCMAR and group leader at CCMAR (member).

 

Notes:

Hiring Documents

After the candidate is selected and for the hiring purpose the following documentation/information will be requested:

- proof of the enrolment (Comprovativo de inscrição/matricula) from the Academic Services in a non-academic degree course (in accordance with the declaration on honour).

-  If applicable, copy of the master’s degree (if awarded by a Portuguese Higher Education Institution) with the final classification in the Portuguese scale.

- If applicable, certificate of recognition of the master’s degree by a Portuguese Public Higher Education Institution or by DGES – Directorate General for Higher Education (if the degree was awarded by a foreign University) with the final classification in the Portuguese scale.

- Declaration of commitment stating the exclusivity regime.

- Civil, fiscal and social security Identification (if applicable)

- Account Number – IBAN

- Ciência ID: https://www.ciencia-id.pt/CienciaID/HomePage.aspx

- If applicable, a statement from the candidate saying that does not exceed, with the conclusion of the present fellowship contract, an accumulated period of two years in this type of fellowship, consecutive or otherwise.

 

Fellowship Agreement model

After the candidate selection and all information is received, it will be signed a fellowship agreement in accordance with the model  here

 

Fellowship holder Assessment

At the end of each period of duration of the fellowship contract, the activity developed by the fellowship holder will be evaluated by the supervisor, by applying the following criteria, in accordance with the model below.

Criteria 1 - Compliance with the activity plan (30%)

Criteria 2 – Technical and scientific performance (30%)

Criteria 3 – Development of scientific activity reports and participation in knowledge transfer activities (30%)

Criteria 4 – Responsibility and assiduity (10%)

 

Supervisor report model here

 

Fellowship holder report

By the end of each fellowship period the fellowship holder must present a report. You can find the fellowship holder final report model here

 

Disabled candidates shall be preferred in a situation of equal ranking, and said preference supersedes any legal preferences. Candidates must declare, on their honour, their respective disability degree, type of disability and communication / expression means to be used during selection period on their application form, under the regulations above.

 

CCMAR’s non-discrimination and equal access opportunities policy – No candidate can be privileged, benefited, jeopardised or be deprived of any right or exempt of any claim in regards to descendent, age, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, economic situation, origin, social economy, genetic heritage, disability, chronic disease, nationality, ethnicity, territory of origin, language, religion, politics, ideology or union membership. 

 

Faro, August  the 5th  2021