FCT launches POLEN Blueprint

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), through its digital services unit FCCN, recently launched the POLEN Blueprint, a service of the Research Data Management program POLEN.

The POLEN Blueprint aims to support the development, review, and validation of Data Management Plans (DMPs) in a single space, in an interactive and flexible way. It complies with Open Science best practices and FAIR principles, while also supporting compliance with the requirements defined by funders. POLEN Blueprint allows researchers and institutions to define clear strategies for organizing, preserving, and sharing data throughout the entire research lifecycle.

Implemented in partnership with OpenAIRE, CITE, and the University of Minho, POLEN Blueprint starts with a general area, accessible to any researcher, where it is possible to create, edit, and download a Data Management Plan, in accordance with the models of the main national and international funders.

The service also provides institutional areas, which allow participating institutions to develop their own PGD models, as well as manage users and internal workflows.

Currently, POLEN Blueprint already has two institutional areas in the pilot phase, associated with INESC TEC and the University of Aveiro. This phase will allow the service to be tested, the processes implemented to be validated, and contributions to be collected for its continuous improvement. Throughout 2026, it is expected that more institutions that are part of the National Network for Research Data Management (GDI) will be progressively integrated, as well as other organizations from the national scientific and technological system.

As part of the National Program for Open Science and Open Research Data (PNCADAI), funded by measure RE-C05-i08 – More Digital Science of the Recovery and Resilience Program (PRR), POLEN provides this and two other digital services at the national level which, together, support the various stages of the research data life cycle. For the active data management phase, the POLEN Sync data synchronization and sharing service was developed. For the data preservation and publication phase, the POLEN Data Hub was implemented.

For more information about the POLEN Blueprint service, please refer to the relevant support page.