CEEC Individual: Results have been published

The results of the 1st Call Stimulate Scientific Employment - Individual(CEEC Individual 2017) were released today. This Call will award 500 PhD researcher contracts in all scientific areas and in the four contractual categories. 276 Junior Researcher contracts, 154 Assistant Researcher contracts, 66 Principal Researcher contracts and 4 Coordinating Researcher contracts are proposed for FCT funding.

The candidates were selected through an evaluation and ranking process carried out by 25 international panels and coordinated by José Carlos Marques dos Santos. The number of places awarded in each scientific panel is proportional to the number of candidates evaluated, with the same rate of contracts funded in all cases, which corresponds to approximately 12% of the candidates evaluated. 172 contracts were awarded in Natural Sciences, 95 in Engineering and Technology, 71 in Humanities and Arts, 67 in Social Sciences, 62 in Medical and Health Sciences and 33 in Agricultural and Veterinary Sciences. The distribution of contracts among the different categories also took into account the respective number of applications.

Of the 500 researchers now selected, 52% are women. The results of the Call also reveal the country's strong international appeal, since 99 researchers - 20% of those selected - are foreigners. 

Once the results have been announced, the prior hearing period begins, during which the candidates can present their assessment. Employment contracts must be signed between the researchers and the host institutions within 90 days of the signing of the program contracts between the latter and the FCT. The CEEC Individual is one of the funding instruments for hiring researchers defined by the Scientific Employment Regulation, launched in 2017 by the FCT following the publication of Decree-Law 57/2016. The next edition of the Call will run until the end of the year, as provided for in Decree-Law no. 60/2018.

Another avenue created by the Regulation - the Institutional ECEC, the results of the 2018 edition of which were recently released - will allow 400 researchers to be hired.

In 2018, FCT is also supporting other Scientific Employment mechanisms, such as the transitional rule of Decree-Law 57/2016, under which around 2,000 employment contracts will be funded. Calls for the selection of researchers to be hired have been opened by the institutions and many are still ongoing. The 2017 Call for projects in all scientific fields also promotes the hiring of around 1,600 PhD researchers, through Calls that are being opened by the institutions in which the projects are being carried out. For its part, funding for R&D Units in the 2017/2018 Evaluation process also includes the award of 400 work contracts for researchers. 

In all cases, the contract is signed between the host institution and the doctoral researcher, and is funded by FCT. In total, FCT expects to fund almost 5,000 contracts under the initiatives underway in 2018.