PhD studentships are aimed at applicants enrolled or that comply with the requirements to enrol at the Doctoral Programme in Biodiversity, Genetics and Evolution of the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Porto or Lisbon and who wish to carry out research at Associação Estação Biológica de Mértola or others associated institutions.

4.1 Applicants’ admissibility requirements

The following citizens may apply to this call:

• National citizens or citizens from other member-states of the European Union;

• Third-party states citizens;

• Stateless individuals;

• Citizens holding a political refugee status.

To apply for the PhD studentship it is necessary:

• To hold a Bachelor or Master degree in Biological Sciences, Archaeology or related areas;

• To be resident in Portugal at the start of the work plan, if the proposed work plan for the scholarship includes a period in foreign institutions (mixed grant), which is mandatory for Portuguese national citizens and for foreign citizens.

• Not to have benefited from a PhD or a PhD in industry studentship directly funded by FCT, regardless of its duration.

• Not to hold a PhD degree.

7. To present/prepare and submit the application and all related documents, including the recommendation letters and the most representative document of the applicant’s scientific/professional path, in Portuguese or in English.

Regarding the admissibility criteria described above, note that:
- In the case of academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, and in order to guarantee the application of the principle of equal treatment to applicants holding foreign and national academic degrees, it is mandatory to recognize those degrees and to convert the respective final classification into the Portuguese classification scale.

The recognition of foreign degrees and diplomas as well as the conversion of the final classification into the Portuguese classification scale may be requested at any public higher education institution, or at the Direção Geral do Ensino superior (DGES, only in the case of automatic recognition). Regarding this matter, we suggest that you consult the DGES portal at the following address: http://www.dges.gov.pt.

- Only candidates who have completed the cycle of studies leading to a Bachelor or Master degree by the application deadline will be admitted. In case candidates do not yet have the certificate of degree completion, a declaration of honor from the candidates that they have completed the necessary qualifications for the competition by the application deadline will be accepted. The awarding of the scholarship is subject to the presentation, at the contracting stage, of the proof of academic qualifications.

For the purposes of breaking the tie, candidates will be ranked based on the classifications given to each of the evaluation criteria in the following order of precedence: criterion A, criterion C and criterion B.

Important warning for candidates with degrees issued by foreign higher education institutions:

• Candidates with diplomas issued by foreign higher education institutions may apply and will be evaluated using the same criteria as candidates with diplomas issued by Portuguese institutions, provided that they present, in their application, proof of recognition of academic degrees and conversion of final classification for the Portuguese classification scale under the terms of the applicable legislation.

• Candidates with recognized foreign diplomas who do not present proof of conversion from the final classification to the Portuguese classification scale will be evaluated with the minimum classification (50 out of 100 points) in criterion (A1).

• In any case, scholarship agreements with candidates with diplomas issued by foreign institutions will only be concluded upon presentation of proof of recognition of academic degrees and conversion of the final classification, as indicated above.

Composition of the Evaluation Panel:

- Coordinator: Paulo Célio Alves, Professor Associado c/Agregação da Universidade do Porto e Presidente da Associação Biológica de Mértola;

- 1st Member: Susana Gomez Martinez, Professora Auxiliar da Universidade de Évora, Direção do Campo Arqueológico de Mértola;

- 2nd Member: João Tereso, Investigador do Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto (CIBIO-InBIO) da Associação BIOPOLIS;

- 1st Substitute Member: Francisco Moreira, Investigador Coordenador do Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto (CIBIO-InBIO) da Associação BIOPOLIS e Membro da Associação da Estação Biológica de Mértola;

- 2nd Substitute Member David Afonso da Rocha Gonçalves, Professor Auxiliar Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto,

The evaluation panel will analyse applications considering the evaluation criteria disclosed in the Notice of the Call, considering all the appreciation elements.

All panel members, including the coordinator, make a commitment to respect a set of responsibilities essential to the evaluation process, such as the duties of impartiality, declaration of any potential conflict of interest, and confidentiality.

During all moments of the evaluation process, confidentiality is fully protected and ensured in order to guarantee the independence of all statements.

Panel members, including the coordinator, cannot be supervisor or co-supervisors of candidates with applications submitted to the call.

For each application, a final evaluation form will be produced by the panel, in which the arguments that led to the ratings attributed to each of the evaluation criteria will be present in a clear, coherent and consistent manner.

The results of the evaluation are communicated via e-mail to the e-mail address indicated in the application form.

Once the provisional ranked list of the evaluation results has been communicated, applicants who have an unfavorable provisional decision may use their rights to dispute it during the preliminary hearing phase, which takes place within 10 working days, according to Articles no. 121 and following of the Administrative Procedure Code (CPA). The final decision will 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 within 30 working days, after the communication of the final results, respectively.

a) Copy of the documents of personal identification, tax number and, if applicable, social security ;

b) Copy of the academic degree certificates;

c) In case of foreign academic degree it is mandatory to submit the recognition of master degree and the conversion of the respective final grade to the Portuguese grading scale;

d) Work plan;

e) Document proving the acceptance and registration in the PhD programme in Biodiversity, Genetics

f) Supervisor(s) statement declaring willing to coordinate the work plan, as established in Article no. 5-A of the Statute for Research Fellowships (template will be made available by FCT);

g) Institutional document supporting the applicant, issued by the institution(s) where the work plan will be carried out, guaranteeing the necessary conditions to its successful development, as well as the fulfilment of the duties established in Article no. 13 of the Research Fellowship Holder Statute (template will be made available by FCT);

h) Updated document proving compliance with the regime of exclusive dedication (draft of declaration to be made available by FCT

The renewal of the studentship always depends on applicant’s submission, within 60 working days prior to the renewal start date, of the following documents:

a) Declaration issued by the supervisor(s) and by the host institution(s) attesting the work plan development and the evaluation of the respective activities;

b) Document proving compliance with the exclusive dedication regime;

c) Declaration demonstrating the enrolment renewal in the study cycle leading to the doctoral degree.

All the R&D activities carried out by the grantee, directly or indirectly financed by the studentship, namely communications, publications and scientific creations, as well as thesis, must include the reference to FCT and European Social Fund (ESF) financing. In particular, these references should mention the following operational programmes: Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE 2020), Programa Operacional Regional do Centro (Centro 2020), and Programa Operacional Regional do Alentejo (Alentejo 2020), or additional funding schemes that might be approved. Insignia of FCT, MCTES, ESF and EU must therefore be included in the documents referring to these actions, according to the graphic rules of each operational programme. The disclosure of research results funded according to the RBI provisions must comply with the open access guidelines, publications and other research results in accordance with FCT rules. For all the studentships, in particular in case of European funded actions, namely the ESF, may be performed monitoring and controlling actions by national or European entities according to the applicable legislation. Grantees must therefore collaborate and provide all the required information, including answering to surveys and evaluation studies in this area, even though the studentship might has already ceased.

FCT promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, thus no applicant may be privileged, benefited, damaged, or deprived of any right or exempted from any duty. This includes ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family situation, economic situation, education, origin or social condition, genetic heritage, reduced work capacity, disability, chronic disease, nationality, ethnicity or race, land of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs or trade union affiliation.

The present call is governed by this Notice of the Call, the FCT Regulation of Research Fellowships, approved by the Regulation no. 950/2019, published in the Series II of the DR, of 16th December, by the Research Fellowship Holder Statute, approved by the Law no. 40/2004, of 18th of August, in its current version, and by other applicable national and European legislation.