Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço

FCT - Individual Call to Scientific Employment Stimulus 2023 (6th Edition)

Ref: IA2023-07-CTTI

The Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) welcomes pre-applications to the FCT - Individual Call to Scientific Stimulus 2023 (6th edition).

The Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) has issued a call for research contracts, in the context of the Stimulus to Scientific Employment which will be open from 4th April until 3rd May 2023, 17:00 (Portuguese time). The positions are for up to 6 years. There are 3 categories, depending on the profile of the candidate:

- Junior Researcher (gross monthly income 2.206,05€): PhD holders for 5 years or less, counted as of the closing date of the application submission period, with reduced post-doctoral research experience in the scientific area to which they are applying.

- Assistant/Auxiliary Researcher (gross monthly income 3.294,81€): PhD holders for more than 5 and less than 12 years, inclusive, counted as of the closing date of the application submission period, with a relevant curriculum in the scientific area to which they are applying.

- Principal Researcher (gross monthly income 3.717,23€): PhD holders for more than 12 years, counted as of the closing date of the application submission period, with a relevant curriculum vitae in the scientific area to which they are applying, demonstrating some scientific independence in the last 3 years.

The selection is done by FCT. Each candidate will have to select and have the support from a host institution in Portugal.

The Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) welcomes pre-applications with the following deadlines, depending on the IA node:

- Lisbon node: until the 24th of March 2023 postponed to 27 March 2023

- Porto node: until the 21st of April 2023

- Coimbra node: until 21st of April 2023

The institute cannot guarantee the required scientific and administrative support for any pre-applications received after these dates.

Despite the extended deadline applied to the Porto and Coimbra IA nodes, candidates are strongly advised to submit their pre-applications as early as possible, so as to have enough time to later prepare the application to FCT, in case their pre-application is approved by IA.

IA is the reference institution for this area in Portugal, integrating researchers from the University of Porto, the University of Lisbon and University of Coimbra, and is responsible for a major fraction of the national productivity in international ISI journals in this area. The research and development effort at the IA includes most of the topics at the forefront of research in Astrophysics and Space Sciences, complemented by work on instrumentation and systems with potential use in Astronomy and Astrophysics.

IA activities are structured around six Groups with respective group leaders:

1. Towards the detection and characterization of other Earths – Nuno Santos

2. Towards a comprehensive study of stars – Tiago Campante

3. The assembly history of galaxies resolved in space and time – Polychronis Papaderos

4. Unveiling the dynamics of the Universe – Tiago Barreiro

5. Astronomical Instrumentation and Systems – Alexandre Cabral

6. Science Communication ^(*) – Filipe Pires & João Retrê

_{*for projects in Science Communication and Science Education}

It is considered strategically important for IA to be optimally placed to contribute to the development and exploitation of large projects within the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO), besides other international initiatives.

The pre-applications should include:

• cover letter with:

(1) a brief description of the candidate's motivation and of the proposed research project;

(2) an indication of the category they are applying for;

(3) the geographical location (either Porto, Lisbon or Coimbra node) where the research work will be carried out;

(4) the name of at least one scientific collaborator in IA (if collaborations already exist);

• curriculum vitae (free format).

The evaluation of the pre-applications will be based on the quality of the Curriculum Vitae of the candidate and the relevance for IA of the candidate’s past and proposed research.

Each proposal will be reviewed by a selection committee composed of the executive board and the group leaders. Following a positive outcome of the pre-selection the candidate may proceed with the submission of their applications to FCT, with the support of IA.

All applications must follow the FCT regulations.

For inquires please contact coordenacao@iastro.pt.

Publication Date
13 March, 2023

The period for application submission has ended for this opportunity.