Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) Opens Research Scholarship 2027 With €1,090/Month Stipend
If you have a Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering and want practical research experience in sustainable roads, pavement mechanics and construction materials, this new scholarship at Instituto Superior Técnico (IST) in Portugal is worth checking before the very short application window closes.
The project focuses on developing and testing sustainable bituminous mixtures for pavement construction. The selected researcher will receive €1,090.98 per month for four months while working at IST’s Laboratory of Transport Infrastructures in Lisbon.
Before You Apply: Does This Scholarship Fit Your Profile?
| What applicants should check | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Academic background | Bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering or a closely related subject |
| Current enrolment | You must be enrolled in an eligible course that does not award an academic degree |
| Preferred knowledge | Pavements, pavement mechanics or road-material behavior |
| Research focus | Sustainable asphalt mixtures, pavement structures, fatigue and geosynthetics |
| Monthly support | €1,090.98 |
| Duration | 4 months only |
| Selection | CV 75% + interview 25% |
| Minimum final score | 15/20 |
| Deadline | 26 August 2026 |
What Will You Actually Do During the Scholarship?
This is not simply a desk-based Civil Engineering research position.
The first part of the scholarship is designed to introduce you to laboratory procedures, materials and preparation techniques. You then move into mechanical testing, data processing and interpretation.
The broader research covers several connected questions: how sustainable bituminous mixtures can be formulated and produced, how pavement materials behave structurally, how fatigue and damage propagate through pavements, and whether geosynthetic reinforcement can improve performance.
You may also contribute to mechanistic and empirical-mechanistic pavement analysis and the preparation of technical or scientific reports.
For a recent Civil Engineering graduate considering a future Master’s, PhD or career in transportation infrastructure, this is the kind of short project that can provide evidence of actual research ability rather than just coursework.
Who Has the Strongest Chance?
Holding the required Bachelor’s degree only gets you through the eligibility door.
IST specifically says that knowledge of pavement and pavement mechanics will be valued.
If I were applying, I would therefore make any experience involving these areas easy to find:
highway engineering, pavement design, asphalt or bituminous materials, materials testing, transportation engineering, structural analysis, geosynthetics, laboratory work or relevant undergraduate projects.
Even a Bachelor’s thesis or final-year project can matter if it demonstrates familiarity with the subject.
The Enrolment Requirement Is Easy to Miss
There is one condition applicants should check before applying: you must be enrolled in a course that does not confer an academic degree.
This is not simply a scholarship open to every person who already holds a Civil Engineering Bachelor’s degree.
Proof of enrolment is part of the mandatory documentation, so confirm that your current academic status satisfies this requirement before spending time on the rest of the application.
How Will Candidates Be Ranked?
The curriculum evaluation counts for 75% of the final assessment, while an individual interview contributes 25%.
Candidates need a minimum final score of 15 out of 20.
That weighting tells me the CV deserves most of your attention.
Do not submit a generic CV filled with unrelated activities. Bring relevant academic modules, grades, engineering projects, software, laboratory experience, reports and pavement-related work closer to the top.
If invited to interview, be ready to explain not only what you studied but how you would approach laboratory testing, data interpretation and research on sustainable pavement materials.
What Does the Scholarship Pay?
The scholarship provides a monthly maintenance allowance of €1,090.98, funded by Instituto Superior Técnico. The appointment lasts four months, and the call states a maximum duration of four months, so applicants should not plan on automatic renewal beyond that period.
This makes it better viewed as a short research-development opportunity than a long-term funded postgraduate programme.
What Documents Do You Need?
Applicants must submit:
- Curriculum Vitae
- Proof of academic qualifications, or an allowed declaration if the certificate is not yet available
- Proof of registration/enrolment
Applications are submitted only through the Instituto Superior Técnico admissions platform. Make sure the online application is fully completed, submitted and locked without validation errors.
Application Deadline
The last date to apply for the IST Sustainable Bituminous Mixtures Research Scholarship is 26 August 2026 at 23:59 Lisbon time.
If your previous Civil Engineering study already includes roads, asphalt materials or pavement mechanics, I would position the application around that evidence.
The value of this four-month scholarship is not simply the €1,090.98 monthly allowance. It is the chance to leave with laboratory experience in sustainable pavement engineering—something that can make a future transportation-engineering or infrastructure-research application considerably more convincing.