Offer Description
A tender is now open for the award of one PhD holder research fellowship under the R&D project LAB Ana Pereiro Estevez com ref. PR8110, funded by own funds., under the following conditions:
3. WORK PLAN: The grant holder will carry out research activities in the field of emerging contaminants, with a particular focus on the monitoring, identification, and quantification of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and micro- and nanoplastics in different environmental matrices, including water, soil, sediments, and biota. Activities will involve both laboratory and field work, sample collection, preparation and processing, application of analytical techniques for the chemical and physical characterization of contaminants, as well as data treatment and analysis. The grant holder will also perform cyto- and ecotoxicological assays to evaluate the biological effects associated with exposure to these contaminants, contributing to a better understanding of their environmental and ecotoxicological impacts. The results obtained will support the development of monitoring strategies, risk assessment approaches, and mitigation measures for environmental contamination.
4. APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS:Law No. 40/2004, of August 18, amended and republished by Decree-Law No. 202/2012 of August 27 (Statute of the Scientific Research Fellow) and amended by Decree-Law No. 233/2012 of October 29, by Law No. 12 /2013 of 29 January, by Decree-Law No. 89/2013, of 9 July and Decree-Law No. 123/2019, of 28 August; Regulation of Research Grants of NOVA.id.FCT – Association for Innovation and Development of FCT; Regulation of Research Grants of the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, I.P. in force (https://arquivo.pt/wayback/20230310103412/https://former.fct.pt/apoios/… sasFCT2019DR.pdf?);
5. WORKPLACE: The work will be developed at LAQV-REQUIMTE associated laboratory at the Chemistry department from NOVA School of Science and Technology under the scientific guidance of Ana B. Pereiro and João M.M. Araújo being the contracting entity the NOVA.id.FCT – Associação para a Inovação e Desenvolvimento, FCT.
6. FELLOWSHIP DURATION:The fellowship will last for 6 months, scheduled to begin in December 2026, possibly renewable for the same duration within the duration of the project.
11. APPLICATION DEADLINE AND FORM OF APPLICATION SUBMISSION:The competition is open from 8th to 21st October 2026:
- Documentation to be provided in the application: Applications must be formalized, mandatorily, by sending the following documents: i) Motivation letter; ii) Detailed Curriculum Vitae; iii) Documents attesting the academic degrees obtained and the respective final grades*NOTE1Note 1: For academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, it is mandatory to present proof of recognition of the academic degree and the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese grading scale (process regulated by Decree-Law no. 341/2007 of October 12), or alternatively, to obtain equivalence/recognition of the academic degrees (process regulated by DecreeLaw no. 283/83 of June 21).
- From of submission of applications: Applications must be sent, exclusively by e-mail, mandatorily with the indication, in the subject of the e-mail, of the reference” NOVAID.B540 – LAB Ana Pereiro Estevez”, to anab@fct.unl.pt (Doutora Ana B. Pereiro) within the deadline for their submission. Applications submitted by other means will not be accepted.
- Documentation to be provided in terms of contractualization: Proof of academic degrees or their recognition/equivalence when awarded by foreign higher education institutions;
Where to apply
E-mail: anab@fct.unl.pt
Requirements
Research FieldEnvironmental science » Water scienceEducation LevelPhD or equivalent
Skills/Qualifications
2. RECIPIENTS PROFILE/CATEGORY:
MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS: Applicants must:
- hold a doctoral degree obtained within three years prior to the date of submission of the application.
- Hold a PhD in Environmental and Sustainability Sciences or a related field.
- be informed that the BIPD are restricted in time in order to stimulate scientific employment and the use of researcher contracts as a rule for hiring them, as well as to promote the development, in the entities of the national science and technology system
- not exceeded, with the conclusion of this contract, an accumulated period of 3 years, consecutive or interpolated, as a post-doctoral research fellow in the scientific and technological system and carry out the research work of this fellowship in a host
- present the documents proving this situation at the latest by the time the fellowship is contracted.
- Demonstrate proven laboratory experience in Environmental Engineering, particularly in methodologies for the extraction and detection of micro- and nanoplastics in various environmental matrices (water, sediments, food, and soils).
- Demonstrate experience in experimental design and the planning of cyto- and ecotoxicological assays for the assessment of emerging contaminants, namely micro- and nanoplastics, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), heavy metals, among others.
PREFERRED FACTORS: Preference will be given to candidates with:
- Proven laboratory experience in polymer identification using ATR-FTIR and Raman spectroscopy, including data acquisition, processing, interpretation, and spectral identification.
- Proven laboratory experience in the identification and characterization of polymeric materials using Pyrolysis-GC/MS (Py-GC/MS), including sample preparation, analytical data acquisition and processing, and interpretation of chromatograms and mass spectra.
- Demonstrated experience and ability to work effectively within multidisciplinary teams.
- Experience and demonstrated ability to work in multidisciplinary teams.
- Proficiency in spoken and written English
LanguagesENGLISHLevelGood
Additional Information
Benefits
7. MONTHLY MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE AMOUNT: The amount of the scholarships corresponds to € 1 901,00, according to the stock chart of the exchanges awarded directly by FCT, I.P. (https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM-202…) and the payment is made monthly by bank transfer.
Eligibility criteria
8. SELECTION CRITERIA: The evaluation of the applications will focus on the merit of the candidate, applying the following criteria, valued on a scale of 0 to 20 values:
FIRST PHASE:
A. Curriculum Evaluation (0 to 20 points) – 70%
B. Research Experience (0 to 20 points) – 30%
1ST PHASE SCORE = 70%×A + 30%×B
Candidates who do not achieve a minimum score of 17 points, based on the jury’s evaluation according to the selection criteria, will not proceed to the 2nd phase The selection methods and respective weightings in this phase will be as follows:
SECOND PHASE:
A. Curriculum Evaluation (0 to 20 points) – 30%
B. Research Experience (0 to 20 points) – 30%
C. Interview (0 to 20 points) – 40%
FINAL SCORE = 30%×A + 30%×B + 40%xC
Candidates who do not achieve a minimum score of 17 points, based on the jury’s evaluation according to the selection criteria, will not be hired.
Selection process
9. COMPOSITION OF THE SELECTION JURY:
- President of the Jury – Doctor Ana B. Pereiro
- 1st Efetive Member – Professor João M. M. Araújo
- 2nd Efetive Member – Professor Mario Diniz
- Substitute members: Doctor Inês Matos; Professor José Paulo Mota; and Doctor Maria Bernardo
10. FORM OF ADVERTISING/NOTIFICATION OF RESULTS:The evaluation results proposed by the jury will be notified, up to 90 days after the deadline for the submission of applications, by email, of the results proposed by the jury, with access to the minutes and the final ranking list.
After notification, candidates will have 10 working days to comment on the draft decision (prior hearing of interested parties, under the terms of the Code of Administrative Procedure). The final decision will be taken after the expiry of the prior hearing period, again notified to all candidates by e-mail. Of this final decision the candidates can file a complaint within 15 working days (to the e-mail address used for the notification), or a hierarchical appeal, within 30 working days, addressed to NOVA.ID.FCT’s Board through the address coord1@novaidfct.pt.
Additional comments
12. DRAFTS: The drafts of: i) fellowship contract, ii) final report to be presented by the fellowship holder, iii) final report to be presented by the scientific advisor, and; iv) declaration on honor, can all be found on NOVA.id.FCT website.
Website for additional job details: https://www.novaidfct.pt/content/NOVAID.B540.EDI.0.pdf
