Defesa+Ciência Call for Proposals Approves 24 Exploratory Projects

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) has published the results of the “Defense+Science: Exploratory Projects 2025” call for proposals. In this first edition of the call for proposals, 24 projects are being funded, representing a total investment of approximately 1.2 million euros, provided by national funds through the budget of the General Secretariat of the Ministry of National Defense and transferred to the FCT in accordance with the agreement signed between the two entities.

The funded projects will have a maximum duration of 18 months, extendable for an additional six months. They cover scientific fields as diverse as psychology, physics, environmental engineering, veterinary science, mechanical engineering, and electrical engineering, among others.

The approved projects are distributed across the three thematic areas of the call for proposals: Technologies Applied to Defense (12 projects), Organizational Engineering and Human Behavior in a Military Context (6 projects), and Major Societal Challenges in the Field of Security and Defense (6 projects). They involve seven distinct entities under the Ministry of National Defense, contributing to the strengthening of the country’s scientific, technological, and innovation capacity in strategic fields.

The competition is part of the Defense+Science Program and is organized jointly by the FCT and the National Defense Institute (IDN), under the terms of their cooperation agreement, helping to bring the Armed Forces’ Scientific and Technological System closer together and to strengthen research and innovation in areas strategic to national defense.

With a success rate of 25.8% among accepted applications, the competition aims to promote collaboration between non-commercial entities within the National Research and Innovation System and entities under the Ministry of National Defense, encouraging the development of innovative solutions with the potential for application in the Armed Forces and for addressing security and defense challenges.

The list of funded projects and other information about the results of the call for proposals are available on the call for proposals page.