Research Fellowship | Bolsa de Investigação: ARDITI-CLIMAREST-2022-001

Job: Research Fellowship;

Reference ARDITI-CLIMAREST-2022-001;

Scientific area: Computer Science, Computer Engineering

Project  Summary:

The CLIMAREST: Coastal Climate Resilience and Marine Restoration Tools for the Arctic Atlantic Basin project integrates multiple expertise into a holistic approach that aims to develop a flexible overarching toolbox designed to establish guidelines for ecosystem restoration and to enhance climate resilience in coastal communities. The concept is to develop, test, and optimise a modular toolbox that integrates expert knowledge, scientific information, multilevel stakeholder and community involvement, ecosystem service improvement analysis, cost-benefit analysis, the priority of actions, and custom-designed protocols for restoring and monitoring multiple coastal habitats. The toolbox framework will have common and specific tools that will be tested, optimised, and demonstrated in five different ecosystems across a latitudinal gradient of the Arctic-Atlantic basin, ranging from the high-Arctic Svalbard (79° N) in the north to the Madeira archipelago (33° N) in the south. In Madeira, CLIMAREST project will leverage opportunistic datasets from the existing mobile applications and digital platform tools for web-based surveys, allowing the reach out to a wide stakeholder audience, enabling citizen and stakeholder participation in monitoring of restoration activities and scenarios.

Job Description:

The ideal candidate would be a Computer Engineering student or a closely related discipline with experience in mobile application development. 

Applicants should fulfill the following requirements:

- Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering;

- The candidate must be enrolled in a master's degree course or a non-degree academic program;

- Previous experience in mobile application development;

- Strong oral and written English communication skills;

- Demonstrated ability to work independently.

If the degree was awarded by a foreign higher education institution, that degree must comply with the provisions of Decreto-Lei n.º 66/2018 of 16th August (approves the legal regime for the recognition of foreign higher academic degrees) and Portaria n.º 33/2019 of 25th January, and all formalities established therein must be complied with up to the date of hire.

Work plan:

- Design, development, and maintenance of mobile applications for allowing end users to report on sightings, occurrences, and/or abundances of pre-determined indicators (e.g., litter items) and/or species (e.g., cyanobacteria, sea urchins, non-indigenous species);

- Support in the development of web-based APIs for storing, retrieving, and analysing the obtained data;

- Support in the creation of web-based surveys, allowing to reach a wide stakeholder audience (e.g., hotel managers, divers, and tourists);

- Support in the implementation of QR code technology or touch point interfaces deployed in key locations (e.g., marinas, coastal viewpoints, beaches) and used to deliver app-based inquiry surveys that allow the reporting of key taxa and map key recreational maritime activities;

- Support in the creation of immersive VR experiences based on 360º footage of local targeted habitats (e.g., dive sites and biodiversity), followed by questionnaire surveys;

- Support in the development of backend and database for storing, retrieving, and analysing the obtained data;

- Support in the organizing, labeling, annotation, and depicting of the obtained marine biodiversity data;

- Support the activities in restoration initiatives on Madeira island;

- Support in leveraging citizen science as data sources leveraging opportunistic datasets;

- Carrying out scientific research activities for validating the mobile applications;

- Writing and presenting scientific papers related to the research and development activities of the project.

- Support the design of material for dissemination, website, and other assets to be used in the project software developments;

- Developing reports based on the results of research projects in the academic area

- Support the Principal Investigator in the administrative and coordination tasks of the project

Workplace:

The work will be conducted in ARDITI (Funchal, Portugal) under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Marko Radeta.

Scholarship length:

The scholarship will have a length of 6 months (eventually renewable), with an expected start date of January 1st, 2023.

Monthly stipend:

The student will receive a stipend of 875,98 €/month free of taxes. ARDITI stipends and regulations are determined by ARDITI (https://cloud.arditi.pt/index.php/s/wJGZEAJWaQx6wcx?dir=undefined&path=%2FRegulamentos%2FBolsas&openfile=24051256).

How to apply:

Candidates must send their application by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., no later than 15-12-2022. The subject of the email should be ARDITI-CLIMAREST-2022-001.

The following elements should be included in the email:

1. Updated Curriculum Vitae.
2. Motivation letter explaining how the candidature fulfills the application requirements.
3. Proof of enrolment in a master's degree, including the list of completed courses names and grades, or in a university non-degree awarding program 
4. Certificate of bachelor's degree completion, including the course names and grades.
5. An optional list of projects (or previous experience) in the area will be a plus.

Selection Process:

The selection process will be based on the following:

• Motivation letter (10%)
• Curriculum Vitae (20%)
• Previous experience (30%)
• In the case of multiple candidates - Interviews (40%)

Recommendation letters are facultative but can contribute positively to the evaluation. Speaking and understanding Portuguese is necessary as the candidate will collaborate with the local partners.

Selection Panel: Dr. João Gama Monteiro, Dr. João Canning Clode, Prof. Dr. Marko Radeta (President).

Notification of results:

All candidates will be notified by email.

Notes:

• The selection process will be based on the principle of non-discrimination in respect of gender, age, nationality, religion, racial group, or any other possible discriminatory issue. Selection will be made only based on merit and following the European Charter for Researchers, the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (Commission Recommendation, Brussels, 11.3.2005, 2005/251/EC), and the recommendations from the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA).
• ARDITI is a recognized "refugee welcoming organization" by the European Commission, follows the European Charter for Researchers, and welcomes applications from all qualified individuals.
• The deadline for application may be extended at any time without previous notice having in mind the requirements for the positions under this call.