Submissions of the applications by students – 8th November to 10th December 2021, 17h00 (Lisbon time)
Before applying, and if you have never registered as student in the Prototerapia website, you need to register here
Applications can only be submitted electronically through:
https://prototerapia.lip.ptNo other means of submission are available. Due to the existence of non-Portuguese speaking members on the evaluation panel, applications should be submitted in English in order to ensure an accurate assessment of all the elements. Students may only submit one single application.
All applicants have access to the proposed thesis themes in the website. The applicants should consult the proposed thesis themes and contact the supervisor/co-supervisors of the thesis. A communication between candidates and supervisors is mandatory. The work plan resulting from this interaction should contain a detailed description of how the goals of the research project will be achieved. The description should also provide all the necessary elements to allow the assessment by the evaluation panel, namely the methodological approach, description of tasks, their interrelatedness, sequence and schedule. It may also include a contingency plan, addressing how possible unforeseeable difficulties might be overcome. In order to enable the Evaluation Panel to analyse the feasibility of the proposed work plan, a timeline with milestones for the different tasks should be included.
Besides of other factors, the final locking and submission of the application depends on the association of the supervisor and co-supervisor(s) (when applicable) to the application.
Once the topic has been selected by a candidate in agreement with the supervisor, the candidate formalizes his application by filling the Candidate Application form (provided on-line) and uploading the following documents (mandatory):
• One CV file in pdf format;
• One Motivation Letter file in pdf format;
• The most representative document of the applicant’s scientific/professional path as, for example, a scientific publication, conference communication, scientific report or master thesis; proof of scientific or professional achievement, performances or artistic creations. Academic degree certificates, CVs or documents describing the applicant’s career path should not be submitted in this field;
• One PDF file containing certificates of all the academic degrees obtained, with the final average grade and marks in all subjects
• One PDF file containing the academic degree recognition and conversion of the final grade to the Portuguese grading scale or the presentation of the recognition/equivalence, registered by a public higher education institution
• Timeline, a diagram specifying the milestones and respective tasks proposed in the work plan;
• Up to three contacts (names and e-mail addresses) for reference letters
(The reference letters will be directly uploaded by the referees. Applicants will not have access to the letters but they will be able to check if and when they have been uploaded. The referees will receive an e-mail with the name of the applicant and with a link for uploading their letters. The Referees can upload the letters during the whole period of the Call).
Optional PDF file containing other documents that the candidate may consider relevant for the assessment of the merit mentioned in the CV;
Click “Associate Supervisors”. An e-mail will be sent to the applicant and to the supervisor, as well as to the co-supervisors (when applicable). Applicants must then be confirmed by the supervisor and co-supervisors (when applicable). They will need to fill the supervisor form (provided by LIP on-line), describing their personal judgment as regards to the student´s CV and his adequacy to the PhD subject.
After the supervisor and co-supervisors have locked their association to the application, applicants should click "Submit and Lock". At this point, the entire application will be validated and, if there is no error, locked. No further modification will be allowed.
Important Notes – Academic degrees
Applicants with academic degrees obtained in Portugal must comply with the following, depending on their specific status:
• For post-Bologna academic degrees, applicants should specify the final grades obtained in the 1st and/or 2nd study cycles, as well as the corresponding ECTS;
• In case of integrated master degrees, for which the institutions do not provide separate final grades for the 1st and 2nd cycle of study, just the final grade and the total number of ECTS should be specified;
• For pre-Bologna academic degrees, applicants should indicate the grades obtained for the graduate and/or master degrees.
For each of your academic degrees, you should click on the “Add Academic Degree” button, then select the respective option from the drop list and fill in the respective mandatory fields.
Important notice for national and foreign candidates
Only candidates who have completed the cycle of studies leading to a Bachelor's or Master's degree by the end of the application period will be admitted. In order to comply with the foreseen applicable Portuguese legislation regarding the recognition of foreign qualifications, all the rights inherent to academic degrees granted by foreign higher education institutions is duly recognised to the holders of these degrees. This recognition is subject to the presentation of the academic degrees recognition and conversion of the final grade to the Portuguese grading scale, requested to the Dean of a public Portuguese University, the Head of a Public Polytechnic Institute or the Director-General for Higher Education; or by the presentation of the recognition/equivalence, registered by a public higher education institution.
Candidates who do not yet have their degree certificate may present a declaration of honor, stating that they have completed the necessary qualifications for the purposes of the call by the end of the application deadline. The granting of the scholarship will depend on the presentation of all the documents. For candidates with diplomas issued by foreign institutions the academic degrees recognition and conversion of the final grade to the Portuguese grading scale or the presentation of the recognition/equivalence will be required for the granting of the scholarship.
Nevertheless, the presentation of the degree certificates in the application form is determinant for evaluation purposes, namely to calculate the score of A1, a sub-criterion of the Merit of the Applicant. In case of academic degrees obtained abroad, only degrees with the respective records of recognition/equivalence and conversion to the Portuguese grading scale will be considered to calculate the score of A1 sub-criterion.
The minimum grade of zero (A1 = 0) will be scored to sub-criterion A1 in the following cases:
a) When no certificate is submitted, in the application form, neither graduate nor master’s degree certificates (national or foreign);
b) When both national graduate and master certificates do not state the respective final grade (neither quantitative nor qualitative);
c) When both foreign graduate and master certificates are not recognized, nor the final grades converted to the Portuguese grading scale.
The members of the panel will only assess the degrees duly recognized at the date of the application submission.
The legal regime applicable to the recognition procedures is approved by the Decree-Law no. 66/2018, of 16 August, if requested after 1 January 2019. For requests submitted before 1 January 2019, the applicable legal procedure is ratified by Decree-Law 341/2007, of 12 October, and regulated by Decree no. 227/2017, of 25 July, or, alternatively, for equivalence processes, the request is governed by the Decree-Law no. 283/83, of 21 June.
For further information, applicants are advised to carefully read Decree-Law 66/2018, of 16 August, and to visit the website of the Directorate General for Higher Education (Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior, DGES): https://www.dges.gov.pt/en/pagina/degree-and-diploma-recognition?plid=1536
Applicants with foreign academic degrees should:
- Indicate that the academic degree was completed abroad;
- Upload the recognition/equivalence of the academic degree and the final grade conversion to the Portuguese grading scale, issued by a Portuguese public higher education institution or by the Directorate General for Higher Education (DGES).
Types of Grants:
The grants may be “national” or “mixed” grants, depending on whether the work program is carried out totally or partially at national institutions. In the case of national grants, it is mandatory to include in the work program a minimum period of a 6-month internship at an internationally renowned institution. In the case of mixed grants, the period of the work program that takes place in a foreign institution cannot exceed 24 months. When applying for a mixed grant, applicants should specify the starting date and length(s) of the period(s) to be spent abroad, and indicate the foreign institution where the research work will take place.
In the case of mixed grants, all candidates (Portuguese or foreign) must be able to produce proof of their usual or permanent residence in Portugal at the starting date of the grant, as demonstrated by the following documents:
- Portuguese applicants: residence certificate, issued by the junta de freguesia of their residence area;
- Citizens of a European Union member-state: EU citizen registration certificate, issued by the town council, or certificate of permanent residence for the EU, issued by the Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (Borders and Foreigners Services);
- Other nationals, stateless persons or refugees: certificate of permanent residence, issued by the Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (Borders and Foreigners Services).
In this circumstance, the contracting of the studentship that is conditionally granted depends on the presentation of a valid Portuguese residence permit at the starting date of the grant, under the terms established in Law no. 23/2007, of 4 July, last amended and republished by Law nº. 102/2017, of 28 August.
Non-Portuguese citizen candidates who are not currently living in Portugal may also apply, if the studentship proceeds fully in Portuguese institutions (national grant).
These documents are not required during the application submission and may be presented upon provisional awarding of the grant, during the contracting process. However, these documents must be valid on the starting date of the grant.
