Competition for the selection of young scientists and doctoral students

In keeping with the National Programme “Young Scientists and Post-doctoral Fellows – phase 2“ (more at https://web.mon.bg/bg/101140) and the updated National Strategy for the Development of Scientific Research in the Republic of Bulgaria 2017-2030 (more at http://www.strategy.bg/StrategicDocuments/View.aspx?lang=bg-BG&Id=1231) the Faculty of Philosophy at Sofia University St. Kliment Ohridski announces a competition for selecting young scientists and post-doctoral students for participation in current scientific research projects (Appendix 1 below) implemented by the faculty, for the following positions:

1. a post-doctoral fellow on a(n) 8/4-hour working day contract with a monthly remuneration of BGN 2,000 for an 8-hour working day, BGN 1,000 for a 4-hour working day or BGN 500 for 2-hour working day, including insurance contributions and insurance contribution at the employer’s expense, for a period of at least 6 months.
2. a young scientist on a(n) 8/4-hour working day contract with a monthly remuneration of BGN 1,200 for an 8-hour working day, BGN 600 for a 4-hour working day or BGN 300 for 2-hour working day, including insurance contributions and insurance contribution at the employer’s expense, for a period of at least 6 months.
3. employees appointed as an assistant or chief assistant at the Faculty of Philosophy, Sofia University, with a monthly salary of BGN 300 to BGN 800.

The eligible competition applicants (Bulgarian citizens and EU citizens working in the country) have to meet the criteria of the National Programme “Young Scientists and Post-doctoral Fellows”, as follows:

1. 1. A “Young scientist” is a person who carries out scientific research and scientific and educational activities in a higher education institution and/or a scientific organisation after acquiring their first educational and qualification degree of “Master”, but not more than 10 years after its acquisition. The date of the Protocol of the State Examination Commitee is considered the date of the master’s degree acquisition. The applicants have to meet the minimum national requirements for the position they will hold in the scientific and/or professional fields in which they are applying, according to the Law on the Development of Academic Staff in the Republic of Bulgaria and the Rules for its Implementation. Applicants for this module can be people who are

• newly appointed at the beneficiary organisation under the current programme who meet the requirements for being a young scientist;
• occupying the academic position of “assistant” or “chief assistant” (with a minimum of six months of experience as at the date of application) and hold an employment contract with the beneficiary organisation;
• are doctoral students, deducted with the right to defense and appointed on an employment contract with the beneficiary organisation;
• are part-time study or self-study doctoral students, enrolled at least six months prior to the date of application at the beneficiary organisation and appointed on an employment contract with it;
• are specialists holding a higher education degree who meet the requirements for a young scientist and hold an employment contract at the beneficiary organis

2. A “post-doctoral fellow” is a scientist who has acquired their first doctoral degree in Bulgaria or abroad, within 5 years of acquiring it. According to the Law on the Development of Academic Staff in the Republic of Bulgaria, the scientific and educational degree of “Doctor” is considered acquired as at the day when the dissertation work is defended successfully. Applicants have to meet the minimum national requirements for obtaining the scientific and educational degree of “Doctor” in the scientific and/or professional fields in which they are applying.

The eligibility grounds for both categories of applicants must be valid not only at the time of application, but throughout the entire period of their participation after signing a contract under the programme.

Applicants have to send Mrs. Irena Cheresharova electronic versions of the following documents by email (icheresharova@phls.uni-sofia.bg) no later than 17.00, 29 July, 2024:

• Statement (SAMPLE document attached to the current Call for Research Proposals).
• CV.
• Copies of the diploma certifying successful completion of the first Master’s degree, and the first PhD degree respectively.
• Copy of the enrollment order (applicable to applicants who are currently enrolled as part-time doctoral students or independent doctoral students).
• Copy of the employment contract (applicable to candidates appointed to the position of “assistant” or “chief assistant”).
• Application form (SAMPLE document attached to the current Call for Research Proposals).

• List of :

  • Publications over the past 5 years.
  • Participation in national and international research projects over the past 5 years
  • Specialisations abroad over the past 5 years .
  • Papers/posters presented at scientific conferences in Bulgaria and abroad over the past 5 years

  (The information should be filled in the SAMPLE document attached to the current Call for Research Proposals in a separate sheet for each list)

 

Criteria for evaluation of research potential

1      Defended first PhD thesis – 10 points
2      Defended first Master’s dissertation – 5 points
3      Publications on the topic of the PhD dissertation or Master’s thesis over the past five years – 5 points per publication
4      Publications on topics other than the topic of the PhD dissertation/Master’s thesis over the past five years – 3 points per publication
5      Participation in research projects funded by EU operational programmes or other national and international scientific institutions over the past five years – 3 points per project
6      Participation in research projects of the Faculty of Philosophy, funded by the Scientific Research Fund at Sofia University over the past five years – 3 points per project
7      Specialisations abroad over the past five years (excluding Erasmus+ mobility) – 5 points
8      Participation in scientific conferences with a paper/poster over the past five years – 3 points
 

The results of the specified criteria form 10% of the assessment of the applicants’ scientific potential.

Criteria for evaluation of a proposal for participation in an ongoing project of the Faculty of Philosophy at Sofia University from the announced list of projects
1         Awareness of the scientific research on the topic of the project and relevance of the proposed research – from 0 to 6 p.
2         Motivation – from 0 to 4 p.
2.1     Knowledge and skills – from 0 to 2 p.
2.2     Abilities to write a scientific text – from 0 to 2 p.
3         Scientific effect (impact) – from 0 to 6 p.
3.1     New knowledge – from 0 to 2 p.
3.2     Expected results and scientific contributions – from 0 to 2 p.
3.3     Applicability of results – from 0 to 2 p.
4         Contribution to the applicant’s scientific development  – from 0 to 4 p.
TOTAL – from 0 to 20 p.

The result of the expert evaluation of the proposal for participation in the project applied for forms 90% of the evaluation of the scientific potential of the applicants.
Applicants will receive a personal e-mail message about the results of the scientific potential evaluation on 2 August, 2024 after 2 p.m.. The applicants who meet the requirements and have received at least 15 points for their proposal for participation in the project applied for will be admitted to an interview. The interview with the admitted applicants will be held in the period of 6 to 8 August, 2024 in person or online through the MS Teams platform. The final results of the competition will be announced by 30 August, 2024. A fixed-term employment contract for a period of no less than 6 months with a start date of 05 September, 2024 will be signed with the approved applicants.

For additional information, you can review the “Faculty of Philosophy „Mechanism of and rules for selecting young scientists and post-doctoral fellows” or write to Irena Cheresharova, inspector “Educational activity”, icheresharova@phls.uni-sofia.bg