FCT presents new support for researchers on World Science Day

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) will mark World Science Day by organizing a session on November 24, at the Thalia Theater in Lisbon, starting at 2:30 p.m., which will focus on the excellence of research carried out in Portugal. The session will present two new FCT funding programs—the ERC-Portugal Program and the RESTART Programme as well as the "Impact of Science on the Economy and Society" Award, to be launched by the FCT and the Office of Strategy and Studies (GEE). The FCT's Arquivo.pt 2022 Awards will also be presented to this year's winning projects. Admission to the event is free, subject to registration, and the program is available.

The World Science Day session will open with speeches by Prime Minister António Costa, Minister of Science, Technology, and Higher Education Elvira Fortunato, and Chair of the FCT Governing Board Madalena Alves. The program will also feature the participation of the President of the European Research Council (ERC), Maria Leptin, and the Minister of Economy and the Sea, António Costa Silva, who will close the session. The Glycan Switch: Glycans as the main switches of B-cell activity in autoimmunity project will be presented by researcher Salomé Pinho (i3S), winner of an ERC Synergy Grant.

During the session, FCT will present new initiatives to support the scientific community:

ERC-Portugal Program

The ERC-Portugal Program aims to support researchers in developing their activities at national scientific institutions whose applications for funding from the European Research Council (ERC) were considered to be of high scientific quality and recommended for funding, but were unable to obtain it due to the exhaustion of the budget allocated to Call. Given the scientific merit of these applications, the FCT will provide financial support in the amount of €250,000 to the researchers responsible, so that they can start the proposed research project and improve the conditions for a future application to the ERC. The program is intended for finalist researchers within the scope Calls Starting, Consolidator, and Advanced Grant Calls who meet these conditions and are working at national scientific institutions.

The event will be attended by Ana Luísa Correia (Champalimaud Foundation), Nuno Raimundo (University of Coimbra), José Melo-Ferreira (University of Porto), and Henrique Veiga Fernandes (Champalimaud Foundation), who were candidates for Studentships and will give a brief presentation of their projects.

RESTART Programme

The RESTART Programme is an initiative of the FCT that aims to promote gender equality and equal opportunities in science by supporting those who have opted for extended parental leave through the funding of exploratory projects in any scientific field, up to a maximum amount of €50,000. This will enable researchers to restart their Research and Development (R&D) activities, bridging the gap during their absence from research. This program is expected to have a greater impact on female researchers, as they are the ones who most often take extended leave, which implies a pause in their competitiveness and career progression or leads to them abandoning their research activities.

FCT-GEE Award Impact of Science on the Economy and Society

Award promoted by FCT in conjunction with GEE (Ministry of Economy and the Sea), an initiative that aims to recognize scientific articles that contribute to greater knowledge and provide evidence of how public and private investments in science and R&D impact the country's economic and social development, the competitiveness of companies, technology-based entrepreneurship, the internationalization of the scientific and technological system, and the response to societal challenges.

Recording of the session available for viewing here.