International selection procedure for the recruitment of a Junior Researcher – ReFOOD4North - Rebuilding FOODshed for a Sustainable Future in the North Region project (one position | Health Sciences or related scientific area

Organisation/Company

Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro

Department

Direção de Serviços de Recursos Humanos

Research Field

Medical sciences » Health sciences

Researcher Profile

First Stage Researcher (R1)

Positions

PhD Positions

Country

Portugal

Application Deadline

2 Jan 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon)

Type of Contract

Temporary

Job Status

Full-time

Hours Per Week

35

Offer Starting Date

17 Dec 2025

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

1. By my order of 21th november 2025, in the exercise of my powers, pursuant to the provisions of Article 92, in point d), number 1 of Law No. 62/2007 of 10 September and Article 30, in point j), number 1 of the UTAD Statutes, approved in the annex to Normative Order No. 5/2019, published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, No. 52, of 14 March, it was decided to open an international selection competition for one (1) doctoral position for the performance of scientific research activities in the scientific area of Health Sciences or a related scientific area, under a fixed-term public service employment contract for a period of thirty-six months, which may be renewed in accordance with the provisions of Article 6, number 2, of Decree-Law No. 57/2016 of 29 August, as amended by Law No. 57/2017 of 19 July, which approves the regime for hiring PhD graduates aimed at stimulating scientific and technological employment in all areas of knowledge, hereinafter referred to as RJEC, with a view to developing research activities within the scope of the research project “ReFOOD4North - Rebuilding FOODshed for a Sustainable Future in the North Region”, reference NORTE2030-FEDER-02654300, funded by the by European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Northern Regional Programme 2021-2027  [NORTE2030].

2. Applicable legislation: Decree-Law No. 57/2016, of 29 August, as amended by Law No. 57/2017, of 19 July, which approves a regime for hiring PhDs aimed at stimulating scientific and technological employment in all areas of knowledge (RJEC); Regulatory Decree No. 11-A/2017, of 29 December; General Law on Public Service Employment (LTFP), approved as an annex to Law No. 35/2014, of 20 June, in its current wording. 

3. Pursuant to Article 16 of Decree-Law No. 57/2016 of 29 August, as amended by Law No. 57/2017 of 19 July, this tender procedure is exempt from authorisation by the members of the Government responsible for finance and public administration, namely that referred to in Article 7, number 3 of the LTFP; from obtaining the prior favourable opinion of the members of the Government responsible for finance and public administration, referred to in Article 30, number 5 of the LTFP, and from the procedure for recruiting workers undergoing retraining, referred to in Article 265 of the LTFP. 

4. In accordance with Article 13 of the RJEC, the selection board shall be composed as: 

President – Carla Cristina da Silva Gonçalves, Assistant Professor at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro;

Effective Member – Amélia Maria Lopes Dias da Silva, Full Professor at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro;

Effective Member – Berta Maria de Carvalho Gonçalves, Associate Professor at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro;

Substitute Member – Alfredo Augusto de Carvalho Aires, Associate Professor at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro;

Substitute Member – Sandra Marlene Ribeiro de Abreu, Assistant Professor at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro.

5. The work will be developed at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro.

6. The monthly remuneration to be awarded is that provided for in Article 15, point a), number 1 of the RJEC, and the initial level provided for in Article 2 of Regulatory Decree No. 11-A/2017, of 29 December, corresponding to level 33 of the single remuneration table, approved by Ordinance No. 1553-C/2008, of 31 December, amounting to €2,351.53. 

7. Work plan: The researcher is expected to carry out their research and development (R&D) activities within the scope of the Axis 1 entitled ‘Development of functional meals highlighting the use and valorisation of local products from Northern Portugal’ in Tasks ‘1.1 - Selection of native varieties adapted to the local climate rich in bioactive compounds’, "1.2 – Development of functional meals for the prevention of chronic non-communicable diseases‘ and ’1.4 – Evaluation of metabolic biomarkers: impact of functional meals on metabolism and inflammation". The following R&D activities are to be emphasised:

• i) Conduct research in health sciences, with a special focus on food consumption and nutrition sciences;
• ii) Prepare progress reports and prepare results for publication and dissemination;
• iii) Plan and develop research work on their own initiative, provided that it falls within the objectives of the research line in question;
• iv) Co-supervise students from different levels of education who will be involved in the work plan of this project. 

8. The applicants might be national, foreign and stateless candidates holding a doctor degree in Health Sciences or related scientific area, and have a scientific and professional curriculum suitable for the activity to be developed. The following conditions are mandatory:

a) Hold a PhD degree in the scientific area for which the competition is open by the deadline for submitting applications;

b) Have proven relevant experience in projects with multidisciplinary teams in the area of clinical studies and food consumption and nutrition assessment;

c) Have proven experience, through publications in internationally refereed scientific journals in the area of the competition;

d) Have proven proficiency in English; 

e) Have proven proficiency in Portuguese; 

f) Be immediately available to work at UTAD (in Vila Real).

Holders of a doctoral degree awarded by a foreign higher education institution must have the equivalence or recognition or registration of that degree to an identical degree granted by a Portuguese university. Candidates who do not yet hold the equivalence or the recognition or registration of the degree must apply for the recognition of the doctoral degree, in accordance with Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of 16th  August, and this recognition must be obtained by the deadline that will be granted to the candidate selected to occupy the job position, to proceed with the delivery of the documentation proving that he/she meets the requirements for admission to the competition, being consequently eligible to enter into the respective employment contract in public functions.

9. General requirements for admission to the competition are those defined in Article 17 of the LTFP. 

10. In terms of the article nr. 5 of the RJEC, the selection is made through the evaluation of the scientific and curricular careers of the candidates.

11. The evaluation of the scientific and curricular path, focuses on relevance, quality and current relevance of:

a) The scientific production on the last five years considered to be more relevant by the candidate;

b) The applied or practice-based research activities developed over the last five years and considered as having the greatest impact by the candidate;

c) The skills revealed in point nr. 8.;

d) The activities of outreach and dissemination of knowledge developed in the last five years, namely in the context of the promotion of culture and scientific practices, considered most relevant by the candidate.

12. The period of five years referred in the previous paragraph may be amplified by the jury, under request of the candidate, when the suspended scientific activity is justified with socially protected reasons, namely of parental leave, prolonged severe illness, and other situations of work unavailability legally defined.

13. The evaluation criteria are: 

C1) Assessment of the candidate's scientific activity, with emphasis on the last five years, based on an overall view of the merit of their scientific and curricular background, namely the consistency and quality of their CV, as well as the diversity and quality of scientific indicators, including articles in high-impact international scientific journals in the field, books and book chapters, internships and complementary academic and/or scientific training, in particular indicators related to the requirements set out in point 8. 

C2) Assessment of professional activities carried out, with emphasis on the last five years, and considered to have the greatest impact by the candidate, in particular activities related to the requirements presented in point 8. 

C3) Interview to be conducted with the candidates ranked in the top five positions in order to, among other clarifications, understand their motivations for participating in this project.

14. The final classification of the candidates is expressed on a scale of 0 to 20, considering the valuation up to the hundredths. The final classification (CF) is obtained by the following formula:

CF= C1(70%) + C2(20%) + C3(10%)

The sub criteria will be valued as follows:

Valuation of C1: Scientific activity (70%):

- Articles in specialized peer-reviewed and indexed journals: 40%;

- Oral Scientific communications: 10%;

- Scientific communications in poster: 5%;

- Books and book chapters: 5%

- Complementary academic and / or scientific training: 10%

Valuation of C2: Professional activity (20%):

- Participation in scientific projects: 15%

 - Dissemination and outreach activities:5%

Valuation of C3: Interview (10%):

- Hearing for clarification - 10%

15 - The jury deliberates by means of a grounded nominal vote, according to the adopted and published selection criteria; abstentions are not allowed.

16 - Minutes shall be taken of the jury meetings, containing a summary of what occurred, as well as the votes issued by each member and respective justifications, and they shall be made available to the candidates whenever requested.

17 - After concluding the application of the selection criteria, the jury shall prepare the ordered list of the approved candidates with the respective classification.

18 - The jury's final deliberation shall be ratified by the institution's highest authority, who is also responsible for deciding on the hiring.

19 – Formalising the application:

19.1 - Candidates must access and register on the UTAD Electronic Platform for the Management of Competitive Procedures, https://recrutamento.utad.pt/ , in order to submit their application, selecting the competitive procedure they wish to apply for by the last day of the competition's opening deadline, which is set at 10 working days after publication.

19.2 The application must be accompanied by documents proving the conditions set out in points 8 and 9 for admission to this competition, namely:

a) Letter of motivation;

b) Copy of the certificate or diploma of the doctoral degree;

c) Doctoral thesis;

d) Detailed and structured curriculum vitae in accordance with the items in points nr. 10 and 11;

e) Other documents relevant to the evaluation of the qualification.

20 - Applicants are excluded from admission to the tender if they formalize their application incorrectly or do not prove the requirements demanded in the present tender. In case of doubt, the jury has the faculty to demand from any candidate the presentation of documents supporting his declarations.

21 - Any false statements made by the candidates shall be punished under the terms of the law.

22 - The list of admitted and excluded candidates as well as the final ranking list shall be posted at UTAD's premises - Human Resources Services (SRH), and published on the website https://www.utad.pt/srh . Candidates shall be notified by email with a receipt of delivery of the notification.

23 - Prior hearing and deadline for the final decision: In accordance with article 121st of the Administrative Procedure Code, after having been notified, the candidates have 10 working days to state their opinion. Within 90 days, counted from the deadline for the submission of applications, the jury's final decisions are made.

24 - The present competition is exclusively aimed at filling the indicated vacancy and may be terminated until the homologation of the candidates' final ranking list and expires with the respective occupation of the job position on offer.

25 - Policy of non-discrimination and equal access. 

The University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, whereby no candidate may be privileged, benefited, prejudiced, or deprived of any right or exempt from any duty due to, namely, ancestry, age, gender, 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.

26 - Under the terms of Decree-Law no. 29/2001, of 3rd February, the disabled candidate has preference in equal classification, which prevails over any other legal preference. Candidates must declare in the application form, under oath, their degree of disability, the type of disability and the means of communication/expression to be used in the selection process, under the terms of the above-mentioned diploma.

17th december 2025. The Rector, Jorge Ventura Ferreira Cardoso

Website

https://recrutamento.utad.pt

Research Field

Medical sciences » Health sciences

Education Level

PhD or equivalent

Languages

PORTUGUESE

Level

Basic

Number of offers available

1

Company/Institute

Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro

Country

Portugal

State/Province

Vila Real

City

Vila Real

Postal Code

5000-801

Street

Quinta de Prados, Folhadela

Geofield

State/Province

Vila Real

City

Vila Real

Website

https://www.utad.pt/

Street

Quinta de Prados

Postal Code

5000801

E-Mail

recrutamento@utad.pt

Phone

259350000

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