Allocation of funding in Calls research and development projects

Following doubts raised about the mechanism for granting funding from the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the Call R&D Projects in All Scientific Fields, in which, in recent days, incorrect information has been reported about this process and in particular regarding the application of the AlmaScience Collaborative Laboratory to the same, the FCT Board of Directors felt it was important at this time to issue this clarification note in order to inform the public.

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) is a special public institute with administrative and financial autonomy, under the supervision and oversight of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education, whose mission is to promote and support research in science, technology, and innovation in all areas of knowledge.

The Call R&D Projects in All Scientific Fields is an Call issued by FCT, financed entirely by its budget from the State Budget, and aims to provide funding to the scientific community to promote and strengthen the skills of scientific and technological institutions through the participation of their teams in projects.

This year, the Call open for submissions from the scientific community between February 8 and March 11. After this phase, the evaluation of applications began, focusing on the scientific merit of the project presented and the scientific merit of the project team members. This process is coordinated by the FCT and carried out by scientific panels made up of independent experts from foreign institutions of recognized scientific merit, appointed by the FCT's Board of Directors, who are sovereign in the evaluation process. The projects are ranked according to the classification assigned by the panel. After this phase, the decision to grant funding rests with the FCT's Board of Directors, through its status as a public institute, whose legal regime guarantees administrative and financial autonomy.

On July 27, FCT published the list of projects recommended for funding under this Call. On this list, one of the projects submitted by the AlmaScience Collaborative Laboratory was proposed for funding, reflecting the rating assigned by the scientific panel evaluators. The list of these results is provisional, and a prior hearing period began upon its publication. After analyzing the candidates' statements during the preliminary hearing of interested parties, the results of Call will be approved, Call FCT will publish the list of final results. It should also be noted that, as in all its competitive procedures, the FCT publishes all public documents relating to the process and updated information on its progress at all stages on the Call page of its institutional website, in order to ensure transparency for candidates and the general public.