Digi4RailBridges_MSc_BSc

Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto; Portugal; On-site; EUR 12,000 - 15,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Monthly maintenance allowance

Job summary

Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto invites applications for a Research Fellowship in Civil Engineering under the Digi4RailBridges project. The six-month fellowship aims to advance AI-based inspection and BIM-enabled maintenance for railway bridges, with a December 1, 2026 start date.

The role requires a Master’s/Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering, enrollment in a doctoral or master’s program, and demonstrated R&D experience in AI, computer vision and BIM for civil assets.

Qualifications

• Master's or Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering with appropriate recognition.
• Enrollment in a Doctoral Programme (Master's candidates) or Master’s degree programme (Bachelor's candidates).
• Proven experience in AI, BIM and digital maintenance in civil engineering assets.

Responsibilities

• Support remote inspection procedures using drones and LiDAR.
• Develop computer vision strategies from remote inspection images.
• Fuse indicators from time series and images for asset condition classification.
• Help build an integrated digital platform for railway bridge maintenance.
• Implement and validate the platform on a Northern Line railway bridge.

Skills

R&D experience

Artificial intelligence

Computer vision

Civil engineering

Education

Master's degree in Civil Engineering

Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering

Tools

BIM

Drones with LiDAR

Job description

Organisation/Company Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto Department Human Resources Department Research Field Engineering » Civil engineering Researcher Profile First Stage Researcher (R1) Positions Master Positions Application Deadline 14 Oct 2026 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon) Country Portugal Type of Contract Other Type of Contract Extra Information Scholarship Research Position Job Status Other Job Status Extra Information Scholarship Research Position Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Other EU programme Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

A call is open for the award of 1 (one) Research Fellowship for a Master's/Bachelor's graduate within the scope of the Digi4RailBridges Project - COMPETE2030-FEDER-00827300 - 16985, co-financed by the Innovation and Digital Transition Thematic Programme (COMPETE2030) through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and Portugal 2030, under the following conditions:

SCIENTIFIC FIELD

Civil Engineering

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

• Requirement 1: hold a Master's/Bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering. Note 1: If the qualification was awarded by a foreign higher education institution, it must comply with the provisions of Decree-Law No. 66/2018 of 16 August, and any formalities established therein must be completed by the time of appointment.
• Note 2: Preference will be given to candidates holding a Master's degree, and candidates holding a Bachelor's degree will only be contracted if no Master's candidates apply, or, if they do apply, if the latter do not meet the admission requirements of the call.
• Requirement 2: be enrolled in a Doctoral Programme in Civil Engineering (for Master's candidates) or in a Master's degree programme in Civil Engineering (for Bachelor's candidates).
• Requirement 3: have proven experience in R&D activities, namely in the development and implementation of artificial intelligence techniques for the identification and assessment of structural damage in civil engineering assets, using data from images and sensors, as well as in the application of BIM methodology in the specific context of railway bridges.

DURATION

The fellowship will have a duration of 6 months, with an expected start date of 1 December 2026, and may be renewed in accordance with the project's objectives and budget, up to the limit established by law, on an exclusive basis, in accordance with the regulations governing the advanced training of human resources of the Foundation for Science and Technology and ISEP or until the end of the project, whichever occurs first.

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION / WORK PLAN

• Support the establishment of a procedure for remote inspection and reality capture of railway bridges using drones equipped with cameras and LiDAR.
• Develop computer vision strategies based on images from remote inspections for the automatic classification of multiple anomalies.
• Develop a methodology for fusing indicators extracted from time series and images and adopt an efficient classification of the structural condition state.
• Support the development of an integrated digital platform in a dedicated environment capable of assisting the railway maintenance manager in assessing the condition state of railway bridges.
• Implement and validate the proposed digital platform in the case of a railway bridge on the Northern Line.

APPLICABLE LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS

Statute of the Research Fellow, approved by Law No. 40/2004 of 18 August; Regulations for Research Fellowships of the Foundation for Science and Technology, approved by Regulation No. 950/2019, published in the 2nd series, Part C, of the Diário da República of 16 December 2019; ISEP Research Fellowship Regulations; Decree-Law No. 66/2018, published in Diário da República No. 157/2018, Series I, of 16 August, approving the legal framework for the recognition of academic degrees and higher education diplomas awarded by foreign higher education institutions; and Decree-Law No. 60/2018 of 3 August, which simplifies the administrative procedures required for the pursuit of research and development activities, all in their current versions.

SCIENTIFIC SUPERVISION AND WORKPLACE

The work will be carried out at ISEP, within the iBuilt research group, under the scientific supervision of Professor Diogo Rodrigo Ferreira Ribeiro and Dr Rafael de Araújo Cabral.

MONTHLY MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE

Monthly fellowship amount: €1,359.64 (for a Master's candidate) or €1,090.98 (for a Bachelor's candidate), paid by bank transfer (according to the monthly maintenance allowance amounts applicable to FCT fellowships for 2026: https://www.fct.pt/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Tabela-de-Valores-SMM-202 ), supported through PAD No. C73283.

SELECTION METHODS AND COMPOSITION OF THE PANEL

The selection methods to be used will be: curriculum assessment and interview, weighted at 60% and 40% respectively, both graded on a scale from 0 to 20 points.

• Academic qualifications - 35%
• Experience in research and development projects in the field of digital management of civil engineering assets - 35%
• Scientific publications in the fields of BIM and digital maintenance management of civil engineering assets - 30%

The interview will be assessed according to the following factors:

• Motivation for applying - 50%
• Perception of the relevance of the project's topic within the scope of Digital Construction and Railway Engineering - 50%

The panel responsible for the selection process will comprise:

• Professor Diogo Rodrigo Ferreira Ribeiro (Chair)
• Dr Rafael de Araújo Cabral (Member)
• Dr Andreia Gomes Meixedo (Member)
• and Professor Maria Do Rosário Santos Oliveira as alternate member (Alternate Member).

APPLICATION SUBMISSION DEADLINE

Applications will be accepted from 30 September to 14 October 2026.

METHOD OF PUBLICATION/NOTIFICATION OF RESULTS

The assessment results will be communicated by email to the email address provided in the application.

COMPLAINT AND APPEAL PROCEDURES

If the outcome is unfavourable, candidates have a period of 10 working days, following publication of the application assessment results, to submit comments, should they wish to do so, in the context of the prior hearing of interested parties, pursuant to the Administrative Procedure Code. An administrative appeal against the final decision referred to above may be lodged with the Director of ISEP within 15 working days of its notification.

SELECTION RESERVE

ISEP reserves the right to call upon non-selected candidates, in ranking order, for the recruitment of a fellow within the same project in the event that the initially selected candidate withdraws.

Requirements

Research Field Engineering » Civil engineering Education Level Bachelor Degree or equivalent

Research Field Engineering » Civil engineering Education Level Master Degree or equivalent

Work Location(s)

Number of offers available 1 Company/Institute Instituto Superior de Engenharia Country Portugal State/Province Porto City Porto Postal Code 4249-015 Street Rua Dr. António Bernardino de Almeida 431 Geofield