International competitions for doctoral and post-doctoral grants will be opened in the first semester of 2008. The grants are allocated to two research contracts supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal. The competitions are subject to the conditions publicly announced by the funding agency and by the host institution, Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical University of Lisbon.

This preliminary announcement is published with the purpose of assessing the profiles of potential candidates and of increasing the period of information, as the eventual candidates may use this opportunity to contact the project leaders and obtain additional information prior to the formal application period.

Information on the research projects
The basic information on the supporting research projects (on hybrid-Trefftz and hybrid-mixed finite element modelling) can be accessed using the following addresses:

http://www.civil.ist.utl.pt/HybridTrefftz/

http://www.civil.ist.utl.pt/~luis/projecto

Research grants
The competitions will be opened for doctoral grants and, eventually, post-doctoral grants. Their duration is three years, subject to annual renewal. The current values for the doctoral and post-doctoral grants are 11,760€ and 17,940€ per annum, net.

Requirements
Doctoral candidates must have a Master degree (or equivalent) and post-doctoral candidates a formal doctoral degree. Candidates will be selected according to their experience and skills in structural mechanics, finite element modelling and numerical computation. Effective communication skills, in both written and spoken Portuguese or English, and good organisational skills are essential.

Additional information
Potential candidates may contact the project leaders for additional information:

Hybrid-Trefftz FE modelling - JA Teixeira de Freitas (freitas[ at ]civil.ist.utl.pt)

Hybrid-Mixed FE modelling - LMS Santos Castro (luis[ at ]civil.ist.utl.pt)