Notice of CHRC’s 2020 Call for PhD Studentships

The CHRC - Comprehensive Health Research Centre (NMS|FCMUNL, ENSP, UÉ, LIGMH, HSEIT)

opens a Call for granting 2 (two) PhD studentships in the area of Health Sciences - Public

Health, Nursing, Health and Sports Technology, Rehabilitation and Welfare. Both PhD

studentships, hereinafter referred to as PhD Research Fellowships, will comply with the

provisions of the FCT Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships (RBI) and the

Research Fellowship Holder Statute (EBI).

The grants will be funded by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT) under the

Collaboration Protocol for Funding the Multi-Year Plan of Research Grants for PhD Students,

signed between the FCT and the R&D Unit CHRC – Comprehensive Health Research Centre

(NMS|FCMUNL, ENSP, UÉ, LIGMH, HSEIT), (UIDP/04923/2020).

1. SUBMISSION OF APPLICATION

The call is open from June 9th to 5:00 pm (Lisbon time) June 30th 2020.

Applications and all supporting documents must be submitted by e-mail to

rute.sousa@nms.unl.pt.

Each candidate may submit one application only, under penalty of cancellation of all

applications submitted. Providing false declarations or committing acts of plagiarism by

applicants leads to the exclusion of the application without prejudice of taking other

corrective and punitive disciplinary measures.

2. TYPE AND DURATION OF SCHOLARSHIPS

The PhD Research Fellowships are intended to finance research activities leading to the award

of a Doctoral Degree at Portuguese universities.

The research work will be carried out at the LIGMH – Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health,

an entity belonging to the CHRC – Comprehensive Health Research Centre, which will be the

host institution for the fellows, without prejudice to the fact that the work

may occur in collaboration with more than one institution.

The research activities leading to the award of the Doctoral Degree to the selected fellows

must be framed in the activities and strategy plan of the CHRC – Comprehensive Health

Research Centre (NMS|FCMUNL, ENSP, UÉ, LIGMH, HSEIT), and must be developed in the

scope of the PhD Programme in Global Public Health, a joint programme of NOVA University

of Lisbon and the University of Porto.

The work plan may be carried out entirely or partially in a national institution (2 mixed

fellowships).

As a rule, the duration of PhD studentships is annual, renewable up to the maximum number

of months requested upon application and cannot be granted for a period less than 3

consecutive months neither more than 48 months.

In case of a studentship carried out both in Portugal and abroad, the work plan period in a

foreign institution cannot exceed 24 months.

3. FELLOWSHIPS’ RECIPIENTS

The PhD Research Fellowships are aimed at applicants who meet the conditions required to

enroll in the PhD Programme set out in point 2 of this Notice and who intend to develop

research activities at the Lisbon Institute of Global Mental Health – Comprehensive Health

Research Centre, leading to the award of a PhD at the NOVA Medical School | Faculty of

Medical Sciences of the NOVA University of Lisbon.

4. ADMISSIBILITY

4.1. Applicants’ Admissibility Requirements

The following citizens may apply to this call:

National citizens or citizens of other Member States of the European Union;

Third-party states citizens;

Stateless individuals;

Citizens who have been granted political refugee status.

To apply for a PhD Research Fellowship, you must:

- Hold a Master’s Degree in Health Sciences (Medicine, Nursing, Psychology, among

others) and/or other areas considered to be related to Public Health Sciences

(Sociology, Anthropology, Economy, Geography, among others).

- To reside in Portugal on a permanent and habitual basis, if the work plan associated

with the studentship is partially carried out in foreign institutions (mixed scholarships),

a requirement applicable to both national and foreign citizens.

- Not to have benefited from a PhD or PhD scholarship in companies directly funded by

FCT, regardless of its duration.

4.2. Application Admissibility Requirements

It is mandatory, under penalty of non-admissibility, to attach the following documents to your

application.

§ Details of identity card/citizen card/passport;

§ Curriculum vitae of the applicant with reference to the applicant’s CiênciaVitae and

ORCID (maximum 5 pages);

§ Academic degree(s) certificates, specifying the final classification and, if possible, the

classifications obtained in all the course’s subjects, or, alternatively, the candidate's

Declaration of Honor that he or she has completed the Master’s degree by the

deadline of the application;

§ Registration of recognition of academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education

institutions and registration of the conversion of the respective final classification to

the Portuguese classification scale, or, alternatively, Declaration of Honor of the

applicant in how he or she obtained the recognition of the foreign degree equivalent

to that of the Master’s degree by the deadline for application;

§ Letter of motivation (maximum 1 page);

§ Two (2) Letters of Recommendation. Only applicable to candidates

selected for interview. Letters must be received 48 hours before the interview.

The application and all associated documents, including letters of motivation and

recommendation, must be drafted in English.

With regard to the above admissibility requirements, the following should be noted:

§ In the case of academic degrees awarded by foreign higher education institutions, and

in order to ensure the application of the principle of equal treatment to applicants

who hold foreign and national academic degrees, the recognition of these degrees

and the conversion of their final classification to the Portuguese classification scale is

compulsory.

§ The recognition of foreign degrees and diplomas and the conversion of the final

classification to the Portuguese classification scale may be requested at any public

higher education institution, or at the Directorate General for Higher Education (DGES,

for automatic recognition only). For this matter, it is suggested to consult the DGES

portal at the following address: http://www.dges.gov.pt.

§ Only candidates who have completed the study cycle leading to a Master’s degree by

the end of the application deadline will be admitted. If they do not yet have the

certificate of completion, candidates will be accepted on their honor that they have

completed the qualifications required for the call by its closing date. The award of the

scholarship is always subject to the presentation of the mandatory proof of academic

qualifications.

5. WORK PLANS AND SCIENTIFIC ORIENTATION OF THE FELLOWSHIPS

The work plan and scientific orientation of the fellowships are framed in the thematic

lines of the CHRC unit. The two fellowships must be obligatorily dedicated to the topic of

global and population mental health, namely in the following areas:

§ Global and national mental health policy;

§ Population’s mental health;

§ Impact of complex emergencies on mental health;

§ Mental health services and innovation in mental health care;

§ Mental health and human rights.

The research activities include the elaboration of work leading to a PhD dissertation in

Global Public Health in one of the specific areas of interest identified by the applicant,

from those available in the Research Unit (LIGMH-CHRC), with relevance in Global and

Populational Mental Health. The scientific orientation of the studentship will be the

responsibility of the person in charge of the specific research proposal to which the

applicant has been admitted, and who should also be the supervisor of the thesis or part

of the orientation team.

6. EVALUATION CRITERIA AND BONUSES

6.1. Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation takes into account the applicant’s merit, motivation and the adequacy of

the training to the research objectives of LIGMH-CHRC.

The evaluation process will have two compulsory, distinct and successive stages,

according to the following evaluation criteria:

- The first stage (S1) (scored from 0 to 20 values and rounded to decimals) will focus on

Curriculum Analysis (CA) and Motivation (M) for the completion of this PhD. The

Curriculum Analysis and the Motivation will each have a weighting of 60% and 40%,

respectively, in the final classification of the first stage of the competition, which is

expressed by the following formula:

S1=(0,6 ×CA)+(0,4×M)

The Curriculum Analysis (CA) - scored from 0 to 20 values and rounded to decimals - has

a weighting of 60% in the final classification of the first stage of this call and will focus on:

o Subcriterion CA1 - Quality of the academic career (master) with a weight

of 60%

o Subcriterion CA2 - Scientific production and participation in research

projects, with a weight of 30%

o Subcriterion CA3 - Work experience, with a weight of 10%

The Motivation (M) for this Doctorate and the justification of the interest to investigate

a specific topic with relevance in Global Health, expressed in the so-called "letter of

motivation" - scored from 0 to 20 values and presented to the tenths - has a weight of

40% in the final classification of the first stage of the call.

The first 5 candidates with the highest final mark of S1 and equal to 10 or more points

will be admitted to the second stage (S2) and ranked in descending order of score -

'Interview Admitted'. In the event of a tie in the award of the final marks for the last

applicant admitted to interview in S1, all applicants with the same final S1 score as the

last 'Admitted to interview’ applicant will be admitted to the second stage.

All candidates who score less than 10 points in the first stage of the competition (S1) or

who score 10 points or more in the first stage of the competition (S1) but score after the

40th place will be excluded from the call - 'Excluded'.

The second stage (S2) (scored from 0 to 20 and presented to the tenths) consists of an

individual interview (II) of the candidate and has a weight of 100 % in the final marks for

the second stage of the call.

The final classification of this call’s second stage (S2) is the final classification of the

Individual Interview (II), aimed at assessing the scientific production potential of each

applicant in the call area, which will result from the arithmetic average of the scores of

all the criteria assessed in II by the members of the Evaluation Panel: S2 = Final

Classification II.

The Individual Interview (II) - scored from 0 to 20 and rounded to decimals - has a weight of

100% in the final classification of the second stage of the call and will focus on the following

criteria: motivation and availability, knowledge and professional attitude; interpersonal

relationships and communication skills (including knowledge of English). Each of these II

criteria will be evaluated (from 0 to 20 values), by the Evaluation Panel members present at

the II (at least 3 jury members will be present in each II).

Applicants with an S2 (II) final score below sixteen (16) will be automatically

excluded - "Excluded". For the purposes of the S2 (II) final ranking tiebreaker, applicants will

be ranked on the basis of the scores assigned to each of the evaluation criteria in the following

order of precedence: (i) motivation and availability, (ii) knowledge and professional attitude,

(iii) communication skills and (iv) interpersonal relationships.

In order to decide the conditional granting of the PhD Fellowships, applicants will be ranked

according to the weighted average of the marks obtained for each of the two criteria,

translated by the following formula:

Final Rating = (0,5 ×S1) + (0,5×S2)

For tiebreaking purposes, applicants will be ranked on the basis of the marks awarded to each

of the evaluation criteria in the following order of precedence: S1 - Curriculum vitae + Letter

of motivation; S2 - Interview.

Studentships that are not granted will be carried over to the next academic year.

Important notice for candidates with diplomas issued by foreign higher education

institutions:

- Applicants with diplomas issued by foreign higher education institutions may apply and will

be assessed with the same criteria as applicants with diplomas issued by Portuguese

institutions, since they provide, in their application, proof of recognition of such academic

degrees and conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese classification scale,

according to the applicable legislation.

- Candidates with foreign degrees who do not provide proof of conversion from the final

classification to the Portuguese classification scale will be assessed with the minimum

classification (12 points) on criterion “CA.a”.

- In any case, fellowship contracts with applicants 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.

- Applicants whose application is assessed with a final mark of less than sixteen (16) points

are not eligible for a grant.

7. EVALUATION

The evaluation panel consists of the following elements:

§ Helena Canhão, NMS|FCMUNL (panel coordinator)

§ José Miguel Caldas de Almeida, LIGMH

§ Alexandre Abrantes, ENSP|UNL

Alternate members:

§ Miguel Talina, NMS|FCMUNL

§ Bruno Heleno, NMS|FCMUNL

The evaluation panel will assess applications in accordance with the evaluation criteria of this

Call for Proposals, weighing the elements of assessment.

All panel members, including the coordinator, are committed to a number of responsibilities

essential to the evaluation process, such as the duties of impartiality, declaration of any

potential conflict of interest and confidentiality. At all times, the, confidentiality will be fully

protected and ensured so as to guarantee the independence of all opinions produced.

Panel members, including the coordinator, may not be mentors or supervisors of applicants

with proposals submitted to this call, in which case they shall be replaced by an alternate

member. For each application, a final evaluation sheet shall be produced by the panel in

which the arguments leading to the marks awarded to each of the evaluation criteria and

subcriteria are presented in a clear, coherent and consistent manner. Minutes of the meetings

of the evaluation panel shall be produced under the responsibility of all its members. The

minutes and their annexes must include the following information:

- Name and affiliation of all members of the evaluation panel;

- Identification of all excluded applications and their grounds for exclusion [if applicable];

- Methodology adopted by the panel for cases considered particular [if applicable];

- Final Evaluation sheets of each applicant;

- Provisional ranking list and seriation of candidates, in descending order of

final ranking, of all evaluated applications;

- Conflict of Interest Statements from all panel members;

- Possible delegations of vote and competences due to justified absence [if applicable].

8. RESULTS DISCLOSURE

Evaluation results are disclosed via e-mail to the e-mail address used by the applicant to send

the application/indicated in the application.

9. DEADLINES AND PROCEDURES FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING, CLAIMS AND APPEALS

After communication of the provisional list of evaluation results, applicants have a period of

10 working days to, if they wish, speak at a preliminary hearing of interested parties, in

accordance with Articles 121 and the following of the Administrative Procedure Code (CPA).

The final decision will be disclosed after examination of the statements made at the

preliminary hearing. The final decision may be claimed within 15 working days or,

alternatively, appealed within 30 working days, both counting from the respective

notification. Applicants who choose to submit a claim should address their pronunciation to

the member of the FCT Board of the Directors with the delegated competence.

10. REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTSHIP GRANTING

Research grant contracts are established directly with the FCT.

The following documents are of mandatory submission, upon conditional granting of the

studentship for purposes of contracting thereof:

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

security;

b) Document of proof of permanent and usual residence in Portugal, if applicable, valid at the

studentship starting date. In case the work plan of the requested studentship is held, entirely

or partially, in foreign institutions, applicants, independently of their nationality, will have to

present, upon contracting, the document of proof of permanent and usual

residence in Portugal;

c) Copy of the academic degree certificates, if applicable;

d) Document proving the acceptance and registration in the 3rd study cycle from the

educational offer in the higher education institution that will grant the academic degree;

e) Supervisor(s) statement declaring 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);

f) Document proving the acceptance of the applicant by the institution where the research

activities will take place, ensuring the necessary conditions for its proper development, as

well as the fulfilment of the duties established in Article 13 of the Research Fellowship Holder

Statute (template declaration to be made available by the FCT);

g) Updated document proving compliance with the exclusive dedication regime (template

declaration to be made available by the FCT).

The granting of the scholarship is still dependent on:

- the compliance with the requirements listed in this Call Notice;

- the results of the scientific evaluation;

- the absence of unjustified non-compliance of the fellowship holder during previous directly

or indirectly FCT funded fellowships;

- FCT available budget.

Failure to submit any of the documents required to complete the studentship contract

process within 6 months of the date of notification of the conditional grant decision, will result

in the forfeiture of the aforementioned grant and the closing of the process.

11. FUNDING

Studentships payment will start after the applicants return the duly signed PhD fellowship

contract, which should occur within a maximum of 15 working days from the date of receipt.

The studentships granted in this call will be financed by FCT using the State Budget fund and,

whenever eligible, using the European Social Fund (ESF), under the PORTUGAL2020

programme, in particular, under Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE 2020),

Programa Operacional Regional do Centro (Centro 2020) and Programa Operacional Regional

do Alentejo (Alentejo 2020), according to the respective requirements.

12. STUDENTSHIP ALLOWANCE

A monthly maintenance allowance is granted to the grantees in accordance with the table in

Annex I of the RBI.

The grant may also include additional allowances, according to RBI’s Article 18 and the values

set out in its Annex II.

All fellows are covered by personal accident insurance in respect of their research activities,

which FCT will support.

All grantees who are not beneficiaries of any social protection regime may exercise their right

to social security by joining the voluntary social security regime, under the terms of the Code

of Contributory Schemes of the Social Security System, and the FCT will cover the costs

resulting from the contributions under the terms and within the limits set out in Article 10 of

the EBI.

13. PAYMENTS OF THE COMPONENTS OF THE STOCK EXCHANGE

Payments due to the grantee are made by bank transfer to the respective indicated account.

Payment of the monthly maintenance allowance is made on the first working day of each

month.

Payments of registration, enrolment or tuition fees are made by the FCT directly to the

national institution where the grantee is registered or enrolled in the doctorate.

14. TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SCHOLARSHIP RENEWAL

The renewal of the fellowship always depends on an application submitted by the grantee,

within 60 working days prior to the date of the renewal, accompanied by the following

documents:

a) Declaration issued by the supervisor(s) and by the host institution(s) on the monitoring of

the studentship holder's work and the evaluation of his/her activities;

b) updated document proving compliance with the exclusive dedication regime;

c) Declaration demonstrating the enrolment renewal in the study cycle leading to the Doctoral

degree.

15. INFORMATION AND PUBLICITY OF THE FUNDING GRANTED

In all R&D activities, directly or indirectly funded by the studentship, namely communications,

publications and scientific creations, as well as theses, carried out with the support provided

by the fellowship, must include the reference to FCT and the European Social Fund,

specifically the North Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020), Centre Regional

Operational Programme (Centre 2020) and Alentejo Regional Operational Programme

(Alentejo 2020). For this purpose, the FCT, MCTES, ESF and EU logos shall be inscribed in the

documents relating to these actions, in accordance with the graphic standards 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.

16. NON-DISCRIMINATION AND EQUAL ACCESS POLICY

FCT promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access, thus no applicant may be

privileged, benefitted, harmed or deprived of any right or exempted from any duty on the

grounds of ancestry, age, gender, 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, land of origin, language,

religion, political or ideological beliefs or trade union affiliation.

17. APPLICABLE LAWS AND REGULATIONS

The present call is governed by this Notice of the Call, the FCT Regulation of Research

Fellowships, approved by the Regulation n.º 950/2019, published in the Series II of the DR, of

16th December 2019, 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.