Notice for a Scholarship for Students Enrolled in PhD Studies

Offer Description

NOTICE FOR A SCHOLARSHIP FOR STUDENTS ENROLLED IN PHD STUDIES (1)

Resume:

A tender is open for the attribution of a Scholarship for students enrolled in a PhD program at the time of signing the contract, under the Horizon-IA Project 101156867: Path4Med “Demonstrating innovative pathways addressing water and soil pollution in the Mediterranean Agro-Hydro-System”, CC 9299″, taking place at the R&D unit LEAF-Linking Landscape, Environment, Agriculture And Food, of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, for the development of the tasks described in item 2, under the following conditions:

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

The tender is for the attribution of a Scholarship of for students enrolled in a PhD program at the time of contract signing, with an initial duration of 12 months, potentially renewable for a total period of 36 months, with an expected start in March 2025.

2. WORK PLAN AND WORKPLACE:

This PhD project addresses the Water–Food–Energy–Carbon Nexus, exploring the critical interconnections between agricultural production, natural resource management, and environmental sustainability. The focus will be on the Tejo Vulnerable Zone, one of Portugal’s most important agricultural areas, where high irrigated productivity coexists with environmental challenges related to groundwater quality and management. The research will directly contribute to the agroecological transition, seeking to align productive efficiency with ecosystem preservation and the reduction of both water and carbon footprints.

The PhD candidate will engage with farmers, agri-environmental technology companies, water management entities, and international research networks. The plan also includes international mobility in European centres of excellence such as Wageningen University (The Netherlands), Aarhus University (Denmark), and Universidad Pública de Navarra (Spain), which are global references in research on sustainable agriculture and water resources.

Main tasks to be developed:

a) Integrated characterisation of the study region

b) Development of a geo-referenced database

c) Digital monitoring of agro-hydrological variables

d) Estimation of regional water and energy requirements

e) Analysis of variable trends and patterns

f) Projection of climate change and irrigation technology evolution scenarios

The work will be carried out in person at the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, under the scientific supervision of Prof. Maria do Rosário Cameira, Prof. João Rolim, and Prof. Paula Paredes, within the disciplinary area of Rural Engineering, with field visits to the Tejo Vulnerable Zone.

3. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS

Applications must be formalized, obligatorily, by sending an application letter, with the reference

“(Path4Med-Refª-BL-42-2025)”, accompanied by the following documents: Curriculum Vitae, copy of degree certificate, driver’s license, motivation letter, reference letter, and other relevant supporting documents of additional knowledge/skills.

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.

Applications should be sent to Prof. Maria do Rosário Cameira via email: roscameira@isa.ulisboa.pt

The application period will run from October 27 to November 7, 2025.

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

5.1 Required Education Level:

Academic field of the degree held (master’s): Agronomic Engineering or related area.

The scholarship is intended for students enrolled in a PhD program in the field of Agronomic Engineering or Environmental Engineering at the time of signing the contract.;

5.2 Skills/Qualifications / Specific Requirements:

With skills in water resources, remote sensing, GIS tools/software, database management and data acquisition; good organizational skills; good command of spoken and written English and Portuguese; driving license.

Other requirements: Knowledge of agronomy, irrigation, modelling, and programming

6. FUNDING AND SCHOLARSHIP COMPONENTS

The grant will be financed within the scope of the project Horizon-IA Project 101156867 Path4Med “Demonstrating innovative pathways addressing water and soil pollution in the Mediterranean Agro-Hydro-System.”

The amount of the monthly allowance is 1.309,64€ 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/2025/02/Tabela_valores_SMM_2025.p…).

The payment will be made via bank transfer.

7. EVALUATION CRITERIA

Selection methods:

The evaluation will be based on a 0 to 20 scale, according to the following components:

1st component: Curriculum and motivation letter assessment

Essential requirements: 75%
Preferred requirements: 20%
Motivation letter: 5%

2nd component: Interview (conducted in English) with the three top-ranked candidates from the previous stage who obtained a score above 10.

In the final classification, each component will have a weight of 0.5. The evaluation panel reserves the right not to award the research grant if none of the candidates meets the required profile.

8. EVALUATION

Composition of the Assessment Committee:

Composition of the Selection and Evaluation Committee:

Maria do Rosário Cameira (Chair), João Rolim Lopes (Full Member), Paula Paredes (Full Member), Teresa Afonso do Paço (Alternate Member), and Manuel Campagnolo (Alternate Member).

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 October 22, 2025 by President of the Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Professor António Guerreiro de Brito.