Offer Description
1 – Title
RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP (RF MASTER)
2 – Offer description
As per the terms laid down in Regulamento de Bolsas de Investigação da FCT (FCT Regulation for Research Fellowships), approved by Law no. 40/2004, 18 August, as it stands, we announce the launching of a call for awarding a research fellowship (RF) in the scope of the research project “AQUALEARN – Machine learning-based digital twins for real time anomaly detection in water supply systems”.
3 – Financing source
The Grant will be funded within the scope of the research project “AQUALEARN – Machine learning-based digital twins for real time anomaly detection in water supply systems”, project no. 16878, with the operation code LISBOA2030-FEDER-00816100 of Balcão dos Fundos. The project is subsidised by the Lisbon Regional Programme of FEDER and the State Budget of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.
4 – Scientific area
Sanitary and Environmental Engineering
5 – Duration
The Grant shall be awarded for a 6-month period.
6 – Activity Regime
All the work shall be developed on an exclusive dedication regime, as per the provisions laid down in the Statute of the Research Fellow, approved by Law no. 40/2004, 18 August, as it stands, and in FCT Regulation for Fellowships, available on LNEC website.
7 – Work plan and objectives
The grant holder will participate in R&D activities within the scientific area to which the grant is assigned, and integrated in the aforementioned research project, including:
- Implementation in EPANET-MSX of water quality models for water distribution networks;
- Development and calibration of numerical models of pilot networks to explore the use of multiple monitored parameters (pressure, flow rate, basic and advanced water quality parameters) for anomaly detection, and to better understand the impact of anomalies on hydraulics and water quality in distribution systems;
- Advanced characterisation of water quality from grab samples collected in the project’s pilot distribution networks, e.g. through dissolved organic carbon analysis and UV–Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy;
- Application of the PARAFAC method to analyse fluorescence spectra of different real and synthetic waters for the identification and quantification of organic matter components;
- Application of multivariate calibration methods (e.g. PLS) to correlate physico-chemical and microbiological water quality parameters;
- Production of scientific articles, papers, and reports in close collaboration with the project team.
8 – Location
Main Workplace: LNEC – National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, I.P.
Avenida do Brasil, 101 – 1700-066 Lisboa
Country: Portugal
Website: https://www.lnec.pt
Email: recrutamento@lnec.pt
The above activities shall be conducted at the Urban Water Unit of the Hydraulics and Environment Department of LNEC, without prejudice to the possibility of performing temporary missions in Portugal.
9 – Qualifications
Applications are open to:
- individuals holding an MSc in Sanitary and Environmental Engineering or in related fields enrolled in doctoral degree course in Sanitary and Environmental Engineering or in a non-degree granting course, integrated in an educational programme of a higher education institution, and developed in association or cooperation with one or various R&D units.
Candidates must be fluent in Portuguese and have a good knowledge of English.
10 – Scientific supervision
The activities will be supervised by the Senior Researcher, Dália Loureiro and by the Assistant Researcher Rui Viegas, from the Urban Water Unit.
11 – Monthly allowance
The Grant shall include a monthly allowance in the amount of 1,309.64 €. The Grant fellow shall also be entitled to a specific social security system and to insurance against personal accidents at work.
When traveling abroad (if applicable), the scholarship holder will have travel and accommodation expenses paid.
12 – Selection methods and criteria
The evaluation of the applications shall be based on the Applicant’s Merits (MC), and the following evaluation criteria shall be scored on a 0 to 20 scale.
Applicant’s merits:
- Academic Background (PA) – scores of the academic degrees required by this call, namely graduation degree (or equivalent) or MSc – 50%
- Professional Résumé (CP) – scientific and professional career – 30%
- Interview with the selection jury (ES) – 20%
Hence:
MC = (0.5* PA) + (0.3 * CP) + (0.2 * ES)
The jury is entitled to decide not to award the Grant if the quality of the applicants is deemed below par.
13 – Selection jury
President:
– Maria João Rosa, Principal Researcher
Members:
– Dália Loureiro, Senior Researcher
– Rui Viegas, Assistant Researcher;
Alternate members:
– Elsa Mesquita, Assistant Researcher
– Paula Vieira, Assistant Researcher
14 – Application documents
- at the time of the application:
- Letter of motivation (maximum: one A4 page).
- Degree certificate, with indication of the partial scores and final classification.
- Document stating the score obtained in each curricular unit of the course the applicant is attending.
Foreign certificates shall be valid only if they are dully endorsed by an issuing entity, or if a recognition/equivalence document is produced stating that the foreign qualifications correspond to the same Portuguese qualifications. The respective scores can only be used if they are officially converted to the Portuguese scoring scale (by DGES – Direção Geral do Ensino Superior or by a public higher education institution), even if the foreign classification corresponds to a 0 to 20 scale.
- Official document of enrolment in the degree course defined in paragraph 9 of the present notice.Should the candidate be unable to produce such document, without any fault on his/her part, he/she may replace it by a sworn declaration stating that he/she has been enrolled in the said degree course.
- Detailed Curriculum Vitae.
- Other documents (optional), such as letters of reference and supporting documents of internships or complementary courses considered as relevant for the purposes of this Grant
- at the time of the awarding of the contract:
- Official document stating that the applicant is enrolled in the degree course defined in 9.
- Necessary information for preparing the contract.
15 – Deadline for applications
Between 6 and 19 February 2026
16 – Formalization of applications
The applications shall be formalized by one of the following means:
- Electronic mail addressed to recrutamento@lnec.pt., until 24h00 of the last day of the stipulated time limit;
- directly to the Setor de Arquivo e Expediente Geral of LNEC, at Avenida do Brasil, no. 101, 1700-066 Lisboa;
- registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt addressed to LNEC, I.P., Avenida do Brasil, no. 101, 1700-066 Lisboa; the date of delivery considered for the purpose of compliance with the stipulated time limit being the date of registration.
In the last two cases, the applications shall be delivered in a sealed envelope, bearing the following information on the outside: “Concurso para atribuição de uma bolsa de investigação (BI), in the framework the research project AQUALEARN – Deteção de anomalias em tempo real em sistemas de abastecimento de água através de gémeos digitais baseados em métodos de aprendizagem automática”.
17 – Notification of results
The final score of each evaluation stage shall be advertised in a list sorted by the final score obtained, all applicants being notified by electronic mail. The results shall also be published on the Recruitment page of LNEC’s website.
18 – Deadlines and procedures for preliminary hearing, claims and appeals
Once the provisional ranked list of the evaluation results has been communicated, applicants who have an unfavourable provisional decision may use their right to dispute it during the preliminary hearing phase (if requested), which takes place within 10 working days, according to the Administrative Procedure Code (CPA).
The final decision shall be disclosed after the analysis of applicants’ arguments presented in the preliminary hearing. Final decision can be claimed within 15 working days or, alternatively, appealed to the Board of Directors, within 30 working days, after the communication of the final results, respectively.
19 – Further information
Additional information can be obtained by phone: +351 218 443 892 or +351 218 443 754 or by electronic mail to the address referred to in 17. The applicants living outside of Portugal can also refer to the portal EURAXESS Portugal.
20 – Standard fellowship contract
Available on the Recruitmentpage of LNEC’s website.
21 – Model of the final report to be prepared by the research fellow and supervisor
Available on the Recruitment page of LNEC’s website.
Where to apply
E-mail: recrutamento@lnec.pt
