Call for Exploratory Research Projects under the CMU Portugal Program 2025

This call aims to support research teams from entities within the National Scientific and Technological System (SCTN), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and industry partners in initiating high-impact research activities of strategic relevance to the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program (CMU Portugal). The call encourages the submission of research proposals by recently graduated PhDs who are faculty members at Portuguese universities or researchers affiliated with Portuguese research institutions.

Under this Call, the Program is seeking proposals specifically in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT), with a focus on leveraging opportunities within the data economy to drive growth and innovation.

The following non-business Portuguese entities of the R&I system can be beneficiaries of the funding provided through this Call: 

• Higher Education Institutions, their Institutes, and R&D units; 
• State or international Laboratories with head offices in Portugal;
• Non-profit private institutions whose main objective is R&D activities, including Collaborative Laboratories (CoLab) and Centers for Technology and Innovation (CTI); 
• Other non-profit private and public institutions developing or participating in scientific research activities. 

Projects should fall under the category of individual projects or co-promotion projects, submitted by one or two beneficiaries, respectively, with a maximum duration of 12 months.

This Call will only fund resources and activities attributable to research teams of eligible Portuguese beneficiaries. The participating researchers from Carnegie Mellon University will be funded independently by the CMU Portugal Program at Carnegie Mellon University. 

Applications must be presented to FCT, in English, from 23 December, 2025, to 10 February, 2026, at 17:00 Lisbon time, using a specific online form and submitted through myFCT platform.

The PI and members of the research team are responsible for submitting an updated version of their CV in English on the CIÊNCIAVITAE platform.

Applications are composed of the on-line form and the following documents, also submitted electronically:

• Confirmation statement, describing the faculty appointment at CMU of the CMU Lead PI;
• File including all required details from the CMU PI Research Proposal Template;
• File with the project timeline and main tasks (including national entities and the CMU team).

The Statement of Commitment for the Principal Contractor will be available on myFCT platform, for agreement by the head of the Principal Contractor or someone appointed by them, after the application submission deadline and until February 24, 2026 at 17:00 Lisbon time.

The evaluation is conducted by a panel of independent experts affiliated with foreign institutions. 

The methodology for selecting and ranking applications is based on the Merit of the Project (MP) indicator, which relies on the following evaluation criteria, detailed in the Guide for Peer Reviewers:

     A. Scientific merit (A1) and innovative nature (A2) of the project from an international standpoint and alignment with the goals of Phase IV of the CMU Portugal Program – 40%;

     B. Scientific merit of the PI and the research team (B1), including the impact of project execution in developing the PI's career and/or research (B2) – 35%;

     C. Feasibility of the workplan and the expected indicators (C1), including the project’s impact in a real-world problem, as well as the budget adequacy (C2) – 25%.

The Merit of the Project (MP) is given by:

              MP = 0,40 (0,50 A1 + 0,50 A2) + 0,35 (0,60 B1 + 0,40 B2) + 0,25 (0,50 C1+ 0,50 C2)​​​​​​​​​​

The budget allocation for this call is € 400,000 (four-hundred thousand euros), for eligible Portuguese institutions, for projects starting in 2026.

The maximum funding limit per project is:

• €70,000 for consortia with more than one Portuguese institution;
• €50,000 for projects with only one Portuguese institution.

​​​​​​​The funding to be granted under this call is non-reimbursable. The projects will be fully financed by National funds through the FCT budget, applying the option of simplified costs in the form of a lump sum.

Regardless of the project’s approved funding amount, the initial advance payment is 75% of the approved funding. The remaining amount, up to the approved funding for each project, is paid upon project completion, through a final reimbursement payment method.

The indirect costs are a fixed rate of 25% of all the estimated direct eligible costs. The expenses for the adaptation of buildings and facilities are limited to a maximum of 10% of the project’s total eligible expenses.

The call is governed by the Announcement for Proposal Submission of the Call, the Regulation for Projects Exclusively Funded by National Funds, approved by Regulation No. 999/2016 of October 31, in its current version, and all other applicable national and European legislation.

Applicants are advised to review all supporting documentation available on the call’s webpage prior to submission.

For inquiries of scientific nature, please contact the Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program at research@cmuportugal.org .

For specific information related to the Carnegie Mellon team lead requirement or submission, please contact CMUPortugal@andrew.cmu.edu .

For specific information related to the application submission and FCT’s applicable regulations, please contact concursoprojetos@fct.pt .

None of the information published on this webpage overrides the official Announcement for Proposal Submissions.