NOTICE OF OPENING OF AN INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION FOR THE RECRUITMENT OF A DOCTORATE UNDER THE ARTICLE 23 OF DECREE-LAW No. 57/2016, OF AUGUST 29, WITH THE AMENDMENTS INTRODUCED BY LAW 57/2017, OF 19 JULY AND COMPLEMENTARY LEGISLATION
Public Notice Number ARDITI-MAC-01-2021
1. The Board of Directors of the Regional Agency for the Development of Research Technology and Innovation (ARDITI), from 28/05/2021, decided to open an international selection competition for one doctorate position, starting level, in the form of an employment contract under an unspecified fixed-term work contract under the "Código do Trabalho" (Labor Code), for the exercise of scientific research activities in the area(s) of Marine Ecology, with emphasis on assessing impacts associated with stressors such as microplastic pollution and non-indigenous species, to develop activities within the scope of the projects IMPLAMAC, MIMAR+, and OceanLit, namely:
- Develop sampling designs and conduct sampling of microplastics (e.g., in biota, sediment, and/or water column) in Madeira Island;
- Conduct mesocosm trials to evaluate impacts of climate change and microplastics in marine life;
- Plan, supervise and implement scientific diving activities, monitoring, and underwater surveys.
- Participate in scientific campaigns for biodiversity assessments, with particular emphasis on detecting non-indigenous species;
- Conduct Risk Assessments for a selection of non-indigenous species;
- Contribute to the writing of scientific outputs, publications, and reports within the scope of the projects.
The present call is opened under the project IMPLAMAC - Evaluation of the impact of microplastics and emerging contaminants in Macaronesia, project MIMAR+ - Monitoring, control and mitigation of proliferation of marine organisms associated with human disturbances and climate change in Macaronesia, and project OceanLit - Management of coastal protected natural areas affected by marine litter in oceanic archipelagos. These projects are all funded by the INTERREG MAC 2014-2020 Programme.
2. Applicable law:
- Decree-Law No. 57/2016, of August 29, the regulations for hiring doctorates to stimulate scientific and technological employment in all areas of knowledge (RJEC), with the amendments introduced by Law No. 57 / 2017, dated July 19, also taking into account the provisions of Regulatory Decree No. 11-A / 2017, of December 29, which establishes the remuneration levels in the doctorates hiring regime;
- "Código do Trabalho" (Labor Code), approved by Law No. 7/2009, of February 12, in its current wording.
3. In compliance with article 13 of RJEC, the Jury of the competition is composed as follows:
• President: João Canning-Clode (Ph.D.), Principal Investigator and Coordinator of MARE-Madeira;
• Member: João Monteiro (PhD); MARE-Madeira;
• Member: Filipe Alves (PhD), MARE-Madeira.
4. The place of work is located at ARDITI, in Edifício Madeira Tecnopolo, Piso 2, Caminho da Penteada, 9020-105 Funchal, but without prejudice to the fact that work may also take place in other premises, by decision of the Board of Directors, the competent body of ARDITI, even though the provision of work may also take place in other facilities related to the activity of ARDITI or indicated by it.
5. The monthly remuneration to be awarded is 2134,73 euros, corresponding to level 33 of the single remuneration table (TRU), approved by Ordinance No. 1553-C / 2008 of December 31, in its current wording.
6.
6.1 Decree-Law no. 57/2016, of August 29, in its current wording, which approved the regulations for hiring doctorates to stimulate scientific and technological employment in all areas of knowledge (RJEC), is an enabling norm for this international selection competition.
6.2 The opening of this competition is intended for the selection of a doctorate's place for the exercise of Scientific Research activity under an unspecified fixed-term work contract under the "Código do Trabalho" (Labor Code) approved by Law No. 7 / 2009, of February 12, in its current wording, being the basis of contracting the execution of a service determined, precisely defined and non-durable.
6.3 The maximum term of the working contract 18 (eighteen) months.
6.4 Termination of the financing, termination of the project, or completion of the tasks that are the subject of this competition shall determine the expiration of the contract that will operate with the communication referred to in article 345 (1) of the "Código do Trabalho" (Labor Code), meaning that the employer shall notify the termination of the contract to the employee, at least seven, 30 or 60 days in advance, according to whether the contract lasted up to six months, six months to two years, or longer period".
7. The competition is open for national candidates, foreigners, and stateless persons who hold a doctoral degree in a branch of knowledge or specialty that covers the scientific area of Marine Ecology, Biological Sciences or related scientific area, as well as those to whom, under the terms of Decree-Law n No. 66/2018, of August 16, regulated by Administrative Rule no. 33/2019, of January 25, amended by Ordinance No. 43/2020, of February 14, was recognized the totality of the rights inherent to the degree of "Doctor", and are also holders of a scientific and professional curriculum that reveals an adequate profile to the activity to be developed.
7.1 If you are not a native speaker of Portuguese, you must have language skills at level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
7.2 If you are not a native English speaker, you must have language skills at level C1 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
7.3 Considering the need to supervise scientific diving activities, applicants must have an Advanced European Scientific Diver level of competency or a EN 14153-3/ISO 24801-3 SCUBA diving certificate.
8. Formalization of applications:
8.1 Applications must be sent by email to
The equivalence, recognition, or registration of the "Doctor" degree should be obtained up to the last day of the tender opening period.
8.2 The application shall be accompanied by documents proving the conditions laid down in point 7 for admission to this invitation to tender, in particular.
a) Motivation letter;
b) Copy of certificate or diploma,
c) Detailed curriculum vitae, structured in accordance with the items in point 14, indicating the works, and adding a copy of them, that the candidate considers most relevant to each of the items in point 14;
d) Portuguese and English language skills self-assessment following Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR);
e) Dive certifications or diplomas proving conditions laid down in point 7.3;
f) Other documents that the candidate considers relevant for analyzing his / her application (e.g., relevant scientific publications).
8.3 Applicants submit the application and documents referred to in 8.1 and 8.2 in PDF format, up to the last day of the tender opening period, which is fixed at ten working days after publication of this Notice. An applicant may, because of the impossibility or high costs of sending any of the documents referred to in 8.1 and 8.2 by email, deliver them on physical support, respecting the above date, by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt to the address postal service "Edifício Madeira Tecnopolo, Piso 2, Caminho da Penteada, 9020-105 Funchal" or by hand at Administrative and Financial Department of ARDITI. Not being accepted the justification of the candidate for the delivery of documents only in physical format, the President of the Jury will give an additional period of ten working days to present them also in digital support.
8.4 The application and documents may be submitted in Portuguese or English. However, the President of the Jury, and when a member of the Jury is a non-native Portuguese speaker, may request that, within a reasonable time, the candidate translates into English a document previously presented in Portuguese.
9. By decision of the Chairman of the Board of ARDITI, candidates who do not comply with the provisions of point 8 are not admitted to the competition. Candidates who do not submit the application or who do not deliver all the documents referred to in points 8.2 (a) to (c) or who present them unreadable, incorrectly completed, or invalid are eliminated. The Jury is also entitled to require any candidate, in case of doubt and for the purposes of admission to competition, to present documentary evidence of the declarations in the submitted documents.
10. Approval on absolute merit:
10.1 The Jury will deliberate on its approval or rejection on absolute merit, by a justified vote where no abstentions are admitted;
10.2 A candidate is considered approved on absolute merit when he/she obtains a favorable vote of more than half of the members of the Jury;
10.3 Candidates who have a scientific and curricular path relevant to the scientific area(s) of the competition and taking into account their suitability for the additional weighting criteria identified in 14.5 will be approved on absolute merit;
10.4 The unfavorable vote to approval on absolute merit can still be justified by the failure to fulfill the following circumstance:
- The curriculum of the candidate is shown to be clearly insufficient and misaligned with the scientific area (s), suffering from serious inaccuracies or not supported by previous work of the candidate.
11. According to article 5 of RJEC, the selection is made by evaluating the candidates' scientific and curricular path.
12. The evaluation of the scientific and curricular path focuses on relevance, quality, and timeliness:
a) of the scientific, technological, academic, cultural, or artistic production during the last five years and considered more relevant by the candidate;
b) of the applied or practice-based research activities developed over the last five years and considered as having the most significant impact by the candidate;
c) of the activities of extension and dissemination of knowledge developed during the last five years, in particular in the context of promoting the culture and scientific practices considered by the candidate to be of greater relevance;
d) of the activities of science, technology, and innovation programs management or of the experience in observing and monitoring the scientific and technological system or higher education in Portugal or abroad.
13. The period of five years referred to in the preceding paragraph may be increased by the Jury, at the request of the candidate, when justified on the grounds of suspension of scientific activity for socially protected reasons, namely for reasons of parental leave, severe prolonged illness, and other situations of unavailability for work legally protected.
14. The selection of the doctorate to hire will be made by evaluating the scientific-pedagogical and curricular path of the candidates, focusing on the relevance, quality, timeliness, and suitability of this path to the functions to be performed, considering the last five years of activity, according to the following evaluation criteria and weights:
- Quality of scientific production considered more relevant by the candidate to the project to be developed (20%);
- Experience in biodiversity assessments in insular systems (20%);
- Experience with risk assessments of non-indigenous species (15%);
- Experience with marine litter (micro and macro litter) research (10%);
- Experience in developing and implementing scientific diving activities and underwater surveys (EN 14413-2/ISO 24802-2 SCUBA certifications are preferred) (10%);
- Experience with mesocosm trials and climate change research in marine ecosystems (10%)
- Familiarity with non-indigenous species, native biodiversity, and coastal communities in the region (10%);
- Participation in scientific projects and research focused on marine ecosystems of islands (5%).
15. The Jury may decide to select up to 3 candidates who will be called to hold a session presenting the results of their investigation, following which the jury members should stimulate an open debate on its content and innovative character. This presentation session does not constitute a selection method and is not classified, aiming merely to obtain explanations or clarifications of elements contained in the candidates' curricula.
16. The Jury, when it deems it necessary, may request the candidate to present additional documents proving the candidate's statements, which are relevant to the analysis and classification of his/her application.
17. Classification of candidates:
17.1. Each member of the Jury assigned a classification to each of the candidates in each evaluation criterion, on a scale of 0 to 100 points, ranking the candidates according to their classification consisting of the sum of the partial classifications assigned in each evaluation criterion, and taking into account the weighting factor given to each parameter;
17.2. Candidates shall be ordered by applying the successive voting method;
17.3. The Jury decides by absolute majority, and abstentions are not allowed;
17.4. The final classification of each candidate is the one corresponding to his or her ranking resulting from the application of the method referred to in point 17.2.
18. Minutes of the jury meetings are drawn up, which contain a summary of what has taken place in them, as well as the votes cast by each of the members and their reasons, being available to the candidates whenever requested.
19. The false statements made by the candidates will be punished according to the law.
20. The list of admitted and excluded candidates and the final ranking list are posted on the premises of ARDITI and advertised on the website of ARDITI. The applicants will be notified by email with the receipt of the delivery of the notification.
21. Prior Hearing and Deadline for Final Decision: After being notified, candidates have ten working days to submit a formal rebuttal. Within the term of 90 days, counted from the deadline for the presentation of the candidacies, the jury's final decisions are given.
22. The final deliberation of the Jury is approved by the Chairman of the Board of ARDITI, and it is his responsibility to establish the respective contract.
23. This tender is exclusively intended to fill the vacancy (s) indicated and may be terminated until the homologation of the final ranking list of candidates and expiring with the respective occupation of the working position on offer.
24. Non-discrimination and equal access policy: ARDITI actively promotes a policy of non-discrimination and equal access so that no candidate can be privileged, benefited, disadvantaged, or deprived of any right or exemption from any duty owing, in particular, to ancestry, age, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, economic situation, education, social origin or condition, genetic heritage, reduced working capacity, disability, chronic illness, nationality, ethnic origin or race, territory of origin, language, religion, political or ideological beliefs, and trade union membership.
25. Under the terms of D.L. No. 29/2001, of February 3, adapted to the Autonomous Region of Madeira by Regional Legislative Decree no. 25/2001/M, of August 24, a disabled candidate has a preference when in equal classification, which prevails over any other legal preference. Candidates must declare on the application form their respective degree of disability, the type of disability, and the means of communication/expression to be used in the selection process under the terms of the aforementioned diploma.
07 de Junho de 2021 - The Chairman of the Board of Agência Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação, Tecnologia e Inovação (ARDITI) – Association, Professor Doutor Rui Miguel Andrade Caldeira.
Link for the official public announcement (in Portuguese): https://dre.pt/application/file/166085579