1 (one) research fellowship for a master, PhD student, area Computer Science (ref.ª HIDROPON.IA_MSc7)

University of Beira Interior; Portugal; Presencial; EUR 14.000 - 17.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

University of Beira Interior invites applications for a 12‑month research fellowship (Master/PhD track) in Computer Science. The project HIDROPON.IA focuses on building data infrastructure and ETL pipelines feeding AI models and the digital twin, with supervision by Dr. Sebastião Pais.

Salary follows the RBIUBI stipend scale (€1,359.64/month) with insurance and optional social coverage; start January 2027, exclusive dedication, contract renewable if needed.

Formación

• Hold a Master’s degree in Computer Science and meet the requirements to enrol in a study cycle leading to a doctoral degree.
• If the required academic degree has been conferred by a foreign higher education institution, the requirements must be obeyed and degree recognition is mandatory for signing the fellowship contract.
• The proof of enrolment in the 3rd cycle of studies must be provided before the scholarship contract is signed.
• English language proficiency at a good level (spoken and written).

Responsabilidades

• Design and implement the data infrastructure and ETL processes for the HIDROPON.IA project.
• Develop data quality assurance mechanisms and prepare datasets for AI models and APIs access.

Conocimientos

English (Good)

Educación

Master's degree in Computer Science

Descripción del empleo

Organisation/Company University of Beira Interior Department Informatics Research Field Computer science ′ Informatics Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Master Positions Application Deadline 23 Nov 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/London) Country Portugal Type of Contract Temporary Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number HIDROPON.IA_MSc7 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

A call is open for the allocation of 1 (one)research fellowship for a master, PhD student, within the Research Project entitled “HIDROPON.IA” , operation code COMPETE2030-FEDER-01488700 (n.º 18490), funded by COMPETE 2030 Programme through the Portugal 2030 and the European Union, taking place at the Computer Science Department of the University of Beira Interior, under the following conditions:

Research Field: Computer Science

Objectives:

This activity aims to design and implement the data infrastructure that feeds the intelligent systems and the digital twin of the HIDROPON.IA project. It will continuously and reliably integrate data from the greenhouse environmental sensors, the irrigation and fertigation controllers and the growers’ operational records through extract, transform and load (ETL) processes, ensuring the quality, standardisation and availability of the data for training and validating the AI models.

Work plan:

• Survey, modelling and integration of hydroponic greenhouse data sources: The task involves identifying and characterising the data sources available in the greenhouses (temperature, humidity, radiation and CO2 sensors, pH and electrical conductivity probes, irrigation and fertigation controllers, and manual records), defining a common data model and implementing ETL processes to collect, transform and load these data into a central repository, in real time or in batch. Interoperability between equipment from different manufacturers, time synchronisation of the data series and secure access to the information will be addressed.
• Data quality assurance and preparation of datasets for the AI models: This task aims to develop automated mechanisms to validate and clean the collected data, including the detection of missing values, anomalous readings and sensor failures, as well as imputation and time-series resampling techniques. Documented reference datasets will be built for training, testing and validating the AI models for hydroponic tomato, pepper and/or vegetable crops, and application programming interfaces (APIs) will be provided so that the digital twin and the other platform modules can access these data consistently.

Applicable legislation and regulations:

Research Fellowship Holder Statute, approved by Law No. 40/2004, of 18 August, in its current wording (amended by Decree-Law No. 123/2019, of 28 August); Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships of the Foundation for Science and Technology (Regulation No. 950/2019) published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, No. 241, 16 December 2019; Regulation for Research Fellowships of the University of Beira Interior - RBIUBI (Regulation No. 100/2020) published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, n.º 27, 7 February 2020.

Work location:

The work will be developed at the HULTIG, Computer Science Departmentunder the scientific supervision of Doctor Sebastião Pais ( [e-mail] ).

Fellowship duration and conditions:

The fellowship is open for 12 months, expected to start in January 2027. The activity is in the regime of exclusive dedication in accordance with the RBIUBI. The scholarship contract may, if necessary, be renewed until the project is completed.

Selection Committee:

Documents for application: The candidates should present:

. Detailed Curriculum Vitae ;

. Certificate of completion of the previous degree;

.Other documents considered relevant;

. Declaration of honor from the candidate stating that he/she meets the conditions for being awarded the scholarship BI according to Article 6 of the RBIUBI.

Publication/notification of results:

The final results of the evaluation process will be published in a sorted list, by the final classification obtained, and posted in a visible and public place of the Faculty of Engineeringof the University of Beira Interior. The candidate(s) will be notified of the decision by e-mail.

Requirements

Research Field Computer science ′ Informatics Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Skills/Qualifications

- Hold a Master’s degree in the scientific field of Computer Science and meet the requirements to enrol in a study cycle leading to a doctoral degree.

If the required academic degree has been conferred by a foreign higher education institution, the requirements of Decree-Law 66/2018, of 16th August and Ministerial Order no. 33/2019, of 25th January, shall be obeyed. The presentation of the certificate(s) recognizing foreign academic degrees is mandatory for the signing of the fellowship contract. More information can be obtained at: https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/degree-anddiploma-recognition .

The proof of enrolment in the 3rd cycle of studies must be provided, without exception, before the scholarship contract is signed.

Languages ENGLISH Level Good

Internal Application form(s) needed

A monthly maintenance allowance will be granted in accordance with the Annex I of the RBIUBI, with the amount of 1.359,64 € according to the updated values that can be consulted at https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM-2026.pdf . The fellowship holder will have a personal accident insurance and can choose to be covered by the voluntary social insurance. These values will be added to the amount of monthly maintenance allowance.

Eligibility criteria

- Hold a Master’s degree in the scientific field of Computer Science and meet the requirements to enrol in a study cycle leading to a doctoral degree.

If the required academic degree has been conferred by a foreign higher education institution, the requirements of Decree-Law 66/2018, of 16th August and Ministerial Order no. 33/2019, of 25th January, shall be obeyed. The presentation of the certificate(s) recognizing foreign academic degrees is mandatory for the signing of the fellowship contract. More information can be obtained at: https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/degree-anddiploma-recognition .

The proof of enrolment in the 3rd cycle of studies must be provided, without exception, before the scholarship contract is signed.

Selection process

The selection process will comprise two assessment stages:

• 1ststage – Curriculum evaluation;
• 2nd stage – Interview, which may be conducted by videoconference

The 1st-stage assessment uses the following criteria: Curriculum Vitae/Academic record (45%); alignment of the candidate’s profile with the project based on relevant experience in the tasks described in the work plan (45%); fluency in spoken and written English (10%).

The three candidates with the highest scores after the 1st stage will advance to the 2nd stage.

In the final ranking, each stage will carry equal weight (50%).

Additional comments

Applicable legislation and regulations:

Research Fellowship Holder Statute, approved by Law No. 40/2004, of 18 August, in its current wording (amended by Decree-Law No. 123/2019, of 28 August); Regulation for Research Studentships and Fellowships of the Foundation for Science and Technology (Regulation No. 950/2019) published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, No. 241, 16 December 2019; Regulation for Research Fellowships of the University of Beira Interior - RBIUBI (Regulation No. 100/2020) published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, n.º 27, 7 February 2020.

Complaint and Appeal Procedures:

After communication of the provisional lists of the results in the different phases of the selection process (Admission and Exclusion, Curricular Evaluation and Interview), the candidates have 10 working days topronounce their disagreement, under the terms of article 121 and the Código do Procedimento Administrativo. If any allegations are presented, the final decision will be issued after the analysis of the statements presented during the prior hearing of interested parties. After the statutory deadline of 10 working days, the proposal for the final classification and ranking of the candidates becomes definitive.