Studentships directly funded by FCT

Research fellows must carry out their activities in strict compliance with the agreed work plan on a full-time basis. Therefore, it is only possible to perform any other remunerated function or activity if it falls within one of the exceptions provided for in paragraphs 3 or 4 of Article 5 of the Research Scholarship Statute, approved by Law No. 40/2004 of August 18, as currently worded. In any case, the exercise of the function or activity that is intended to be accumulated may never prejudice the execution of the Studentship work plan.

The accumulation of functions must always be requested in advance and authorized by FCT, as the entity funding the Studentship.

Yes. You can receive remuneration arising from copyright or intellectual property rights, as this is one of the exceptions that the law provides for in the exclusive dedication regime. Therefore, remuneration for copyright, such as royalties or other payments for articles, books, works of art, or similar items, or remuneration for industrial property rights arising from patents or trademarks, may be accumulated with your Studentship .

However, you must submit your request at https://myfct.fct.pt/ by accessing the menu Financing → Requests → Create Requests, and submit the applicable documentation. You must specify a) the type of rights for which you wish to receive remuneration, b) the context that gave rise to them, and c) indicate the frequency of receiving remuneration (one-off or regular). If it is regular, indicate how often you expect to receive it. You must also attach a statement from all supervisors regarding the situation in question, stating whether or not the receipt of copyright remuneration jeopardizes the feasibility of the work program underlying the Studentship indicating the period of time during which the work that gave rise to the receipt of these rights was carried out.

The advisors' statement is submitted by the advisors themselves directly on the myFCT platform after the scholarship recipient has submitted their application.

No. The Research Fellow Statute does not mention a maximum limit on remuneration derived from copyright.

What is compatible with the aforementioned regime is the receipt of remuneration arising from the publication of the work and not from its creation, since only the publication of the work constitutes the author's right, and its creation is not necessarily compatible with the exclusive dedication regime. Therefore, if you intend to start an activity that will generate creations protected by copyright, regardless of whether or not it will generate copyright or industrial property rights, you will always have to check whether or not it is compatible with the exclusive dedication regime.

Yes. Activities such as workshops, summer schools, seminars, conferences, lectures, short training courses, etc., are compatible with the full-time employment regime. It should be noted that these are sporadic, short-term events that are not habitual in nature, i.e., they do not recur over long periods.

You must submit your application at https://myfct.fct.pt/ by accessing the menu Financing → Applications → Create Applications, and submit the following documentation:

a) Opinion of all supervisors on the activity in question, stating whether or not it compromises the feasibility of the work program underlying the Studentship. The supervisors' statement is submitted by them directly on the myFCT platform after the scholarship holder has made their request.

b) Statement from the entity that issued the invitation to collaborate, attesting to the terms of the collaboration, namely the period and number of hours per day of its exercise. The statement must be submitted by the scholarship recipient in PDF format.

Yes, provided that they are awarded in connection with the performance of tasks underlying the work program funded by Studentship. It should be noted that the amount to be received is limited to allowances/travel expenses and cannot constitute a separate Studentship .

You must submit your application at https://myfct.fct.pt/ by accessing the menu Financing → Applications → Create Applications, and submit the following documentation:

a) Opinion of all supervisors, contextualizing the allowances/travel expenses. The supervisors' statement is submitted by them directly on the myFCT platform after the scholarship holder has made their request.

b) Document from the institution financing the allowances. The statement must be submitted by the scholarship recipient in PDF format.

It should be noted that the awarding of allowances does not allow the scholarship holder to receive the complementary training allowance for the same trip, as such accumulation would constitute double funding for the same purpose.

Yes, within certain limits. The Research Fellow Statute only allows the accumulation of Studentship cases of participation in bodies within the host institution itself or, in the case of bodies outside the host institution, only in advisory bodies. However, please note that when the law refers to participation in bodies, it means participation as a full member of the body. Thus, for example, the functional assignment of someone to a particular body, for example as a collaborator or employee, does not constitute participation in that body.

You must submit your application at https://myfct.fct.pt/ by accessing the menu Financing → Applications → Create Applications, and provide the following information and documentation:

a. Explanation of the body you wish to join, the institution to which it belongs, the expected start date, and, whenever possible, the expected end date for such participation.

b. Statement from all supervisors, clarifying whether or not this participation jeopardizes the feasibility of the work plan underlying the Studentship. The supervisors' statement is submitted by the supervisors themselves directly on the myFCT platform after the scholarship holder has made their request.

c. Document issued by the host institution if you wish to participate in the institution's bodies, proving your appointment to the position/function and certifying the terms of this collaboration, namely the duration, whether or not it is remunerated, and in what form.

d. Document issued by the institution with which you will be collaborating, if you intend to participate in bodies of an institution other than the host institution, proving your appointment to the position/function, the nature of the body in question, and attesting to the terms of this collaboration, namely the duration, whether or not it is remunerated, and in what form.

e. Statement from the heads of all host institutions authorizing such participation.

You may do so, provided that the Calls, exams, or assessments in which you perform the aforementioned activity are external to your host institution. You may also participate in committees that issue opinions, but only if these opinions have been requested by national or international bodies.

You must submit your application at https://myfct.fct.pt/ by accessing the menu Financing → Applications → Create Applications, and provide the following information and documentation:

a) Identification of the jury or evaluation committee in which you have been invited to participate and indicating, where applicable, that your participation is intended to issue an opinion requested by a national or international body, referring to the identification of the body.

b) Opinion of all supervisors on the activity in question, stating whether or not it compromises the feasibility of the work program underlying the Studentship. The supervisors' statement is submitted by them directly on the myFCT platform after the scholarship holder has made their request.

c) Statement from the entity that issued the invitation to collaborate, attesting to the terms of the collaboration, namely the period and number of hours per day spent performing the activity in question.

Yes, when the following limits are met:

a) Does not imply the sole responsibility of the scholarship recipient for courses or curricular units;

b) Does not exceed four hours per week.

c) Does not exceed an average of three hours per week per academic semester.

You must submit your application at https://myfct.fct.pt/ by accessing the menu Financing → Applications → Create Applications, and provide the following information and documentation:

a) Indication of the institution where the teaching service will take place, with the respective workload (number of hours per week and on average per semester), as well as the start and end dates of the teaching activity.

b) Statement issued by the institution where you intend to teach, certifying the number of actual hours you will teach per week in each semester, the average number of hours per semester, and whether or not teaching involves sole responsibility for the course units.

c) Opinion of all supervisors acknowledging the combination of Studentship teaching activities, clarifying whether or not this compromises the feasibility of the work plan. The supervisors' statement is submitted by them directly on the myFCT platform after the scholarship holder has made their request.

d) Declaration by those responsible for the host institutions authorizing the exercise of teaching activities.

Yes, in accordance with Decree-Law No. 65/2024, and after authorization from the FCT, scholarship recipients may perform teaching duties in primary and/or secondary schools.

However, the following limits must be observed:

a) The maximum workload is, on average, 6 hours per week (per week during the academic year).

b) Not exceed a total of 150 hours per academic year.

You must submit your application at https://myfct.fct.pt/ by accessing the menu Financing → Applications → Create Applications and submitting the following documents:

a) Statement issued by the entity where you intend to teach, certifying the average number of hours per week you will teach during the academic year, as well as the total number of teaching hours for the academic year.

b) Opinion of all supervisors acknowledging the accumulation of Studentship teaching activity, clarifying whether or not it jeopardizes the feasibility of the work plan. The supervisors' statement is submitted by themselves directly on the myFCT platform after the scholarship holder has made their request.

c) Declaration from the heads of the host institutions authorizing the teaching activity. The declaration must be submitted by the scholarship recipient in PDF format.

Teaching activities are considered to be all those that are specifically performed by teachers, in accordance with their respective career statutes, including preparing and teaching classes, monitoring/guiding students, among others.

Yes, combining Studentships participation in scientific research projects is generally permitted, even if the project takes place at another research institution. However, please note that it is not possible to combine your Studentship with the FCT with another Studentship within the scope of the project, and that combining the Studentship any paid activity must always fall within one of the exceptions to the full-time dedication regime. Participation in the project must never jeopardize the timely execution (i.e., point by point and within the specified time frame) of your work plan.

You must submit your application at https://myfct.fct.pt/ by accessing the menu Financing → Applications → Create Applications, and provide the following information and documentation:

a) Identification of the project in which you wish to participate, the respective institutional context, and, preferably, the link between the activities to be carried out and your current work plan.

b) Statement from all supervisors clarifying: whether or not the aforementioned participation jeopardizes the feasibility of the work plan underlying the Studentship; whether the participation is continuous or occasional; whether the participation is remunerated or funded and under what conditions; whether the host institutions participate in the project. The supervisors' statement is submitted by them directly on the myFCT platform after the scholarship holder has made their request.

c) Statement from those responsible for the host institutions authorizing the scholarship recipient's participation in the identified IC&DT project. The statement must be submitted by the scholarship recipient in PDF format.

Any accumulation of funding to support periods of mobility must always be requested in advance from the FCT.

In either case, you may not accumulate, during the same period, the supplementary training allowance, or the change to the monthly maintenance allowance for performing duties in an institution in a country other than the Host Institution, or any other allowance provided for in Article 18 of the RBI relating to the same mobility/period.

You must submit your application at https://myfct.fct.pt/ by accessing the menu Financing → Applications → Create Applications, and submit the following documentation:

a) Statement from all supervisors commenting on the relationship between the mobility/mission/funding to be provided/received and compliance with the work plan of Studentship by FCT, indicating the start and end dates of the period to be funded (day, month, and year). The statement from the supervisors is submitted by them directly on the myFCT platform after the scholarship holder has made their request.

b) Studentship to be accumulated, also mentioning the type of expenses covered and the period of funding to be awarded. If the funding to be accumulated relates to the Erasmus program, you may choose to send us the Erasmus guide, indicating the pages relating to the funding requested. You can download the guide at https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/pt-pt/document/erasmus-programme-guide-2024-version-1.

With regard to expenses or revenues related to participation in R&D projects by fellows directly funded by the FCT, the following rules apply:

a) Participation must have been authorized in advance (see question 19);

b) If participation in the project is due to the scholarship holder's connection to the Host Institution, the expenses related to the project (accommodation, travel, conferences) shall be financed by the institution, in accordance with Article 19 of the Studentships Regulation, paragraphs 1 and 2. For public institutions, such payment must comply with the rules on allowances regulated at national level by Decree-Law 106/98 (for national territory) and Decree-Law 192/95 (for international travel).

c) If the scholarship holder's participation takes place within the framework of their connection to an entity other than the Host Institution, allowances cannot be covered unless it can be demonstrated that this is legally possible in accordance with the rules of the entity paying the allowances;

d) Whenever expenses related to travel, allowances, or other costs are effectively borne by the institution or paid to the scholarship recipient, the recipient may not receive the corresponding support under the Studentship for the same mission, namely supplementary training allowance, change in the amount per activity in a different country, or travel/installation allowances.

e) The entity financing the aforementioned expenses is responsible for complying with the applicable procedural legality.

You must submit your application at https://myfct.fct.pt/ by accessing the menu Financing → Applications → Create Applications, and provide the following information and documentation:

a) Indication of the start date of the new activity and, where possible, the expected date of completion, the nature of the relationship under which the activity will be performed and, where possible, the identification of the institution that will benefit from it, whether or not it is a remunerated function or activity and whether or not it is of a permanent nature.

b) Statement from all supervisors indicating their knowledge of the activity in question and stating whether or not it is of a permanent nature, whether or not it is compatible with the timely completion (i.e., point by point and within the specified time frame) of the work plan, and whether the activity is related (and in what way) to the research carried out in the context of Studentship. The supervisors' statement is submitted by them directly on the myFCT platform after the scholarship holder has made their request.

c) Statement from the entity with which you intend to collaborate, with a brief description of the activity to be performed, period, working hours, and type of employment relationship to be established.

d) All documents that, in your opinion, may contribute to clarifying the facts relevant to the decision and that are included in your application.

No. The Research Scholarship Statute stipulates that entering into an employment contract with the host institution is grounds for termination of the Studentship contract, with the cancellation of the respective status.

The amount of Studentship be increased by the host institution under the terms set out in Article 13(4) of the Research Scholarship Statute. The same entity may also finance allowances and travel expenses, provided that such support is not granted in the form of Studentship.

Given that it is the responsibility of FCT to certify that the increase will not violate the exclusivity regime or alter the Studentship work plan, the scholarship recipient must submit their request at https://myfct.fct.pt/ by accessing the menu Funding → Requests → Create Requests, and submit the following documentation:

– Opinion from the host institution financing the increase, specifying that it is not directly financed by the FCT and that it does not result from any type of payment for any type of function performed or to be performed by the scholarship holder.