NOTICE FOR THE OPENING OF AN INTERNATIONAL SELECTION TENDER PROCEDURE FOR THE HIRING OF A DOCTORAL RESEARCHER UNDER THE LEGAL REGIME OF SCIENTIFIC EMPLOYMENT - CTTI-PI-3/26-ISISE(1)

Universidade do Minho, Portugal

Updated: about 1 month ago

Job Type: FullTime

Deadline: 08 Apr 2026

17 Mar 2026
Job Information

Organisation/Company: Universidade do Minho
Department: GAP - Gabinete de Apoio a Projectos
Research Field: Engineering » Civil engineering
Researcher Profile: Recognised Researcher (R2)
Positions: PhD Positions
Application Deadline: 8 Apr 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon)
Country: Portugal
Type of Contract: Temporary
Job Status: Full-time
Hours Per Week: 35
Offer Starting Date: 18 Mar 2026
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?: Not funded by a EU programme
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?: No

Offer Description

Doctor Pedro Miguel Ferreira Martins Arezes, Professor and Rector of Universidade do Minho, in the use of his own competence, in accordance with the terms of subsection d) of section 1 of article 92 of Law no. 62/2007, from September 10th and subsection d) of section 1 of article 37 of the Statutes of Universidade do Minho, approved by Normative Order no. 15/2021, published in Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 115, of June 16th, makes it known that, for a period of 15 working days counting from the business day immediately after the date on which this notice is published, an international selection tender is open for recruitment, in the form of an uncertain term contract celebrated under the Labour Code, of 1 (one) doctoral researcher position at initial level under private law, for the exercise of scientific research activities in the scientific area of Civil Engineering, within the scope of the project “REFINED - Refractory Engineering for Innovative and knowledge-based lining design”, with number 16273, with operation code COMPETE2030-FEDER-00743400, cofunded by Programa de Inovação e Transição digital (COMPETE2023), by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia – FCT I.P, by PORTUGAL 2030 and by the European Union, with a view to developing and carrying out the above-mentioned project and related scientific activities, with a particular focus on the development of analytical models (data science – machine learning) and the development of advanced numerical models considering the thermo-mechanical behaviour of structural elements.

1. Applicable Legislation: This tender, open by Decree of 29/12/2025, by the Rector of Universidade do Minho, is governed by the provisions of Decree Law No. 57/2016, of August 29th, amended by Law No. 57/2017 of July 19th, which approved a hiring regime of doctorates aimed at stimulating scientific and technological employment in all areas of knowledge, by the Regulation of Scientific Employment (RSE), by the Regulamento da Carreira, Recrutamento, Contratação e Avaliação do Desempenho do Pessoal Investigador em Regime de Direito Privado da UMinho (RPI-UM), amended and republished by the Rectoral Order RT-10353/2022, published in the Diário da República, Series II, No. 163, of the 24th of August 2022, and other applicable laws and regulations.

2. Place of Work: The work placement is located at the University of Minho facilities.

3. Monthly salary: The salary to be attributed is 2.408,11€, corresponding to the remuneration level 10 included in the annex 1 of the RPI-UM.

4. Eligibility Criteria: Any national, foreign and stateless candidates who hold a doctoral degree in in the field of knowledge / specialty that shows an appropriate profile for the activities to be developed.
Opponents of this tender with qualifications obtained abroad must prove the recognition, equivalence or registration of the doctoral degree, under the terms of the applicable legislation. This formality must be completed by the signing date of the contract.
4.1. General admission requirements are those defined in point 4. For the purpose of determining the appropriate profile for the activity to be developed, the following are special requirements:
a) proven experience in the scientific area of this international selection tender;
b) professional or academic experience in Machine Learning or finite element modelling.

5. Formalization of the applications: Applications are formalized through a request addressed to the Rector of Universidade do Minho, under the terms defined in the attached template.
5.1. The application must include the following documents:
a) Copy of certificate or diploma degree.
b) Detailed curriculum vitae structured in accordance with point 9.
c) Motivation letter.
d) Copy of the [3] most relevant publications.
e) Other relevant documents for the evaluation of qualification in the related scientific area.
f) Any other documents that the applicant considers relevant, namely for the assessment of the information referred to in paragraph 2 of article 5 of the RSE.
5.2. Candidates must submit the request and supporting documents, using digital tools, in PDF format, mandatorily, by electronic means, to the address jpereira@civil.uminho.pt , until the deadline for submission of applications established in this notice, indicating in subject “Ref. CTTI-PI-3/26-ISISE(1)”.

5.3. Failure to comply with the deadline for submitting the application, such as failure to submit or late submission of the application referred to in point 5 and the documents referred to in points a) to d) of point 5.1, determines the exclusion of the application. The exclusion decision is notified to the candidates, by email, for the purpose of holding the hearing of interested parties.
5.4. The jury may, whenever it finds necessary, request candidates to provide documents complementary to the facts referred to in the submitted curriculum, determining a deadline for this purpose.
5.5. False statements provided by the candidates will be punished by law.

6. Members of the Jury: The selection jury has the following composition, according to article no. 13 of the RSE and article no. 35 of the do RPI-UM:
President of the jury: Doctor José Manuel da Sena Cruz, Associate Professor with Habilitation, Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Minho.
Other members:
Doctor João Miguel Pereira, Assistant Researcher, ISISE Center, School of Engineering, University of Minho.
Doctor Joaquim Agostinho Barbosa Tinoco, Assistant Researcher, ISISE Center, School of Engineering, University of Minho.

7. Rules of operation of the Jury: The jury shall deliberate by means of a nominal vote in accordance with the adopted and published selection criteria, and abstentions will not be allowed.
7.1. The jury meetings will be documented in written minutes, containing a summary of what has taken place, as well as the votes cast by each of the members and the respective grounds, being provided to the candidates whenever requested.

8. Approval on absolute merit:
8.1. The jury must decide on the absolute merit of the candidates, based on the merit of the global curriculum of the candidates in the scientific area for which the tender is open and also considering the fulfilment, cumulatively, of at least one of the following requirements:
a) The list of publications referred to in item (d) of point 5.1 of the call must demonstrate that the candidate has the necessary capacity to perform, at least adequately, the duties associated with the category and field;
b) The candidate must have published, in the last five years, at least five (5) publications within the scientific area of the competition/call; publications that do not fall within the scientific area of the competition/call shall not be counted.
8.2. The decision of exclusion on absolute merit is notified to the candidates, by email, for the purpose of holding the hearing of interested parties.
8.3. Once the deadline for the exercise of the right of hearing the interested parties has expired, the jury analyses the allegations presented and, if it keeps the exclusion decision, notifies the excluded candidates by email with delivery receipt, subsequently beginning the application of the selection methods to the admitted candidates.

9. Method(s) and evaluation criteria: The selection method consists of a Scientific and Curricular Path Assessment (SCPA).
All candidates, approved on absolute merit, are subjected to the evaluation of the scientific and curricular path to be carried out according to the criteria and weights defined in point 9.3.
9.1. The evaluation of the Scientific and Curricular Path Assessment (SCPA) focuses on the relevance, quality and timeliness:
a) of the scientific, technological, cultural or artistic production of the last five years considered most relevant by the candidate for the area of recruitment and applied research activities, or based on practice, considered to have the greatest impact by the candidate for the area of recruitment, with a minimum weight of 80%.
b) of the activities of extension and dissemination of knowledge, namely in the context of the promotion of the cultural and scientific practices considered most relevant by the candidate, and activities for the management of science, technology and innovation programs, or experience in observation and monitoring of the scientific and technological system, with a maximum weight of 20%.
9.2. The five-year period mentioned in the preceding paragraph may be increased by the jury, if requested by the candidate, and when justified on grounds of suspension of scientific activity for socially protected reasons such as parental leave, prolonged serious illness, and other situations of unavailability for work that are legally protected.
9.3. In the evaluation of the Scientific and Curricular Path Assessment (SCPA) the following parameters and evaluation criteria are considered with the respective weights:
STP – Scientific and Technological Production, obtained using the formula 0.4QA + 0.4PA + 0.2AR. QA corresponds to the quantitative assessment of publications in ISI/SCOPUS-indexed journals: in the research area of data science (machine learning) or advanced finite element modelling, QA = up to 100 points; publications in related areas, QA = up to 60 points; publications in other areas, QA = 0 points. PA corresponds to the qualitative assessment of 3 articles to be provided by the candidate, PA = up to 100 points. AR corresponds to the assessment of applied or practice-based research activities in data science (machine learning) or advanced finite element modelling, AR = up to 100 points; activities in related areas, AR = up to 60 points; activities in other areas, AR = 0 points.
EMA – Extension and Management Activities, corresponds to the assessment of outreach and knowledge-management activities carried out over the last five years. This parameter includes: (i) participation in services and technology transfer; (ii) participation in knowledge-dissemination activities, including participation in conferences, symposia and scientific cooperation activities; (iii) management activities in science, technology and innovation programmes, or experience in observing and monitoring the scientific and technological system. Activities in the area of data science (machine learning) or advanced finite element modelling, EMA = up to 100 points; activities in related areas, EMA = up to 60 points; activities in other areas, EMA = 0 points.
The final classification of the SCPA is obtained by the following formula: SCPA = 0.8STP + 0.2EMA.
9.4. Candidates with an absolute merit score lower than 70 points in the SCPA method, as well as candidates who have withdrawn, shall be considered excluded from the procedure.
9.5. The valuation of the evaluation parameters is expressed on the numerical scale from 0 to 100 points.
9.6. The classification of each candidate is obtained by the average of the classifications of each one of the members of the jury. In case of a draw, the Chairman of the jury will make a final decision to untie the applicants.

10. Order of candidates: The order of the candidates must be based on the evaluation made according to the evaluation criteria described in this notice.
10.1. After completion of the application of the evaluation criteria, the jury will draw up an orderly list of successful candidates with their respective classification.
10.2. The final classification of the candidates is expressed in the numerical scale of 0 to 100 points; the classification being obtained through a weighted average.

11. Participation of interested parties and decision: The final ordering is notified to the candidates, by email with receipt of delivery of the notification, allowing them to pronounce for the purpose of preliminary hearing of the interested parties, pursuant to article 121 and following of the Code of Administrative Procedure, applying, with the necessary adaptations, the provisions of article 31 of the Regulation.
11.1. After the hearing of the interested parties, the jury analyses the allegations presented and approves the final ordering list of the successful candidates. Within 90 days, from the deadline for submission of the applications, the final decisions of the jury are given.
11.2. The period referred to in the previous number may be extended when the high number of candidates and or the special complexity of the competition justifies it.
11.3. The final decision of the jury is approved by the Rector of Universidade do Minho, who also decides on the hiring.

12. Publication of results: The list of admitted and excluded candidates, as well as the final ranking list of the successful candidates, are published on Universidade do Minho's website, and the candidates are notified by email with receipt of delivery of the notification.

13. The present tender is exclusively designated to fill the indicated vacancies and may be terminated up to the homologation of the final ranking list of candidates, expiring with the respective occupation of the jobs on offer.

14. The present announcement was approved by the jury of the tender at its meeting on 16/01/2026, according to the approved minutes of the said meeting.

15. Non-discrimination and equal access policy: Universidade do 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.
15.1. Pursuant to section h) of article 9 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, the Public Administration, as an employer, actively promotes a policy of equal opportunities for men and women in accessing employment and professional advancement, scrupulously any form of discrimination.

The Rector, Professor Pedro Miguel Ferreira Martins Arezes

ANNEX

REQUEST

To the Rector of Universidade do Minho
Name (…), birthdate (…), VAT no. (…), identification card no. (…), address (…), Postal code (…), Mobile Phone no. (…), email address (…), holder of a degree in (…), hereby requests that you kindly accept my application for the international competition for recruitment in the form of an uncertain term contract under the Labour Code and Decree-Law no. 57/2016 of August 29th, as amended by Law no. 57/2017, of July 19th and the “Regulamento da Carreira, Recrutamento, Contratação e Avaliação do Desempenho do Pessoal Investigador em Regime de Direito Privado da UMinho”, amended and republished by the Normative Order no. 10353/2022, published in Diário da República, 2nd Series, no. 163, of August 24th, of 1 doctoral position for initial level in the scientific area of Civil Engineering, according to a notice published in the Diário da República no. __, 2nd series, of __/__/__, with ref. CTTI-PI-3/26-ISISE(1).
It declares that the elements or facts contained in this application are true. I also declare that I agree to receive by email the communications and notifications resulting from the present selection tender procedure.

I consent that the personal data described above are collected by the University of Minho for the purpose of managing the administrative procedures necessary for the analysis and publication of the application results, processing of requests submitted by the candidate to UMinho, internal administrative processes of a financial nature, creation of electronics personal identity and statistical reporting.

Find attached the following documents: xxx

(Place and date)

(Signature)

Where to apply

E-mail: jpereira@civil.uminho.pt

Requirements

Research Field: Engineering » Civil engineering
Education Level: PhD or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications