Portugal-Berkeley Program

Under the Portugal-Berkeley Program, in collaboration with the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) and the University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley), this call for expressions of interest aims to support PhD students who wish to undertake a research period as visiting students at UC Berkeley.

This initiative seeks to promote the internationalization of Portuguese science by fostering research exchanges and collaborations between Portuguese universities and UC Berkeley in areas of mutual scientific interest, supporting research stays of up to 6 months at UC Berkeley.

PhD students enrolled in Portuguese higher education institutions, in any scientific field, may apply.

Applications can be permanently submitted until 5:00 PM (Lisbon time) on December 30, 2027, or until the maximum number of Visiting Student Researchers for UC Berkeley for each calendar year is reached (whichever occurs first), through a form available on the FCT website.

NOTE: Before submitting the application, candidates must identify and obtain agreement from a UC Berkeley faculty member who will act as supervisor during the stay.

Applications must be submitted in English by completing the designated electronic form (available at Important links section) and accompanied by the following documents:

• Short CV (in English; maximum two pages)

• Motivation letter (in English): candidates should indicate their planned arrival date, considering that the earliest possible arrival is six months after selection for this program

• Proof of acceptance from UC Berkeley (in English)
• Proof of enrollment in a PhD program

For more information, please consult the official call for expressions of interest.

Candidates will be evaluated by an academic committee appointed by FCT and FLAD, based on the following criteria:

A. Candidate's curriculum vitae, considering their academic classifications, their scientific background and achievements, including peer-reviewed publications, grants, awards, conferences, participation in projects, among others (40%);

B. Scientific quality, innovative nature of the work plan and feasibility of the research activities to be developed (30%);

C. Letter of motivation explaining the relevance of the stay and the work to be developed in the scientific ambition of the student's doctoral work plan, as well as the expected impact of the stay on their career (30%);

The selection will be made based on an analysis of the criteria, resulting in a positive or negative assessment. The final classification (CF) of the application is obtained through

                                                                                   CF = 0,4 A + 0,3 B + 0,3 C

The evaluation is carried out in quarterly windows, with applications grouped according to their submission date. The first evaluation period includes applications received up to 31 March 2026; the second evaluation period begins on 30 June 2026, and so on until the call closes

Up to 8 candidates per year will be selected for funding under this program.

Center for Portuguese Studies (CPS) will be the host institution for selected candidates and will handle administrative procedures for obtaining Visiting Student Researcher status, including payment of:

• VSPA University Services Fee
• DS-2019 (visa) Processing Fee
• Administrative fees of UC Berkeley’s Institute of European Studies

Selected candidates should arrange and support their own travel, accommodation and health insurance

For candidates holding an FCT PhD research fellowship, FCT will provide complementary support as per the Research Fellowship Regulations and the Subsidy Table for Fellowships (2025). These complementary supports must be requested through the myFCT platform.

The call is regulated by this Call for Expressions of Interest.

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

Portugal–Berkeley Program

Application Eelectronic Form

For further information, candidates may contact:

• FCT: fctberkeley@fct.pt
• FLAD: ricardo.pereira@flad.pt
• CPS - UC Berkeley: csp@berkeley.edu