COMPETITION FOR GRANTING 1 RESEARCH SCHOLARSHIP FOR A PhD STUDENT _ #NOVAID-B549

NOVA.id.FCT- Associação para a Inovação de Desenvolvimento da FCT; Portugal; On-site; EUR 14,000 - 17,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Monthly maintenance allowance €1359.64

Job summary

NOVA Laboratory for Computer Science and Informatics, part of NOVA.id.FCT, invites applications for a First Stage Researcher (R1) fellowship in Computer Science. The project focuses on numerical invariants under weak consistency, with an emphasis on escrow techniques and server coordination-free invariant preservation.

The fellowship lasts 6 months, based at NOVA FCT, Caparica, under the supervision of Professor Carla Ferreira.

Qualifications

• Be enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science, or in a non-degree course at a Higher Education Institution.
• Submit CV, motivation letter, copies of academic records, and proof of enrollment.
• If not enrolled, a declaration of honour suffices.

Responsibilities

• Study the state of the art on numerical invariants under weak consistency.
• Extend the No-Op model to numerical invariants; integrate escrow techniques into the conflict resolution model.
• Formalise and prove convergence and invariant preservation of the extended model.
• Experimentally evaluate the extended model against coordination- and reservation-based approaches in geo-replicated and offline scenarios.
• Write the technical report describing the work carried out.

Skills

Distributed systems research

CRDTs / weak consistency

Formal methods

Publications

Education

Enrolled in a PhD program in Computer Science

Job description

Organisation/Company NOVA.id.FCT- Associação para a Inovação de Desenvolvimento da FCT Department Nova-Lincs Research Field Computer science Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Master Positions Application Deadline 27 Nov 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon) Country Portugal Type of Contract Not Applicable Job Status Full-time Hours Per Week 35 Offer Starting Date 16 Nov 2026 Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme Reference Number #NOVAID-B549 Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

Work Plan

1. Study of the state of the art on numerical invariants under weak consistency: escrow techniques, bounded counters, reservations and RedBlue/Explicit consistency, and identification of the scenarios in which they still require coordination.

2. Extension of the No-Op model to numerical invariants: integration of escrow techniques into the conflict resolution model and refinement of the algorithm to reduce the unnecessary transformation of operations into No-Ops.

3. Formalisation and proof of the convergence and invariant preservation properties of the extended model.

4. Experimental evaluation of the extended model against coordination-based and reservation-based approaches, in geo-replicated and offline scenarios.

5. Writing of the technical report describing the work carried out.

Workplace: The work will be developed at NOVA Laboratory for Computer Science and Informatics, Computer Science Department – NOVA FCT, under the supervision of Professor Carla Ferreira.

Fellowship duration: The scholarship will last for 6 months, eventually renewed within the duration of the project.

Application deadline and form of application submission: this call is open from 16/11/2026 to 27/11/2026. The application must include the following documents: CV, motivation letter, copy of academic records/certificates* and proof of enrollment in a Doctoral program, or in non-degree course in the field of Computer Science at a Higher Education Institution (if the candidate is not enrolled at the time of application, a declaration of honour stating that they fulfil the requirements necessary to enroll in the program). Applications should be sent by e-mail to Professor Carla Ferreira ( [e-mail] ) and CC to [e-mail] with the subject #NOVAID-B549.

Documents that are of mandatory submission, for purposes of the studentship contracting: proof of enrollment in a PhD program or in non-degree course in the field of Computer Science at a Higher Education Institution.

* In case of foreign academic degrees, and to guarantee the application of the principle of equal treatment to applicants with national and foreign academic degrees, it is mandatory to submit the recognition of such degrees and the conversion of the respective final grade to the Portuguese grading scale.

Applicable legislation and regulations: Law No. 40/2004, of August 18, amended and republished by Decree-Law No. 202/2012 of August 27 (Statute of the Scientific Research Fellow) and amended by Decree-Law No. 233/2012 of October 29, by Law No. 12 /2013 of 29 January, by Decree-Law No. 89/2013, of 9 July and Decree-Law No. 123/2019, of 28 August; Regulation of Research Grants of NOVA.id.FCT – Association for Innovation and Development of FCT; Regulation of Research Grants of the Foundation for Science and Technology, I.P. in force ( https://www.fct.pt/apoios/bolsas/regulamento.phtml.pt );

- Be enrolled in a PhD programme in Computer Science, or in a non-degree course in the field of Computer Science at a Higher Education Institution.

The documents proving this situation must be presented, at the latest, up to the stage of contracting the scholarship, and before that, they may be replaced by a declaration of honor.

Preferred Factors:

• Research experience in replicated distributed systems, weak consistency models and CRDTs.
• Knowledge of coordination-free invariant preservation techniques (conflict resolution, escrow, reservations).
• Experience with formal methods and automated verification.
• Publications in peer-reviewed international conferences or journals in the field.

Additional Information

Monthly maintenance allowance amount: The amount of the monthly maintenance allowance corresponds to €1359.64 euros.

Eligibility criteria

Selection criteria:

For all candidates who meet the minimum requirements, a classification will be made, on a scale of 0 to 20, taking into account the weighting of the following selection methods: Motivation Letter (20%)

Previous Experience Relevant to the Project Execution (40%)

Candidates who do not achieve a minimum score of 15 points, as determined by the jury's evaluation according to the selection criteria, will not be awarded the scholarship.

Selection process

Composition of the Selection Jury:

Form of advertising/notification of results:

The evaluation results proposed by the juri will be notified, up to 90 days after the deadline for the submission of applications, by email, of the results proposed by the jury, with access to the minutes and the final ranking list. After notification, candidates will have 10 working days to comment on the draft decision (prior hearing of interested parties, under the terms of the Code of Administrative Procedure). The final decision will be taken after the expiry of the prior hearing period, again notified to all candidates by e‑mail. Of this final decision the candidates can file a complaint within 15 working days (to the e‑mail address used for the notification), or a hierarchical appeal, within 30 working days, addressed to NOVA.ID.FCT's Board through the address [e-mail] .

Additional comments

Drafts:

The drafts of: i) fellowship contract, ii) final report to be presented by the fellowship holder, iii) final report to be presented by the scientific advisor, and; iv) declaration on honor, can all be found on NOVA.id.FCT website.

Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute NOVA Laboratory for Computer Science and Informatics Country Portugal State/Province Almada City Caparica Postal Code 2829-516 Street Campus de Caparica Geofield