Research grant for a PhD Student
Project title: UID CEDIS
Project reference: UID/00714/2025
A call for applications is open for a research grant for a PhD student under the CEDIS programmatic project, with the reference UID/00714/2025, funded by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), under the following conditions:
1. Scientific Area: Law
2. Admission requirements:
- Hold a Master’s degree or an equivalent legal qualification;
- Possess an academic, scientific, or professional curriculum of relevance, recognized by the Scientific Council as demonstrating competence equivalent to that of holders of a Master’s degree;
- Proficiency in English equivalent to level B2 of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR).
3. Other requirements: (requirements that can be valued)
- Be enrolled, or demonstrate that they meet the admission/registration requirements, in the PhD Program in Law at NOVA University of Lisbon for the academic year 2026/2027;
- Submit a provisional research plan demonstrating scientific merit and alignment with the strategic lines of CEDIS.
4. Work plan:
The candidate will carry out activities aimed at strengthening their scientific training, integrated within the CEDIS programmatic project, including:
- Systematic literature review and consolidation of the theoretical framework for the future thesis;
- Preparation and submission of an individual application for an FCT PhD fellowship, or an equivalent program;
- Preparation of an activity report;
- Presentation of results at SPEED (internal seminar);
- Production of at least one article for publication in an international peer-reviewed journal indexed in Scopus.
5. Applicable legislation and regulations: Pursuant to the NOVA University Lisbon Research Grant Regulations, approved by Order no. 9484/2023 of 14 September 2023, as well as the Research Grant Holder Statute, approved by Law no. 40/2004, of 18 August, as amended and republished by Decree-Law no. 202/2012, of 27 August and by Law no. 12/2013, of 29 January, Decree-Law no. 89/2013, of 29 January.º 40/2004, of 18 August, amended and republished by Decree-Law no. 202/2012, of 27 August and by Law no. 12/2013, of 29 January, by Decree-Law no. 89/2013, of 9 July and by Decree-Law no. 233/2012, of 29 October, in its current wordin (available at https://dre.pt/dre/legislacao-consolidada/lei/2004-58216179), as well as the applicable rules of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) regarding R&D projects and units.
6. Place of work: The work will be carried out at the NOVA School of Law, NOVA University of Lisbon, under scientific supervision to be defined at a later stage.
7. Duration of the grant: The scholarship will have a duration of 12 months, with a scheduled start date of 1 October 2026, without the possibility of renewal.
8. Amount of the monthly maintenance allowance: The amount of the scholarship corresponds to 1 309,64€, according to the table of values defined in Annex I of the NOVA University Lisbon Research Scholarship Regulations, approved by Order no. 9484/2023 of 14 September 2023, and payment is made monthly by bank transfer.
9. Selection criteria: (define % of parameters to be assessed)
The selection criteria to be used are as follows:
- Academic curriculum vitae (40%);
- Scientific curriculum vitae (publications, other indicators of scientific output, and proven research experience) (15%);
- Relevant professional curriculum vitae (5%);
- Provisional research plan, which should present a research topic or question within its theoretical, methodological, and bibliographic contexts (25%);
- Academic recommendation letters (10%);
- Proficiency in languages relevant to the intended research areas (5%).
10. Selection methods:
Applications are assessed solely based on merit, through an evaluation of the documents submitted.
For clarifying any issues arising from the analysis of the submitted documentation, the members of the jury may decide to conduct interviews with all or only some of the candidates. Each candidate invited to an interview will be notified for this purpose via the email address provided at the time of application.
11. Composition of the Selection Panel:
President of the Jury:
Cristina Queiroz
Effective members:
Margarida Lima Rego
Luís Duarte d’Almeida
Alternates:
Ana Cristina Nogueira da Silva
12. How the results are publicised/notified:
The final results of the assessment proposed by the jury will be notified to the candidates by email, no later than 60 working days after the deadline for submitting applications, and they will be able to access the minutes and the shortlist, and comment within 10 working days on the draft decision in the context of a prior hearing of interested parties, under the terms of the Code of Administrative Procedure. At the end of the period set for the hearing of interested parties and in the absence of any response, the shortlist will become final. Candidates may lodge a complaint against the final decision within 10 working days (to the email address used for notification), or appeal to the highest executive body of the funding organisation within 30 working days of notification of the final decision, addressed to (the Directorate or CEDIS) via the email address cedis@novalaw.unl.pt.
13. Application deadline and form of submission: The call for applications will be open between 19 February and 6 March.
14. Applications must be formalised by sending an email to concurso.bolsas@novalaw.unl.pt, mentioning the grant reference “Research grant no. 2/2026.” in the subject line of the email.
15. The application must consist of a single PDF file, including:
- Proof of admission or enrolment (if available) in the current academic year;
- Motivation letter including a provisional research plan, which should present a research topic or question within its theoretical, methodological, and bibliographic contexts;
- Curriculum vitae;
- Academic recommendation letters;
- Copy of the certificate(s) of completion of the degree(s); candidates holding foreign qualifications must submit an academic transcript indicating the final grade or grade point average, as well as the grading scale used in the country where the degree was awarded. Diplomas not issued in Portuguese, English, French, or Spanish must be accompanied by a certified translation by the competent authorities.
(For academic degrees awarded by a foreign higher education institution, it is compulsory to present the registration of the recognition of the academic degree and the conversion of the final classification to the Portuguese scale (process regulated by Decree-Law no. 341/2007, of 12th October), or alternatively, to obtain equivalence/recognition of the academic degrees (process regulated by Decree-Law no. 283/83, of 21st June)).
6. Digital copy of scientific works considered relevant to the application;
7. Documentary proof of proficiency in the English language.
DISCLAIMER: This document is an unofficial translation of the Portuguese official announcement, provided for reference only. Although we have done our best to provide an accurate translation, should any discrepancies arise, the official version shall prevail.
Lisbon, 18, February, 2026
Margarida Lima Rego, Dean
