2017 Call for SR&TD Project Grants

(available only in Portuguese)

The process of communicating the results of Call for R&D projects in all scientific fields (Notice 02/SAICT/2017) has been completed. The list of applications proposed for funding and a summary of the results are available here.

Approximately €375 million has been allocated to R&D projects to be carried out over the next three years, resulting from joint funding from FCT, COMPETE2020, and the Portugal2020 Regional Operational Programs. This is the largest amount of funding ever allocated to R&D Calls in Portugal, approximately three times the total amount involved in Call last Call by FCT in 2014.

The information now made public includes the number and funding amount of eligible applications, the number and funding amount of projects to be funded, and the minimum ratings of projects funded by the evaluation panel. All applicants were notified by the various Managing Authorities involved and/or by the FCT (where applicable).

A Call 4,593 applications were submitted Call this Call , of which 3,304 were considered eligible, in accordance with the terms of Notice of the Call Call A total of 1,618 projects were recommended for funding in all areas of knowledge.

The applications were distributed among 33 evaluation panels, according to their respective scientific area. Each application was evaluated by two internationally recognized researchers, for a total of 417 evaluators, who agreed on their ratings in meetings of each panel. 

Within each panel, proposals were ranked solely on merit. The ranking is based on an assessment of the quality of the application, which evaluates the scientific merit of the project and the team, and the potential for economic and social value, including, where applicable, alignment with the Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3).

As established in Call Notice of the Call Call Notice of the Call a similar success rate was ensured across all evaluation panels in terms of the volume of eligible funding requested. Thus, for each evaluation panel, a "cut-off line" was defined based on the merit of the applications, regardless of the geographical location of the applicants and the source of funding (Operational Programs or FCT).

The following note includes a brief description of the evaluation process, following best practices in transparency and scientific rigor. In response to questions raised by some proponents, we emphasize that, within each panel, there are no projects funded with a rating lower than an unfunded project.

Projects whose classification is above the "cut-off points" are proposed for funding in one of the following ways: 1) by COMPETE2020 and the Regional Operational Programs, with national counterpart funding provided by the FCT, if the projects fall within the scope and are eligible for the respective budget allocations; or 2) by FCT, exclusively through national funds, in all other cases.

 Brief summary of the evaluation methodology

The evaluation of projects submitted to Call based on two evaluation criteria: A and B.

Criterion A, which accounts for 70% of the final score, assesses the quality of the project, considering its scientific and technological merit (A1) and the quality of the team (A2), the quality of the proposal and the feasibility of the work plan (A3), and the budgetary reasonableness and financial sustainability (A4). The classification of this criterion is entirely defined by the panel of experts in the respective scientific area.

Criterion B, which accounts for 30% of the final score, assesses the impact of the project, considering the potential for knowledge enhancement (B2), the additionality effect of the project (B3), and the contribution to the achievement of the set results (B4). In the case of projects eligible for structural funds, the strategic impact of the project is also assessed (using parameters such as the degree of integration into the smart specialization/RIS3 strategy and the response to societal challenges). Criterion B1 is assessed by the Operational Programs (integration into RIS3) and by the FCT (response to societal challenges). Criteria B2, B3, and B4 are assessed by a panel of experts in the respective scientific field.

The scoring for each criterion was based on the merit framework established prior to Call. As publicly announced, the evaluation by the panel of experts took into account the specificities of the different scientific areas and the diversity of the projects, not limiting itself to simple quantitative metrics or a mere accounting of indicators. The ratings assigned by the evaluators were agreed upon within each scientific panel.