Call for Research Initiation Grant - CISUC (Lugus 1075763) Coimbra

Call for Research Initiation Grant - CISUC (Lugus 1075763)
Coimbra
Coimbra, Coimbra District, Portugal

Organisation/Company: Universidade de Coimbra

Department: Divisão de Projetos e Atividades (Bolsas)

Research Field: Engineering

Researcher Profile: First Stage Researcher (R1)

Positions: Undergraduate Positions

Country: Portugal

Application Deadline: 24 Apr 2025 - 23:59 (Europe/Lisbon)

Type of Contract: Temporary

Job Status: Full-time

Is the job funded through the EU Research Framework Programme? Not funded by a EU programme

Is the Job related to staff position within a Research Infrastructure? No

Offer Description

The University of Coimbra opens a call for the assignment of a research initiation grant, with one position, within the scope of the project CISUC - UID/00326, title Center for Informatics and Systems of the University of Coimbra.

This call is governed by this Announcement, the Research Grants Regulation of the University of Coimbra (RBI-UC), supplemented by the Research Grants Regulation of the Foundation for Science and Technology (RBI-FCT), the Research Grant Holder Statute (EBI), the Rules for the Attribution and Management of Grants within the scope of R&D Projects, the Code of Administrative Procedure (CPA), all in their current wording, and other applicable national and EU legislation.

Procedure Reference: IT137-2025-144

I - Legal admission requirements

I. I - Grant Recipients:

Students enrolled for the first time in a bachelor’s degree in the scientific area of Informatics Engineering, Data Science and Engineering or Design and Multimedia.

I. II - Ineligible candidates: Candidates who have previously received any research grants under the terms of the EBI are not eligible.

I. III - The following are eligible for the grant(s), provided they meet the requirements outlined above:

1. Portuguese nationals or nationals of other EU Member States
2. Nationals of third countries
3. Stateless persons
4. Beneficiaries of political refugee status

When the work plan takes place, in whole or in part, in foreign institutions, only candidates who can prove permanent and habitual residence in Portugal at the start of the grant are eligible.

II - Grant location

Department of Informatics Engineering of the University of Coimbra

III - Scientific supervision/coordination of the grant

Professor João Nuno Gonçalves Costa Cavaleiro Correia

IV - Work Plan / Goals to be achieved

Title: Evolutionary Computing and Generative Artificial Intelligence (Generative AI)

Description:

In recent years we have seen the development of computational models that are capable of generating high quality and realistic images, using mainly Generative Computational Learning approaches. However, most of these systems are built manually, in a
- consuming process of trial and error, in order to find a set of parameters that allow us to achieve good results. Evolutionary Computational Learning is a recent area of research that combines the ideas and principles of Evolutionary Computation and Computational Learning to design these models automatically. Furthermore, these methods can also be used to find the most suitable parameters for existing computational models to be applied to new tasks. The main objective of this work is to develop and explore Evolutionary Computational Learning approaches for generating visual artifacts such as images or video.

Work Plan:

1. Exploration of topics on Generative Computational Learning and Evolutionary Computation.
2. Exploration of Generative approaches for image and video.
3. Development of the evolutionary algorithm and its integration with generative models.
4. Experimentation and adjustments to models for generating images/videos.

V - Initial grant duration

Three (3) months.

VI - Funding and financial conditions of the grant

VI. I - Monthly grant amount (paid by bank transfer at the end of each month): 651, 12€

VI. II - Other financial components of the grant: Not applicable.

VI. III - In addition to the above amounts, voluntary social security (SSV) is included when the grant has a duration of six months or more, corresponding to the first level, if the candidate opts for it, as well as mandatory personal accident insurance.

VI. IV - Funding: The grant(s) assigned under this call will be funded by the national funds entered in the budget of the Foundation for Science and Technology and, if applicable,
- financed by Community funds.

VI. V - Information and publicity about the funding: In all R&D activities directly or indirectly funded by the grant, namely, in all communications, publications and scientific creations, as well as theses, carried out with the support provided for in the grant, mention of financial support from FCT and, when applicable, from the European Social Fund, must be expressed.

VII - Selection Methods

Evaluation of the academic record (AR) and Interview (I)

VII. I - AR - The curriculum evaluation considers the candidates' academic and professional achievements based on the following weights and criteria:

1. Criterion 1 – Absolute merit of curriculum vitae;
2. Criterion 2 – Adequacy of the candidate’s profile to the work plan to be developed.

VII. II- I – The interview evaluates the candidates' performance based on the following weights and criteria:

1. Criterion 1 – Ability to express oneself and verbal fluency;
2. Criterion 2 – Motivation and interest.

VII. III- Criteria evaluation and final classification are determined on a scale of 0 to 100, calculated to two decimal places, using the following formulas:

- AR: criterion 1 * (50%) + criterion 2 * (50%) = 100%

- I: criterion 1 * (50%) + criterion 2 * (50%) = 100%

- Final Classification (FC): AR * (50%) + I * (50%) = 100%

VII. IV - All candidates who meet the admission requirements are subject to the academic record evaluation, carried out according to the criteria and weights defined in VII. I.

VII. V - Candidates who score below 50 in any selection method will be excluded, and subsequent methods, if any, will not apply to them.

VIII- Application Submission

Candidates must access and register on the electronic platform https://apply. uc. pt/ to submit their application, selecting the procedure to which they wish to apply.

Documents uploaded for the application must be in portable document format (PDF).

VIII. I- Mandatory documents to attach when applying:

1. Curriculum Vitae, duly updated, dated, and signed;
2. Copy of academic degree certificates.

VIII. II- Other documents to attach when applying:

1. Any other elements the candidate considers relevant.
2. Motivation Letter.
3. Proof of enrolment – bachelor’s degree.

VIII. III - All application documents must be submitted in Portuguese and/or English. When the originals are in another language, a translation into one of these languages must be provided.

IX - Application deadline: 10/04/2025 to 24/04/2025

X - Activity Regime

The grant does not create or constitute a
- labor relationship. It is carried out under an exclusive dedication regime, and the grantee is awarded the Research Grantee Status, as stipulated in the EBI and the RBI-UC.

XI - Notification of Candidates

All notifications will be made through the electronic platform Apply UC.

XII - Equal Opportunity Policy

In compliance with subparagraph h) of Article 9 of the Constitution, the University of Coimbra actively promotes a policy of equal opportunities between men and women in terms of employment access and career progression.

XIII - Annual Activity Reports

The grantee must submit annual activity reports for each renewal and at the end of the grant contract, as stipulated in Article 7 of the RBI-UC.