Offer Description
MED – Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development
SCHOLARSHIP FOR A MASTER DEGREE – 1 VACANCY
09 of February of 2026
A call for tenders is open for one Scholarship for a Master Degree, within the scope of the project ENGAGE – Europe Nutrient Management – Guided Approaches for Greater Export reduction, (Water4All/0003/2023), financed by national funds through FCT and European Union, under the following conditions:
Scientific area: Hydrology, Water Resources, Data science and Computing
Admission requirements:
- BSc or MSc degrees in one of the following areas: Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Physical Geography, and the like
- Demonstrated analytical, programming, or numerical methods skills (e.g., C++, Fortran, Python, R, Matlab).
- The candidate must be fluent in written and spoken English and Portuguese.
Preferably, the candidates should also have professional or academic experience in:
- Hydrology, hydraulics, hydroinformatics, or water quality.
- Containers (e.g., Docker, Singularity/Apptainer, Python Virtual Environment – venv)
- High-performence computing (e.g., slurm)
As set forth FCT Research Scholarship Regulation No. 950/2019 of December 16, 2019, article 3 and 6, candidates for “BI” (Research Grants) must comply as a rule condition for the award of the scholarship, the effective inclusion in study cycles leading to the attribution of academic degrees or in courses not leading to an academic degree. Courses that do not confer an academic degree correspond to the courses provided for in subparagraph e) of paragraph 3 of article 4 of Decree-Law No. 74/2006 of 24 March and must be developed in a higher education institution in association with at least one R&D unit, including a course plan in one or several research areas of the unit.
Work plan:
- Integrating and contributing to scientific discussions within the Computational Hydrology teams at the University of Évora (Portugal) and the University of Calgary (Canada)
- Contribute to the continued development of the integrated models SUMMA (Canada), MiziRoute (USA) and OpenWQ (Portugal) for hydrological, hydrodynamic and water quality simulation.
- Application of the models to a transboundary river basin within the ENGAGE project.
- Development of new algorithms and methodologies to improve hydrological and water quality forecasting capacity for large river systems in Europe.
- Supporting the activities of the ENGAGE project.
Applicable legislation and regulations: The granting of the Research Scholarship will be carried out upon the signing of a contract between the University of Évora and the scholarship holder, according to the version in Annex I, pursuant to the Research Scholarship Statute (Law no. 40/2004 of August 18, as amended) and considering the provisions of other applicable legislation and regulations, namely, the Research Grant Regulations of the University of Évora (published by Order no. 8131/2024, of July 22, 2024), and the Research Grant Regulations of the Science and Technology Foundation, I.P. (Regulation no. 950/2019, of July 22, 2024). º 8131/2024, of July 22, 2024), https://files.diariodarepublica.pt/2s/2024/07/140000000/0035300366.pdf and in the Research Grants Regulations of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. (Regulation no. 950/2019, of December 16, as amended).
Place of work: The work will be developed at MED-Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development and CHANGE located at the Mitra Campus of the University of Évora, under the general coordination of the Administrator of the University of Évora and the scientific guidance of the Professor Dr Diogo Costa (MED- UÉvora E CREATE- UÉvora), Dr Miguel Potes (CREATE-UÉvora), and Professor Dr. Maria João (CREATE- UÉvora), who must draw up an opinion on the final activity report of the scholarship (Annex II), according to the draft in Annex III.
Duration of the scholarship: The scholarship will have a duration of 12 months, starting on March of 2026. The scholarship contract may be renewed up until the end of the funding project’s budget allocation, always taking into account the maximum duration for each type of scholarship, in accordance with Article 14 of the Research Grant Regulations of the University of Évora.
Amount of monthly maintenance allowance: The amount of the scholarship corresponds to €1 309,64, according to the table of scholarships awarded directly by FCT, I.P. in Portugal (https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Tabela_valores_SMM_2025.pdf), payments being made monthly, by check or bank transfer.
Selection methods: The selection methods to be used will be the following:
- Academic qualifications – 20%
- Suitability of academic or professional experience to the duties to be performed – 40%.
- Interviews. The following items will be assessed:
- Expectations of personal and professional development – 10%
- Ability to express oneself and communicate, and motivation for teamwork – 10%
- Verification of knowledge of English and Portuguese – 10%
- Verification of knowledge in the area of research – 10%.
In the event that none of the candidates in the competition meets the appropriate profile, the jury reserves the right to close the competition without selecting a candidate. In the event of a tie, the candidates with the most experience in modelling, data science and programming will be selected.
Composition of the Selection Jury:
President – Professor Diogo Costa
1º Jury – Professor Miguel Potes
2º Jury – Professor Patrícia Palma (Águas de Portugal)
1º Jury backup – Professor Maria João
2º Jury backup – Professor José Muñoz-Rojas
Advertising/notification of results: The final results of the evaluation will be publicized, through an ordered list by final grade obtained posted in a visible and public place MED-UE, being the candidate approved notified through email.
To ensure the right of prior hearing of interested parties, the Final Classification project will be announced by any written means to all interested parties.
After communicating the provisional list of the results of the evaluation, candidates have a period of 10 working days to express their opinion in a preliminary hearing of interested parties. Based on the final ranking list, a reserve selection list will be drawn up, to be used for the possible recruitment of new scholarship holders within the scope of this project, up to the duration of the scholarship, which may be used in the eventuality of the first ranked candidate withdrawing, failing to present the mandatory documentation, or in the event of the scholarship holder canceling their scholarship early. In the eventuality that none of the candidates demonstrates the profile required to carry out the work plan, the jury reserves the right not to award the scholarship.
Application deadline and submission of applications: The tender is open from 10 to 25 of February of 2026 and the results of the selection will be published by 4 of March of 2026.
Applications must be formalized, obligatorily, by sending an application letter with the following documents:
- Curriculum Vitae
- Certificate of qualifications,
- Motivation letter
- One recommendation letter
For the purposes of application, the evidence may be replaced by a declaration of honor signed by the candidate, but the failure to demonstrate that evidence, in the contracting phase, possession of the required degree on the deadline for application or the non-presentation of proof of enrollment in the study cycle or non-degree course, for scholarships with this component, imply the cancellation of the candidate’s application.
Academic degrees obtained in foreign countries require registration by a Portuguese Institution in accordance with Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of August 16 and Ordinance No. 33/2019, of January 25th.
The presentation of the certificate is mandatory for the signing of the contract. More information can be obtained at: https://www.dges.gov.pt/pt/pagina/recognition?plid=374
Applications must be sent by email to:
Prof. Diogo Costa
MED – Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development of the University of Évora
email: diogo.costa@uevora.pt
ANNEX I, ANNEX II, ANNEX III:
https://www.uevora.pt/investigar/Oportunidades-de-Investigacao/concursos-bolsas-id
