The FLUVIO FCT-Doctoral Program aims at the development of concepts, techniques and models to be used in river management and restoration, thus contributing to the sustainable development of human societies and the conservation of freshwater resources.

Scholarship
The assigned scholarships are international - i.e, 2 years of the grant period at the University of Lisbon (Instituto Superior de Agronomia and Instituto Superior Técnico) and max 2 years at foreign institutions that are part of the Doctoral Program consortium: Polytechnic University of Madrid (Spain), Federal University of Bahia (Brazil), Katopodis Ecohydraulics (Canada), Klagenfurt Environmental Consultants (Austria) and BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (Austria).

PhD scholarships are granted for periods of 1 year, renewable up to 4 years, and cannot be granted for periods smaller than 6 consecutive months. Grants offered by the FLUVIO program abide to the rules and values set by FCT and currently include:

  • EUR 980.- per month (plus Portuguese social security), while staying in Portugal
  • EUR 1,700.- per month while staying at other countries (travel costs included)
  • Annual co-payment for university registration, tuition or fees
  • Subsidy for presentations in scientific meetings


 
Eligible applicants
The call is open to Portuguese citizens, citizens of European Union countries, citizens of countries outside European Union living in Portugal, citizens of countries with which Portugal has reciprocity agreements according to the Regulations for Research Grants of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.

Eligible applicants should hold a M.Sc. degree or equivalent (pre-Bologna 5 years degree), obtained in either a Portuguese university or a foreign one, with a total of 300 ECTS, or equivalent in the case of non-European institutions.

The expected study/research background of FLUVIO PhD candidates are a M.Sc. degree in Environmental Engineering, Agronomy, Forest Engineering, Environmental Chemistry, Biology, Ecology - depending on the specific PhD theme.

Candidates should have a high level of English fluency (B2 level or higher). We encourage open-minded, communicative, independent and self-starting personalities with a high disposition for scientific work to apply.

 

PhD research topics

Applicants can apply for one to three themes from the nine themes available in the 2015 call.

Theme 1 - “Integrated flow management incorporating human uses and river conservation”. Main supervisor: Alvaro Sordo, UPM.

Theme 2 - “Mitigation of hydropeaking impacts on fish: towards sustainable hydropower management”. Main supervisor: António Pinheiro, IST-U. Lisboa.

Theme 3 - “Advanced eutrophication management and sustainable phosphorus recovery”. Main supervisor: António Guerreiro de Brito, ISA-U. Lisboa.

Theme 4 - “Modelling the interactions of riparian vegetation and fluvial processes”. Main supervisor: Gregory Egger, Klagenfurt Environmental Consultants.

Theme 5 - “Effects of interactions between hydrological and morphological rehabilitation measures on fish assemblages”. Main supervisor: Stefan Schmutz, BOKU, Vienna.

Theme 6 - “Understanding the interaction of hydromorphological restoration measures and other human pressures on nutrient cycling and GHG emissions”. Main supervisor: Thomas Hein, BOKU Vienna.
Theme 7 -“Distribution of potamal invertebrates in large European rivers: zoogeographic implications, current status, perspectives”. Main supervisor: Wolfram Graf, BOKU, Vienna.

Theme 8 - “Restoring fish passage at river obstacles: a multispecies approach”. Main supervisor: Jose Maria Santos, ISA-U. Lisboa.

Theme 9 - “Ethohydraulic characterization of fish ways: estimation of findability and passability, using hydraulic and biological methods”. Main supervisor: Martin Schletterer, TIWAG-Tiroler Wasserkraft AG.

Application deadline
The call is open between 15th May to 15th July 2015; 17:00 GMT

Information & Application
Further information and application forms are made available at the FLUVIO webpage: https://www.isa.ulisboa.pt/ensino/pd-f/fluvio

09.06.2015