The year 2018 will mark the Eighth Centenary of the founding of the University of Salamanca and thus of the birth of universities in Spain. On the occasion of this anniversary, the Inter-Institutional Commission for the Commemoration of the Eighth Centenary of the University of Salamanca, responsible for approving the activity program, has given the green light to a "Program of University Excellence" that includes among other actions what are known as "Eighth Centenary Chairs", conceived as a pole of attraction to bring researchers of renown to the University of Salamanca.

The University of Salamanca and Iberdrola have signed an agreement of intentions leading to the configuration of the first of these Chairs, the "Eighth Centenary Iberdrola Chair", whose sphere of action will be the analysis and viability of technologies and business models for a world of decarbonized electrical energy.

The Chair is conceived as a unit for research, teaching, and knowledge transfer, established on the basis of the temporary hiring of three researchers in line with the stipulations of the Act for Science, Technology and Innovation.

  • One Distinguished Researcher, who will direct the Eighth Centenary Iberdrola Chair.
  • One Post-doctoral Researcher who will have a contract of incorporation to the Spanish System of Science and Technology and a salary of Assistant Professor with Ph.D. (Profesor Ayudante Doctor).
  • One pre-doctoral researcher with a salary of Research Assistant (Ayudante).

All the contracts will be for two years, which can be extended for another two years if the work carried out has been assessed positively. To this end the University will establish an assessment committee that will take into consideration the reports made by the Distinguished Researcher, the person's publications and their quality, the projects and contracts granted, as well as their nature and amount of financing, and if applicable, the patents developed.

The Distinguished Researcher will form part of the selection committees of the post-doctoral and pre-doctoral researchers for the Eighth Centenary Chair she or he is in charge of, as well as forming part of the assessment committee.

The Distinguished Researcher, the post-doctoral researcher and the pre-doctoral researcher will be able to teach in both undergraduate and Master's studies, a maximum of 8 teaching credits per academic year in the first two cases and 6 credits in the third case. This teaching will not count in the calculation of teaching activity in areas of knowledge of the University of Salamanca.

Stability for the Distinguished Researcher: If after the four years of the contract the job-holder has been evaluated favorably, and as long as the researcher has the necessary academic accreditation, the University will announce a position opening for Professor or Full Professor that the Distinguished Researcher can apply for in the thematic area or profile related to the Chair's sphere of action and within the limits established by law.

Stability for the post-doctoral researcher: If after the four years of the contract the job-holder has been evaluated favorably, and as long as the researcher has the necessary academic accreditation, the University will announce a position opening for Associate Professor (Profesor Contratado Doctor) which the researcher can apply for in accordance with the stipulations of the Act for Science, Technology and Innovation. The University may also announce a position opening for another type of Associate Professor (Profesor Titular) which the researcher may apply for as long as he or she has the necessary accreditation and within the limits established by law.

Continuance of the pre-doctoral researcher: If after the four years of the contract the job-holder has been evaluated favorably, and as long as the researcher has the necessary academic accreditation, the University will announce a position opening for Assistant Professor with Ph.D. (Profesor Ayudante Doctor) which the researcher can apply for.

For equipment, infrastructure, and perishable material, the Chair is endowed with a maximum amount of €60,000 the first year, €30,000 the second year and €30,000 for the third and fourth years.

This aid will be financed by budgetary application 188297 / 324MN02

Requirements: Applicants must be researchers of recognized prestige with leadership ability in research and in creating and managing research teams. At as minimum they must have merits similar to those required for accreditation as a Tenured University Professor or Lecturer (Profesor Titular de Universidad).

Application period and presentation of applications: The deadline for applications is May 15, 2017. The application should be handed in at the General Registry of the University on the standardized form available to those interested at the following website: http://transferencia.usal.es. Applicants who wish to present their application through the university's electronic administration may do so at https://sede.usal.es/opencms/opencms/es in particular here, for which they will need an electronic signature certificate according to the instructions available at this same site.

All documents must also be sent electronically to serv.agi@usal.es indicating on the subject line: "CALL FOR THE HIRING OF A DISTINGUISHED RESEARCHER FOR THE EIGHTH CENTENARY IBERDROLA CHAIR".

  • Photocopy of Official Identify Card or Passport.
  • Application signed by the Researcher applying.
  • Copy of the Ph.D. degree.
  • Complete CV of the applicant in CVN format or similar (https://cvn.fecyt.es/editor/), including in a specific section the applicant's publications of the last five years in journals included in the Journal of Citation Reports (JCR), projects, and research contracts signed in the last five years as well as any patents in force.
  • Work plan: The work plan and its activities must be aligned with the thematic objective "Analysis and viability of technologies and business models for a world of decarbonized electrical energy". The plan must contain at a minimum the following sections: Introduction, General Objective, Specific Objectives, Activities, Milestones, Dissemination, Transfer. The Work Plan should not exceed 10 pages and 8,000 words.
  • Applicants are advised to contact research groups, departments or University Institutes with similar interests in order to join them or to guarantee the availability of space and installations.

Assessment and selection process

Once the application deadline has passed, as well as the period designated for personal interviews, The Vice-Chancellor in charge of Research will post a provisional list of those admitted to the competition and those excluded, in the latter case with reasons for their exclusion, on the University of Salamanca's electronic bulletin board of announcements, available at the university's electronic administration site and the website of the University of Salamanca (http://transferencia.usal.es).

Both excluded and omitted applicants (those who are not on the list at all) have a period of ten working days, beginning with the day after publication, to rectify the problems that caused their exclusion or omission.

After this period of rectification, the Vice-Chancellor in charge of Research will make public in the form described above the resolution approving the definitive list of admitted and excluded applicants.

The publication of these lists on the University of Salamanca's electronic bulletin board and on the USAL website shall serve as notification to the interested parties for all intents and purposes. Applicants who did not rectify their exclusion or claim their omission from the list by justifying their right to be included on it will now definitively be excluded from the selection process. As a qualified procedure, in cases of exclusion the applicant may file a contentious-administrative appeal within a period of two months before the Contentious-Administrative Court in Salamanca, or a discretional appeal for reversal before the University Administration. Both these time periods begin the day following the publication of the resolution.

Selection of the proposals will be carried out by a commission specifically created to this effect, with representatives from both the University of Salamanca and Iberdrola S.A., and the proposals will be assessed through an evaluation process carried out by expert peers of renown with no ties to the University and through a personal interview. This commission is authorized to interpret any aspect relating to this call for applications and to adopt the appropriate measures in any aspect not included in this call for applications.

Assessment of the researcher applicant: The researcher will be assessed taking into account her or his publications of the last five years in journals included in the Journal of Citation Reports (JCR), projects, and research contracts signed in the last five years as well as any patents in force. The leadership ability of the applicant will also be taken into account, measured in terms of experience in managing research teams, directing doctoral dissertations and participating as principal investigator in research projects or contracts.

Assessment of the Work Plan: the work plan will be assessed taking into account the proposal's degree of innovation, its consistency and the dissemination plan.

Assessment scale:

  • Assessment of the Applicant Researcher (up to 6 points).
  • Assessment of the Work Plan (up to 2 points).
  • Assessment of the personal interview (up to 2 points).

Selection: No applicant for Distinguished Researcher with a score lower than 8 points will be selected. If the University or one of its bodies cannot guarantee the availability of spaces to carry out the applicant's research, then the researcher cannot be hired.

The proposal for awarding the contract shall contain, broken down as indicated above, the scores obtained by all the applicants, and shall indicate the applicant proposed for selection, who must have the highest score. If the candidate selected withdraws or leaves due to other circumstances, the rest of the candidates will be able to replace her or him according to the score they obtained, if the substitution takes place within nine months of beginning the job. In cases of substitution, the period elapsed will be irretrievable for effects of the duration of the contract.

This proposal will be published on the University of Salamanca's electronic bulletin board, available through the university's electronic administration (http://sede.usal.es) and shall serve as notification to the interested parties for all intents and purposes, including the means of rebuttal described below. It will also be published on the University of Salamanca's website (http://transferencia.usal.es).

Candidates may lodge an appeal against the awarding of the contract before the University Administration as stipulated in Act 39/2015, October 1st, regarding the Common Administrative Procedures of the Public Administrations.

The definitive decision of the committee created specifically to this effect will be published on the University of Salamanca's electronic bulletin board, available through the university's electronic administration (http://sede.usal.es) and shall serve as notification to the interested parties for all intents and purposes, including the means of rebuttal described below. It will also be published on the University of Salamanca's website (http://transferencia.usal.es).

The Selection Committee may declare that no candidate has passed the selection process providing the reasons for this decision in the case where, after all the candidates' merits have been assessed, no one candidate profile completely fits the needs specified.

A contentious-administrative appeal may be filed against this Decision before the Provincial Court of Contentious-Administrative Cases in Salamanca within a period of two months beginning on the day after the interested party is notified. However, previously and discretionally the interested party may lodge an appeal for reversal before the same body that issued the decision within the period of one month starting with the notification.

Obligations of the beneficiary

  • Work within the Chair and adapt to the regulations of the University of Salamanca in terms of working hours, functions to be performed, schedules and vacation time.
  • Apply to the Vice-Chancellor in charge of research for prior authorization for temporary absences from the Centre the beneficiary is assigned to. Unauthorized absences could cause termination of the contract.
  • Indicate in scientific and general interest publications their link to the University of Salamanca in the way recommended in the instructions approved to this effect by the Governing Council.
  • Give and/or coordinate at least one lecture or seminar per month of stay, open to the entire university community.
  • The acceptance of aid by the beneficiary implies respect for the regulations established in this call for applications, as well as for the rest of the obligations established in art. 15 Act 14/2011, June 1st, for Science, Technology and Innovation.
  • In regard to industrial property rights as well as property rights including any intellectual property that may emerge over the beneficiary's period of stay, it shall be understood that the stipulations of Act 11/1986, of March 20th on Patents will be applicable. Therefore these property rights shall pertain exclusively to the University. The rights of the researcher promotor of the patent shall be regulated by the Patent Regulations and other industrial and intellectual property rights of the University of Salamanca.

Salary

The monthly gross salary of the Distinguished Researcher of the Eighth Centenary Iberdrola Chair will be €4,500.00 a month, in twelve monthly payments a year, with the same annual increase approved by the Spanish government for university civil servant teachers. The Distinguished Researcher shall only receive a salary for the real physical time spent at the University of Salamanca, which must be a minimum of six months per year.

Decision

The decision shall be made within a maximum period of two months starting from the application deadline. If this maximum period has elapsed without the interested parties being notified, the application shall be understood to be rejected owing to administrative silence. In addition, the beneficiary shall have a maximum period of three months to join the University, which can be extended up to another three months if judged as justified by the University.

Justification

Two months prior to the end of the two-year period since the Chair was created, the Distinguished Researcher must send a final report by email to the Vice-Chancellor in charge of research that describes the activities carried out and the results obtained. He or she must also issue reports on the performance and results of the post-doctoral and pre-doctoral researchers that will have been hired for the Chair at the end of their two-year respective contracts. All of these reports will serve as a basis for the possible renewal of the contracts associated with the Chair for two more years.

Incompatibilities

The beneficiary is subject to the regulations regarding incompatibility set out in Act 53/1984 of December 26th and Royal Decree 598/1985 of April 30th, and therefore must not be facing any of the incompatibilities considered in said regulations.

Governing law

This call for applications is subject to the stipulations set out herein and the regulations of the University of Salamanca such as the Regulations for the application in the University of Salamanca of Act 39/2015, October 1st regarding the Common Administrative Procedures for the Public Administrations and Act 40/2015, October 1st, regarding the Legal Regulation of the Public Sector (Official Bulletin of Castile & Leon, October 31st 2016) and is additionally subject to Act 14/2011, June 1st for Science, Technology and Innovation, (Official State Bulletin, June 2nd, 2011) and Act 38/2003, of November 17th, on General Subsidies (Official State Bulletin November 18th) and Royal Decree 887/2006, July 21st, approving the Regulations of Act 38/2003 and Act 39/2015, October 1st, regarding the Common Administrative Procedure of the Public Administrations (Official State Bulletin October 2nd, 2015).

Appeals against the Decision made in this call for applications

This Decision brings to an end the Administrative route for appeals and therefore one may file a contentious-administrative appeal against the Decision before the Contentious-Administrative Court of Salamanca within a period of two months beginning the day after publication of the decision. One may also choose to lodge an appeal for reversal before the Rector of the University of Salamanca within the period of one month beginning on the day following its publication, in which case one may not file the contentious-administrative mentioned above until such time as the appeal is expressly resolved or there is an implied decision rejecting the reversal appeal lodged, according to the stipulations in art. 123 of Act 39/2015, October 1st, regarding the Common Administrative Procedure of the Public Administrations.

Adjudication Proposal
Final Resolution