Studentships research directly funded by FCT

Find information about Open Access at https://www.fct.pt/sobre/politicas-e-estrategias/politica-de-acesso-aberto/

Compliance with the FCT open access policy applies to scientific outputs generated under all FCT funding, including Studentships. You must ensure the deposit of publications resulting from Studentship, although with embargo if necessary, in a repository of the RCAAP network. For further clarifications send your questions to the email politica-fct@rcaap.pt.

You must request this cancellation by email, to the email bolsas@fct.pt, justifying the reasons for cancellation, indicating the date from which you wish the cancellation to take place and attaching the following documents:

a) Declaration of the advisors stating that they are aware of the cancellation requested and their opinion;

b) Statement issued by the head of the host institution attesting that he/she is aware of the cancellation requested.

Don't forget that, as in any other Studentship, for the process to be closed you must send the documents listed in the answer to question 4 of this FAQ.

No, reactivations apply only to suspensions from Studentships to cases where the law provides for this possibility.

You must send FCT the following documents by email to bolsas@fct.pt:

a) Final activity report;

b) Advisor's opinion regarding the activities developed;

c) Certificate of the degree of Doctor (this document can be sent until three years after the conclusion of the work plan);

d) Social Security current account statement showing the contributions to Voluntary Social Security, if you have joined Voluntary Social Security.

You can suspend the activities of Studentship for the following reasons:

a) Parenthood, under the terms of the regime foreseen in the Labor Code;

b) Illness of the grantee, justified by medical certificate or declaration of illness issued by a hospital establishment;

c) In case of transitory exercise of another remunerated function or activity, public or private, incompatible with the regime of exclusive dedication foreseen in article 5 of the Research Grant Holder Statute.

See FAQ - parenting.

You must submit your request by email to bolsas@fct.pt, indicating the estimated period of suspension and attaching the following documents:

a) Medical certificate or declaration of illness issued by a hospital establishment;

b) Advisor's opinion about the suspension of the activities.

You must submit your request by email to bolsas@fct.pt, indicating the expected time for the suspension of Studentship due to transitional functions or activities and attach the following documents:

a) Statement from the institution where you will perform the new functions, proving their transitory nature and, whenever identifiable, the period during which they will take place;

b) Opinion of the advisor stating that he/she is aware of the request for suspension of Studentship, as well as being aware of the incompatibility of the activity to be developed with the regime of exclusive dedication, and confirming that the grant holder has the possibility of resuming later on Studentship without prejudice to the completion of the work plan contracted with FCT.

No. During the suspension of activities of your Studentship, whether due to parenthood, illness or temporary performance of duties incompatible with the punctual fulfillment of your work plan, the counting time of Studentship is also suspended, and will be resumed after the end of the suspension.

Yes. As soon as you are sure of when you will resume your work schedule, you should request the reactivation of your Studentship by sending your request by e-mail to bolsas@fct.pt.

Reactivation of Studentship must be requested when the circumstances that led to its suspension cease.

You must request the reactivation of your Studentship by email, to the email bolsas@fct.pt, indicating the termination of the reasons that determined the suspension and attach the following documents:

a) Statement from the advisor clarifying whether or not he/she considers the reactivation of Studentship convenient;

b) Statement from the responsible of the host institution clarifying whether or not it is available to host the grantee from the reactivation of Studentship;

c) Declaration under oath of compliance with the regime of exclusive dedication;

d) Any other documents proving the cessation of the impediment that determined the suspension of its Studentship and that it deems convenient.

This request must be submitted within 60 working days prior to the end of the current Studentship period that you are benefiting from, preferably as early as possible within this timeframe.

You must submit your request for renewal of Studentship by email to bolsas@fct.pt, and attach the following documents:

a) Opinion of the supervisor and the host entities in which they express their opinion on the forecast of the fulfillment of the agreed work plan and on the convenience of the renewal of Studentship;

b) Declaration under oath that he/she works under an exclusive dedication regime;

c) Certificate of enrollment for the applicable school year, signed and stamped;

d) Social Security account statement showing the contributions made to Voluntary Social Security in the period of Studentship that you are completing, if you have joined Voluntary Social Security.

If you do not benefit from any other mandatory social protection scheme (either within the social security system or other legally provided systems), and if you are not a disability or old-age pensioner, you can join the Voluntary Social Insurance while you are a research fellow.

You should contact the Social Security service of your area of residence. In addition to your civil and tax identification document, you will also need to present, among other documents, the declaration proving the status of grant holder issued by FCT.

Voluntary social insurance is not compulsory, so the grantees are free to decide if, and when, they want to join. At the time of joining, they are also free to decide in which tier they wish to make their contribution. Therefore, in the first instance, the grantee is responsible for paying SSV contributions. However, for all fellows who decide to join the SSV, the FCT always pays the contributions for the 1st level. If the grantee opts for a higher tier, he/she will be responsible for paying the additional amount.

Grant recipients who have informed the FCT of their adherence to SSV and who do not have any outstanding SSV payments with the FCT, receive every month the equivalent of the contribution to the 1st level. To do this, they need to send by email, to the email bolsas@fct.pt, the declaration of framework issued by the Social Security proving their adhesion to SSV.

At the end of each period of Studentship, together with the documents required for its renewal, the FCT must be sent the current account statement taken from Social Security or Social Security Direct, so that the SSV payments made by the grant recipient can be validated in the system. If the situation is regularized, the amounts will continue to be transferred monthly from FCT to the grant recipient. If it is necessary to make any adjustments, these will be made and the advance payment will be resumed as soon as the accounts are settled.

On the Social Security website you can consult the Practical Guide at:

https://www.seg-social.pt/documents/10152/14968/1004_inscricao_admissao_cessacao_ssv/7c972a7c-7c05-4242-a9d0-244c6304da85

The one-time allowance for participation in scientific meetings, in the amount of EUR 750.00, is automatically granted on the first monthly maintenance allowance.

Whenever the grant holder needs to carry out research work in a country other than that of the host entity, he/she may benefit from one of the following supports:

a) Supplementary training allowance, if the travel is due to training activities. The duration of this allowance cannot exceed six months and only grant recipients with Studentships of the in-country or mixed typology are entitled to this allowance;

b) The scholarship holders of mixed typology or abroad will receive, during this period, the amount applicable to Studentships abroad;

(c) In either case he may also receive a one-time travel allowance and, if the research work lasts for at least six consecutive months, a one-time installation allowance.

The one-time travel allowance is €300.00 for travel within Europe and €600.00 for travel outside Europe. The one-time installation allowance is €1,000.00, regardless of whether the trip is within or outside Europe.

The application should be submitted to FCT, preferably at least 60 days prior to the start date of work abroad. You should do so by email to bolsas@fct.pt, indicating the starting date and the duration of the period(s) in which you intend to stay abroad. The request must be accompanied by the following documents:

a) Advisor's opinion on the relevance of the trip abroad, by reference to the work plan of Studentship;

b) Letter of acceptance from the foreign institution that will temporarily receive the grantee;

c) Letter of acceptance from the scientific advisor at the foreign host institution.

If your degree-granting institution is Portuguese, FCT pays directly to the university the amount related to registration, tuition and fees, in the pre-established amounts. If the degree-granting institution is a foreign institution, FCT transfers the tuition fees/training costs directly to the grant recipient so that he/she can make the payment to the degree-granting institution, and is responsible for proving to FCT that the payment was made.

As a rule, the proof of payment of tuition fees must be contained in an original document, dated and stamped by the institution to which you paid the tuition fees, in paper format, sent by mail to the FCT address or delivered in person at the premises. Currently, on an exceptional and temporary basis, due to the constraints caused by COVID-19, the FCT accepts the same documents in digital format, under the terms of no. 1 of article 16-A of Decree-Law no. 10-A/2020, as amended, and should be sent to the email bolsas@fct.pt.

A bank document indicating the amount paid in euros and the equivalent amount in the currency of payment must be sent by e-mail. The amount evidenced must correspond exclusively to the amount charged for the registration, enrollment or tuition (not including banking or other transaction fees). Alternatively, the bank document must indicate the amount paid for the tuition fee and the respective exchange rate applied on the day of the transaction.

The tuition/matriculation/registration/training costs paid by the FCT to Portuguese universities corresponds to a total of 2,750.00€, regardless of the values applied by the different higher education institutions.

FCT pays up to a maximum of $8,000.00 in tuition fees per year abroad.

The amount of Studentship may be increased by the host institution under the terms of article 13(4) of the Research Grant Holder Statute. The same entity may also finance travel and subsistence allowances, as long as this support is not granted in the form of Studentship.

Since it is FCT's responsibility to certify that the top-up will not imply a violation of the exclusivity regime or a change in the work plan of Studentship, the grant recipient must send an opinion from the host institution specifying that the top-up to be awarded is not directly funded by FCT and that it does not result from any type of payment for any type of function performed or to be performed by the grant recipient.

You can find relevant information about the residence visa in Portugal on this page of the Foreigners and Borders Service (SEF): https://imigrante.sef.pt/solicitar/.

No. You can only pay the components of Studentship by bank transfer to accounts with Portuguese institutions IBAN (IBAN beginning with PT50).

All you need to do is present the bank proof of the new IBAN and resend the declaration duly filled out, which will be sent to you in the reply e-mail.

The document accepted to prove the degree of incapacity is the "Multipurpose Disability Certificate", issued under the terms of Decree-Law no. 202/96, of October 23, as amended.

The funding of the research Studentships awarded by FCT comes from the State Budget and from the Community budget through the European Social Fund (ESF). In this context, the rules for publicity of the funding granted must be strictly observed in all the work and/or creations carried out within the scope of the research Studentship that you receive.

Thus, all publications and scientific creations, including theses, published articles and books, reports, presentation posters, etc., must mention the financial support from the FCT and the EU. For this purpose, the documents referring to these actions shall include the logos of the FCT, the MCTES and the EU with reference to the ESF.

All information about the logos, as well as access to download them, can be found on the FCT website, at https://www.fct.pt/media/media-e-identidade-de-marca/.