PUBLIC NOTICE FOR THE AWARD OF A RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP – 1 vacancy | Reference: ICVS_BI_2026_010(1)

Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), from the School of Medicine (EM) of the University of Minho, Portugal

Updated: 4 days ago

Deadline: 04 May 2026

16 Apr 2026
Job Information

Organisation/Company: Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), from the School of Medicine (EM) of the University of Minho
Research Field: Medical sciences » Health sciences
Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)
Positions: Master Positions
Application Deadline: 4 May 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon)
Country: Portugal
Type of Contract: Not Applicable
Job Status: Not Applicable
Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme?: Not funded by a EU programme
Reference Number: ICVS_BI_2026_010(1)
Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure?: No

Offer Description

PUBLIC NOTICE FOR THE AWARD OF A RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP

Title: Research Fellowship for Master Enrolled in a Non-Academic Degree Course – 1 vacancy

Reference: ICVS_BI_2026_010(1)

A call for applications is now open for the attribution of 1 (one) Research Fellowship for Master Enrolled in a Non-Academic Degree Course, within the scope of the R&D project “Prefrontal Serotonin Input in Cognitive Flexibility and its Capacity to Revert Impairments in Stress-related Disorders”, with the reference n.º 2023.14830.PEX – Flex1ABack, funded by funds of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. (FCT, I.P.), within the scope of the Framework Program "Scientific Research and Technological Development Projects (IC&DT) " and of the Operational Program " IC&DT Projects in All Scientific Domains (PTDC)", in the context of the Measure/Axis of "Exploratory Research Projects (PEX)", under the following conditions:

Scientific Area: Health Sciences

Candidate’s category

Masters enrolled in a non-academic degree course, integrated in the educational project of a Higher Education institution, developed in association or cooperation with one or more R&D units;
Masters enrolled in a non-academic degree course that do not exceed, with the conclusion of the fellowship contract in question, including the possible renewals, a cumulative period of two years in this type of fellowship, consecutive or interpolated.

Requirements for granting of the fellowship:

Candidates may apply without prior registration in a non-academic degree course. Nonetheless, the requirement for registration in a non-academic degree course must be verified on the date of contracting the fellowship;
For the purpose of contracting the fellowship, the selected candidate must present a valid proof of registration in a non-academic degree course, issued by the respective academic services of a Higher Education institution, with the indication of the current academic year or its duration (beginning and end).

Candidate’s eligibility: Candidates who meet the conditions set out in Article 9 of the Research Fellowships Regulation of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), No. 950/2019, of 16-12-2019, are eligible.

National citizens or citizens of other European Union member states, citizens of third-countries, stateless persons and citizens with political refugee status are eligible to apply for this competition.

Applications eligibility requirements:

a) Mandatory requirement:

- Master's degree in the areas of Biology, Biochemistry or in related scientific areas;

b) In accordance with the Research Fellowships Regulation of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), only masters who do not exceed, with the conclusion of the fellowship contract in question, including the possible renewals, a cumulative period of two years in this type of fellowship, consecutive or interpolated, may benefit of the award of the fellowship under this Call, for which, according to the point “Application deadline and submission” of this Call, the candidates must submit in the application process a Declaration of Honor regarding the benefited Research Fellowships, issued as defined in the model attached to the present public notice, in order to assess whether the candidates meet the necessary conditions to be able to benefit from the type of fellowship in the competition;

c) Preferential factors:

- Knowledge and experience acquired along the path/academic training in: i) Behavioral tests to assess emotional and cognitive components in rodents; ii) Evaluation of the antidepressant potential of drugs in rodent models of depression; iii) Execution of stereotaxic surgeries in rodents; and iv) Molecular biology methodologies of protein quantification and labeling, namely western blot and immunofluorescence.

Workplan and objectives to be achieved: aims to develop and consolidate the scientific training of the fellowship holder, through involvement in research work.

The project in which the present research fellowship is part of focuses on the study of the ability of serotonergic signalling modulation in the prefrontal cortex to revert cognitive inflexibility. In this context, the work plan to be developed includes the execution of the following R&D activities:

- Identify possible alterations in PFC serotonergic circuits in an animal model of depression;

- Test the efficacy of strategies to increase serotonergic signaling to revert stress-induced cognitive inflexibility.

The following are identified as result indicators:

1- Execution of the tasks indicated above with quality and in safe conditions;

2- Detection of less than 10% of failures in the execution of the indicated tasks.

Applicable legislation and regulations: Statute of the Research Fellow, approved by Law n.º 40/2004, of August 18th, in its current wording, Research Fellowships Regulation of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), No. 950/2019, published in the Official Gazette, 2nd series, of December 16th, in its current wording, and Scientific Research Fellowships Regulation of the University of Minho, approved by Order n.º 4998/2025, published in the Official Gazette, 2nd series, n.º 81, of April 28th, rectified and republished through the Rectification Statement n.º 634/2025/2, published in the Official Gazette, 2nd series, n.º 132, of July 11th.

Host/contracting entity and scientific supervision: The work plan will be developed at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute (ICVS), from the School of Medicine (EM) of the University of Minho, located at the Gualtar Campus, in Braga, under the scientific supervision and coordination of Doctor Nuno Dinis Lopes Oliveira Alves, Doctoral Researcher of the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute of the School of Medicine of the University of Minho.

Fellowship duration: The fellowship will have an estimated duration of 7 months, starting predictably in June 2026. Considering that the project by which the fellowship is being funded ends on December 31st, 2026, the fellowship is not eligible for renewal.

Amount of the research grant: The amount of the fellowship corresponds to 1.359,64€/month, according to the table of values of the FCT Research Fellowships in the Country – Values of the FCT Research Fellowships – and the table of values of the Scientific Research Fellowships of the University of Minho, which is updated annually by decision of the Management Board.

Payment is made until the 23rd of each month, through bank transfer to the Bank Identification Number of the fellowship holder indicated in the respective contracting process.

Other benefits: Reimbursement of Voluntary Social Insurance, if the candidate chooses to receive it, corresponding to the 1st level of discounts (for research grants with a total duration 6 months or higher) and personal accident insurance.

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

Composition of the Selection Jury:

President:

– Doctor Nuno Dinis Lopes Oliveira Alves, Doctoral Researcher of the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute of the School of Medicine of the University of Minho.

Effective Members:

– Doctor Luísa Alexandra Meireles Pinto, Principal Researcher with Aggregation at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute of the School of Medicine of the University of Minho;

– Doctor Carina Isabel Soares da Cunha, Assistant Researcher at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute of the School of Medicine of the University of Minho.

Substitute Members:

– Doctor Sara Sá Cesariny Calafate, Assistant Researcher at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute of the School of Medicine of the University of Minho;

– Doctor Tatiana Pinto Morais, Doctoral Researcher at the Life and Health Sciences Research Institute of the School of Medicine of the University of Minho.

In case of impediment of the President of the jury, he/she will be substituted by the first effective member, being appointed a substitute member to replace the first effective member.

In case of impediment of one of the effective members, a substitute member will be appointed to replace the effective member.

Criteria and procedures for applications assessment and selection: The applications assessment will focus on the Merit of the Candidate, following evaluation criteria, valued on a scale of 0 to 5 values:

Merit of the Candidate – MC (100%):

AP - Academic Path (which reflects the classifications of the academic degrees), with a weighting of 50%:

AP1 – Final classification of the bachelor's degree, with a weighting of 25%;

AP2 – Final classification of the master's degree, with a weighting of 25%;

AP3 – Bachelor's degree training area, with a weighting of 25%;

AP4 – Master’s degree training area, with a weighting of 25%.

PC - Personal Curriculum (which reflects the scientific and professional path/curriculum), with a weighting of 40%:

PC1 – Knowledge in behavioral tests to assess emotional and cognitive components in rodents; evaluation of the antidepressant potential of drugs in rodent models of depression; execution of stereotaxic surgeries in rodents; and in molecular biology methodologies of protein quantification and labeling, namely western blot and immunofluorescence, with a weighting of 30%;

PC2 – Experience in the project area, with a weighting of 30%;

PC3 – Publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals, in the project area or in related areas, with a weighting of 20%;

PC4 – Oral and poster presentations at international conferences, in the project area or in related areas, with a weighting of 20%.

ML - Motivation Letter, with a weighting of 10%.

The final classification in the Merit of the Candidate will be obtained by applying the following formula:

MC = (AP×0,5) + (PC×0,4) + (ML×0,1)

in which AP = (AP1×0,25) + (AP2×0,25) + (AP3×0,25) + (AP4×0,25) and

in which PC = (PC1×0,3) + (PC2×0,3) + (PC3×0,2) + (PC4×0,2).

Reference table for the definition of the score to be applied to the criterion AP - Academic Path

Bachelor's degree + Master's degree (pre or post-Bologna)

Integrated Master (300-360 credits)

Bachelor's degree - 180 credits

(pre or post-Bologna)

Master's degree (90-120 credits)

(pre or post-Bologna)

Classification

Score

Classification

Score

Classification

Score

≥ 18

≥ 17

3,5

≥ 17

4,5

2,5

3,5

1,5

< 14

1,5

< 14

2,5

The Final Classification (FC) of each candidate corresponds to the classification obtained in the Merit of the Candidate (MC), with a weight of 100% (MC = 100%).

The fellowship will be awarded to the candidate ranked in the 1st position, by order of the final ranking, for which the respective application will have to be evaluated with a minimum final classification of 3,5 values, considering the evaluation method adopted in the competition, namely the Merit of the Candidate method (MC).

In the case of the final classification of the candidate ranked in the 1st position does not reach the minimum of 3,5 values, the respective application will be excluded from this tender procedure and the vacancy opened under this Call will not be occupied.

Application deadline and submission: The call for applications is open from April 20th, 2026, till May 4th, 2026.

Applications must be submitted/formalized obligatorily by email to the address icvs.rh@med.uminho.pt , indicating obligatorily the reference of the competition, namely the reference ICVS_BI_2026_010(1), in the Subject of the email message.

Only applications submitted within the established deadline and accompanied by the following mandatory documents (preferably, in PDF format) will be accepted:

- Updated Curriculum vitae (preferably: https://cienciavitae.pt/ );

- Qualifications Certificates* indicating the final classification obtained in each academic degree held and, if possible, the classifications obtained in the curricular units completed, or, alternatively, a declaration of honour of the candidate, issued as defined in the attached model (ANNEX I), certifying the ownership of the academic degrees held (at the deadline for the applications) and the final classification of the academic degrees held, obligatorily with the respective conversion to the Portuguese classification scale in the case of candidates with degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions (in accordance with the instructions contained in the website of the General-Direction for Higher Education: http://www.dges.gov.pt );

- Motivation Letter;

- Declaration of honour of the candidate regarding the benefited Research Fellowships, issued as defined in the attached model (ANNEX II), to assess whether the candidate meets the necessary conditions to be able to benefit from the type of fellowship under this Call, in accordance with the applications eligibility requirements (namely the requirement of paragraph b) of the point “Applications eligibility requirements”);

- Other documents considered relevant to the evaluation process.

*Candidates with degrees obtained abroad must present the proofs of the recognition of their qualifications in Portugal and the conversion of the final classification of the academic degrees held to the Portuguese classification scale.

The documents proving the ownership of academic degrees and diplomas or of their respective recognition in Portugal when awarded by foreign higher education institutions may be waived during the application phase, as long as they are obligatorily replaced by the presentation/submission of a declaration of honor of the candidate, issued as defined in the attached model (ANNEX I), certifying the ownership of the academic degrees held (at the deadline for the applications) and the final classification of the academic degrees held, obligatorily with the respective conversion to the Portuguese classification scale in the case of candidates with degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions.

Nevertheless, at the fellowship contracting phase, it is necessary to present the documents proving the ownership of the academic degrees and diplomas held and of their respective recognition in Portugal (for the applicable cases), once the fellowship contracts with candidates that in the application phase present certificates/diplomas issued by foreign institutions and the declaration of honour as referred to above, will only be concluded upon the presentation of the respective proofs of recognition of the academic degrees and of the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese classification scale, under the terms of the applicable legislation.

The aforementioned declaration of honor of the candidate must attest to facts that have occurred on a date prior to the application. In situations of discrepancy between the information contained in the declaration and in the documentation delivered for the purpose of contracting the fellowship, it will only be considered the information contained in the documentation delivered for the purpose of contracting the fellowship.

If it is verified that the documents proving the ownership of the academic degrees and diplomas or of their respective recognition under the terms of the Decree-Law n.º 66/2018, of August 16th, do not correspond to the classifications attributed in the evaluation of the academic path and that it may, consequently, change the ranking of the candidate, the contracting of the fellowship will not be carried out.

The recognition of foreign academic degrees and diplomas, as well as the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese classification scale, can be requested at any public higher education institution or at the “Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior – DGES” (DGES, only for the case of automatic recognition). Regarding this matter, it is suggested to consult the DGES portal, through the following address: http://www.dges.gov.pt .

Applications sent by other means or sent in breach of the application deadline stipulated in this Public Notice will not be admitted.

The lack of presentation of any of the aforementioned mandatory application documents, determines the exclusion of the respective application.

Form of publication/notification of results: The final results of the evaluation will be published through a unitary ranking list (ordered alphabetically or by final score obtained) posted in a visible and public place of the Host Institution, as well as sent by email to all candidates, attaching, for this purpose, the minutes with the jury's deliberations, within a maximum period of 60 working days, counting from the deadline for the submission of the applications.

The candidates are informed, at a preliminary hearing, in accordance with the articles 121 and 122 of the Code of the Administrative Procedure, of the likely outcome of the final decision, and they may pronounce themselves within a period of 10 working days, counting from the date of this notification.

A complaint may be filed against the final decision, within 15 working days, in accordance with paragraph 6 of article 12 of the FCT Research Fellowships Regulation, or an appeal may be filed to the highest executive body of the funding entity, within 30 days, in both cases counting from the respective notification.

Within 10 working days counting from the notification of the fellowship award, the selected candidate must express in writing the intention to accept the fellowship. In case of non-acceptance, the candidate ranked with the next higher classification will be notified.

Fellowship contractualization: The award of the fellowship takes place through the signing of a contract between the University of Minho and the fellowship recipient, in accordance with point 2.4 of the FCT Rules for the Awarding and Management of Fellowships – Rules for the Awarding and Management of Fellowships – and in accordance with the contract minutes of the Annex II of the Scientific Research Fellowships Regulation of the University of Minho.

The contract can only be concluded after receipt of all the required documentation for the type of fellowship under this Call, which must occur within a maximum period of 6 months (including the proofs of ownership of the academic degrees or diplomas held, and of its recognition in Portugal, when applicable, and the proof of the registration in a non-academic degree course).

Once all the documentation has been received, the contracting entity has 60 working days to sign/conclude the fellowship contract.

Once received by the fellowship recipient, he/she must return the contract duly signed within 15 working days.

Fellowship contracts can only begin after the due authorization from the contracting entity.

Term and cancellation of fellowship contracts: Without prejudice to the other causes provided for in the FCT Research Fellowships Regulation and in the Statute of the Research Fellow, the fellowship ceases with the conclusion of the contracted Work Plan, as well as with the end of the period for which the fellowship has been granted or renewed.

At the end of the fellowship, the fellowship holder must submit/present to the scientific supervisor a Final Report, written in accordance with the defined objectives and evaluation criteria, up to 60 working days after the end of the fellowship, prepared in accordance with the Annex I of the Scientific Research Fellowships Regulation of the University of Minho.

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.

ANNEX I

Declaration of Honour

(Academic Qualifications)

I, __________________________________ (full name), candidate to the vacancy for the award of a __________________________ (indicate the type of Research Fellowship to which you are applying), within the scope of the R&D project ___________________________________________ (indicate the name and reference of the R&D project), published on the Euraxess portal, with the reference ____________________(ref. of the public notice), declare on my honour that I have completed the academic degree(s) of ______________ and ______________ (indicate the academic degree(s) completed), which qualifies me for the type of fellowship under this Call, namely the course _______________________________ (indicate the designation of the Bachelor's course), by the ___________________________ (indicate the University that conferred the degree), in XX/XX/XXXX, with the final classification of XXXX values on the YYYY scale, and the course ______________________________ (indicate the designation of the Master's course), by the ___________________________ (indicate the University that conferred the degree), in XX/XX/XXXX, with the final classification of XXXX values on the YYYY scale.

NOTE: In the case of candidates with degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, this declaration of honour must attest to the ownership of the academic degrees held (at the deadline for the applications) and the final classification of the academic degrees held, with the respective conversion to the Portuguese classification scale (in accordance with the instructions on the website of the General-Directorate for Higher Education: http://www.dges.gov.pt ). Notwithstanding this declaration, the contracting of the scholarship will only occur/be concluded upon presentation of proof of recognition of the academic degree(s) in Portugal and of the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese classification scale, under the terms of the applicable legislation.

As it is not possible for me to present the proof(s) of the academic qualifications, or of its recognition in Portugal (under the terms of the Decree-Law n.º 66/2018, of August 16th), until the end of the period for the receipt of the applications to this Call, I declare that I undertake to present the aforementioned certificate(s) at the stage of contracting the fellowship, in case I am selected for the vacancy under this Call.

As this is true, this declaration will be dated and signed by me.

(Place), (date).

__________________________

(full name)

ANNEX II

Declaration of Honour

(Research Fellowships benefited)

I, __________________________________ (full name), bearer of the identification document number _________________, candidate to the vacancy for the award of a __________________________ (indicate the type of Research Fellowship to which you are applying), within the scope of the R&D project ___________________________________________ (indicate the name and reference of the R&D project), published on the Euraxess portal, with the reference ____________________( ref. of the public notice), declare on my honour that ___________________________________________________ (I did not benefit, so far, of any Research Fellowship OR I benefited from the following Research Fellowship(s)) under the Statute of the Research Fellow.

University

Financing Entity

Project

Type of Grant

Duration

Start

Term

As this is true, this declaration will be dated and signed by me.

(Place), (date).

__________________________

(full name)

Where to apply

E-mail: icvs.rh@med.uminho.pt

Requirements

Research Field: Medical sciences » Health sciences
Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications