R&D Projects in All Scientific Domains 2025

The consolidation and reinforcement of the National System of Science and Technology (NSST) constitute a priority of the national policy for science and technology. It aims to increase the national and international competitiveness of science and technology and its contribution to innovation, transfer of knowledge and at complying to the global aspirations defined in the 2030 Agenda: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this context, it is particularly relevant the promotion and strengthening of the scientific and technological institutions through the participation of research teams in Projects. Considering these goals, FCT launches the Call for R&D Projects 2025, across all scientific domains, in the following types:

• Scientific Research and Technological Development Projects (SR&TD)  aimed at original and relevant scientific questions or concepts, using international standards as a reference, which make a significant contribution to the advancement of knowledge and which result in indicators of the achievement of scientific production during the course of the project.

• Exploratory Research Projects (PEX) focusing on original projects for early-career researchers, or on ideas or concepts with a high degree of novelty that demonstrate disruptive potential, compared to previous work, for more experienced researchers.

Research teams, from the following non-entrepreneurial Portuguese entities of the R&I system can apply for funding:

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

SR&TD projects may be presented individually, only one beneficiary, or in co-promotion, two or more beneficiaries, and have a maximum duration of 36 months.

PEX projects must be presented individually, only one beneficiary, and have a maximum duration of 18 months.

Applications must be presented to FCT, in English, from November 27, 2025, to March 11, 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.

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 March 25, 2026 at 17:00 Lisbon time.

The evaluation is conducted by panels of independent experts affiliated with foreign institutions, organized by scientific domain, scientific area, and subarea (corresponding to an adaptation of the FOS classification from the OECD’s revised Field of Science and Technology Classification in the Frascati Manual).

Each application is assessed by the evaluation panel corresponding to the combination of the main scientific area and subarea selected by the PI in the application form. The application will be considered non-assessable if the selected area and subarea do not correspond to the scientific content of the project.

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:

SR&TD Projects

A. Scientific merit (A1) and innovative nature (A2) of the project from an international standpoint.

B. Scientific merit of PI (B1) and the research team (B2).

C. Feasibility of the work plan (including its planning) and expected indicators, as well as the budget adequacy.

PEX Projects

A. Scientific merit (A1) and innovative nature (A2) of the project from an international standpoint.

B. Scientific merit of PI, including the impact of project’s execution on the PI's career development and/or research (B1) and the research team (B2).

C. Feasibility of the work plan (including its planning) and expected indicators, as well as the budget adequacy.

The MP, for both types,  is calculated according to:

MP = 0,40 (0,50 A1 + 0,50 A2) + 0,30 (0,60 B1 + 0,40 B2) + 0,30 C

National funds will finance the projects through the FCT budget.

The funding to be granted under this Call shall be non-reimbursable, applying the simplified cost option in the form of fixed amount (lump sum). The contribution is paid upon the presentation of evidence and results demonstrating the effective implementation of the project, as contractually agreed.

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

SR&TD Projects

The budget allocation is € 80 million and the maximum funding per project is € 250.000,00 (two hundred and fifty thousand euros).

The initial advance payment for the project is 30% of the approved funding. Intermediate reimbursement payments, which must be requested at a minimum semi-annual interval, are made based solely on tasks that have reached a 100% completion rate, corresponding to 65% of the value of the executed tasks. The remaining amount, up to the total approved funding for each project, will be paid after the closure of the scientific and financial components of the project, through a final reimbursement payment.

The sum of all payments made prior to the project’s closure shall not exceed 95% of the total approved funding, or of the amount calculated according to the project’s degree of implementation, including the initial advance payment.

PEX Projects

The budget allocation is € 24 million and the maximum funding per project is € 60.000,00 (sixty thousand euros).

The initial advance payment for the project is 75% of the approved funding. The remaining amount, up to the approved funding for each project, will be paid after the closure of the scientific and financial components of the project, through a final reimbursement payment.

The Call is subject to this Announcement for submission of Proposals, by FCT Projects Regulation, published in Regulation No. 999/2016, in its current wording, i.e., amended and republished by Regulation no. 5/2024 and corrected by the Declaration of Rectification no. 366/2024/2, published in the Diário da República, 2nd series, no. 100, of May 23, 2024, and by other applicable national and community legislation.

Before submitting a proposal, applicants are advised to read the documents of the call, all available at the call’s webpage.

For information related to this call, please contact concursoprojetos@fct.pt.

None of the information published on this webpage overrides the official Announcement for Submission of Proposals.