Grant: Investigation grant
Scientific area: Environment and Global change
Summary: Open call for one investigation grant within the project “Responses of phytoplankton communities from the Subtropical North Atlantic Gyre to increasing CO2 concentrations and consequent carbonate chemistry changes in the ocean ‐ Azores (ROPICO2)” at the University of the Azores (Terceira). The scholarship includes field and laboratory work.
Job description: One investigation grant is open for a student with a master in Biology, or similar area, to work within a Project entitled “Responses of phytoplankton communities from the Subtropical North Atlantic Gyre to increasing CO2 concentrations and consequent carbonate chemistry changes in the ocean ‐ Azores (ROPICO2)”)” (PTDC/ACCCLI/112735/2009), financed by the Science and Technology Foundation of Portugal (FCT).
Project main aspects: The scholar will analyse the responses of marine phytoplankton occurring offshore the Azores to increasing carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. Specifically, the main goals are to: 1) characterize the phytoplankton communities occurring offshore the Azores; 2) analyse potential effects of elevated CO2 concentrations on those communities; 3) analyse the response of specific phytoplankton species to increasing CO2 concentrations, and 4) determine physiological and molecular differences between specific phytoplankton species under enhanced CO2 concentrations. Thus, it will include field (sampling offshore Terceira island) and laboratory work (including microscope observations). The work will be done in collaboration with Mário Cachão of the University of Lisbon (Portugal), Colin Brownlee of the Marine Biology Association (England) and Kai Schulz of IFM‐GEOMAR (Germany)).
Legislation: Grant is given under the law Nº. 40/2004, of 18th of August and the Regulations for Advanced Training and Qualification of Human Resources 2010 of FCT (http://alfa.fct.mctes.pt/apoios/bolsas/regulamento.phtml.en).
Grant value and duration: The scholarship will have a monthly value of 980€ for a maximum of 36 months, starting on April 2011, according to Regulations for Advanced Training and Qualification of Human Resources 2010 of FCT (http://www.fct.mctes.pt/pt/apoios/formacao/ambitoprojectos).
Working location: Most work will be developed at the University of the Azores (Terceira, Açores) at the Center for Climate, Meteorology and Global Change, under the supervision of Joana Barcelos e Ramos (PI of the project).
Application: It is open to all candidates with a Biology (or similar) Master at the starting date of the grant. Candidates with experience in phytoplankton identification and culturing as well as nutrient and seawater carbonate chemistry determination will be preferred.
Documents required for submission:
a) Presentation letter, referring motivation and academic and professional experience;
b) Curriculum vitae, with date and signed;
c) Transcripts explicitly indicating the degrees received and the date when they were awarded;
d) Proposed work plan draft;
e) Copy of the identification card or Passport;
f) Other documents that the candidate consider important, such as recommendation letters.
Evaluation criteria: The evaluation will be based on merit (CV) and motivation (letter, work plan and potentially interview). Thus, the candidates will be classified according to:
a) Curriculum vitae (40%), especially experience with phytoplankton and the carbonate system (50%);
c) Motivation and work plan draft (10%);
d) Interview (only as supplementary information in case of very similar evaluations).
Jury: Joana Barcelos e Ramos, Kai G. Schulz, Eduardo Azevedo and João Madruga. Evaluation results will be sent by e‐mail to all candidates within 5 days after the deadline for submissions. The results will also be posted at: http://cita.angra.uac.pt/clima/.
Call duration: Applications should be submitted between 18th of March and the 4th of April of 2011 (24:00, local time at Azores). All documents should be sent to Joana Barcelos e Ramos via e‐mail ( joanabr@uac.pt ) or mail to Joana Barcelos e Ramos at: Universidade dos Açores, Campo de Angra do Heroísmo, Centro de Estudos do Clima, Meteorologia e Mudanças Globais, Rua Capitão João D´Ávila, São Pedro, 9700‐042, Angra do Heroísmo – Açores, Portugal.
For additional information please contact Joana Barcelos e Ramos: joanabr@uac.pt.
