A research grant worth €2,000 per month is open to master’s students in Portugal with Azure and Python skills. The application window opened May 11 and closes May 22, 2026, eleven days total.
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About NOVA IMS and the Project
NOVA Information Management School (NOVA IMS) is part of Universidade Nova de Lisboa and houses the NOVA Information Systems and Analytics Lab (ISAL). The grant sits within that lab’s research framework.
The project reference is IMS_BOLSA_ISAL_2026_03. Research will run under the scientific supervision of Professor Dr. Tiago Oliveira, who also chairs the three-person selection jury. The other jury members are Professor Dr. Frederico Cruz-Jesus and Professor Dr. Catarina Neves, both at NOVA IMS.
What You Actually Get
NOVA IMS funds this grant directly. No EU programme is involved.
The confirmed financial package:
- €2,000 per month, stated explicitly, not a vague maintenance figure
- Full-time, 35 hours per week
- Personal accident insurance for all research activities, covered by NOVA IMS
- Social security coverage: if you have no existing social security scheme, NOVA IMS covers contributions under the voluntary social insurance scheme
Duration: The grant starts at 6 months. Extensions are possible, with 24 months as the ceiling. The listing does not state the conditions under which renewal is approved. Ask the supervisor before accepting.
At €2,000/month in Lisbon, this is livable but not comfortable. Budget carefully if relocating from outside Portugal.
What the Work Involves
The project has a specific scope: migrating data stored in SAS into ADP (Azure Synapse Analytics). The work runs in four stages:
- Analysis and Planning: Assess the existing SAS data architecture.
- Data Extraction from SAS: Extract data from the legacy SAS environment
- Transformation and Optimisation: Reformat and optimise data for Azure.
- Loading and Validation in Azure Synapse Analytics: load migrated data and verify integrity
Applied technical research, not theoretical. Production data migration experience, even from an academic project or internship, is directly relevant here.
Who Can Apply: Requirements
Eligible nationalities:
- Nationals or citizens of EU member states
- Third-country nationals (including Nigerians and other Africans)
- Stateless persons
- Persons with political refugee status
Essential requirements — all must be met:
- Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems and Technologies, Data Science, or Information Management
- Current enrolment in a master’s degree programme
- Solid programming skills in Python and Bash scripting
- Hands-on experience with the Azure suite: specifically Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Active Directory, and Azure Key Vault
- The AZ-900 Microsoft Certified: Azure Fundamentals certification is mandatory, not optional
- Prior experience in data model migration
On-site work at the Campolide campus in Lisbon is required. Non-EU applicants need a valid work or study visa for Portugal. The listing does not confirm whether NOVA IMS provides visa sponsorship; contact rh@novaims.unl.pt before starting an application.
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Documents Required
Submit everything as a single email to rh@novaims.unl.pt with the subject line IMS_BOLSA_ISAL_2026_03.
Required documents:
- A curriculum vitae that includes Azure certifications prominently.
- Motivation letter, one letter; no page limit specified
- One letter of recommendation
- Degree certificate(s) including final grade and subject-by-subject transcript where possible. If you do not yet have the official certificate, a signed declaration of honour confirming you completed the degree by the application deadline is accepted.
- Proof of master’s enrolment: an official letter or registration document from your current institution
- Foreign degree recognition (if applicable): if your bachelor’s degree was awarded outside Portugal, you must submit proof of recognition and conversion of your final grade to the Portuguese classification scale. Without this, you receive 0 points on the academic performance criterion. Recognition can be obtained from any Portuguese public higher education institution or from the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES): http://www.dges.gov.pt
One application per person. Submitting duplicates cancels all your applications.
Preparation note: If you hold a foreign degree and have not started the recognition process, that is the most urgent task, which can take weeks. A declaration of honour is accepted during the application stage, but a scholarship contract cannot be signed without the completed recognition. Start now, regardless.
Is This Open to Nigerians?
Yes, explicitly. The call lists third-country nationals as eligible. The evaluation criteria apply equally to all candidates regardless of nationality.
The practical barrier is the location on-site at NOVA IMS’s Lisbon campus. Nigerian applicants need a Portuguese work or student visa before starting. Contact rh@novaims.unl.pt to confirm whether the institution provides any immigration support, as the listing is silent on this.
The foreign degree recognition process is the second hurdle. Nigerian degrees must be formally recognised and the grade converted to the Portuguese scale before a contract is signed. A declaration of honour covers the application stage. Budget time and potentially some cost for the official process.
How to Apply
- Confirm you hold the AZ-900 certification. If not, this round is closed to you.
- Confirm your current master’s enrolment; you need official proof.
- If your degree is from outside Portugal, begin the recognition process immediately. The application does not require completion, but the clock is running.
- Request your recommendation letter now. One letter is required; the window is short.
- Write your motivation letter. Focus on Azure experience and data migration, not general data science. The scoring weights academic and professional relevance heavily.
- Send a single email to rh@novaims.unl.pt with the subject line IMS_BOLSA_ISAL_2026_03 before 22 May 2026 at 20:00 Lisbon time.
Late applications are not accepted.
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Evaluation Criteria and Scoring Breakdown
Applications are scored 0 to 100 across two criteria:
Criterion A: Curricular evaluation (70% of total score):
- A1: Academic performance and relevance to the field or project (70% of Criterion A)
- A2: Professional experience and relevance to the field or project (30% of Criterion A)
If the jury places you in the top three, an interview may follow. At that point, the CV assessment counts for 60% and the interview for 40%. Any application scoring below 50 overall is automatically disqualified.
Foreign candidates who do not submit grade conversion documents receive 0 points on A1, a near-certain disqualification. Do not skip that step.
For tied candidates, the tiebreaker order is A1, then A2, then interview score if applicable.
GizPulse Verdict
A fairly paid grant with a clearly scoped project and a narrow required profile. If you have the AZ-900, Python skills, Azure hands-on experience, and current master’s enrolment in a relevant field, apply. The project scope is well-defined, and the scoring rubric is published, which offers more transparency than most calls.
The call opens May 11 and closes May 22, eleven days. That filters out anyone who isn’t already prepared. If you need to chase a recommendation letter, sort foreign degree recognition, and write a focused motivation letter from scratch, this will be a sprint.
Lisbon is a practical base with a lower cost of living than most Western European capitals, though the €2,000 grant won’t leave much after rent.
Who this suits: A master’s student currently working or studying in Azure environments, with a SAS or enterprise data migration background, who wants a funded research posting in Europe.
Who should think carefully: Anyone without the AZ-900, or anyone who would need to start a Portuguese visa process from scratch. Neither rules out future calls, but both make this round very tight.
One tip: The motivation letter should name the four-stage migration framework analysis, extraction, transformation, and loading and show you have thought through the technical sequence. Most applicants will list their skills. Write about the project.
