Call from Studentships of PhD 2017

The Foundation for Science and Technology has released the results of the Call for the Attribution of PhD Studentships associated with Call of individual applications of 2017. A total of 900 doctoral Studentships have been attributed, in addition to the more than 500 Studentships attributed in the FCT Doctoral Programs. There will thus be 1441 doctoral Studentships awarded in 2017. FCT has not funded such a high number of doctoral Studentships in a single year since 2011 (see the evolution of the number of Studentships awarded between 2006 and 2017). 

At Call in 2017, 2,760 applications were submitted, of which 2,453 were considered evaluable. There was a success rate of 37%; in 2016, the equivalent rate was 33%, and in 2015 it was 18%.

The fellows now selected can set the start date of their work plan between September 1, 2017 and August 31, 2018. The results are thus known before the start of the academic year, so that the doctoral students can better plan their research.

The Studentships research grants are a subsidy awarded to researchers to carry out activities of a scientific and technological nature under an exclusive dedication regime. The attribution process of Studentships included several phases between the application and the disclosure of the results. After submission, and after checking their admissibility, the applications were evaluated separately by two researchers recognized in the respective scientific area, using external experts whenever necessary.

After the individual evaluation of all applications, 305 researchers, distributed in 37 scientific panels, met face-to-face to consensualize the evaluations in the context of their disciplinary area and rank the applicants. Depending on the available funding, FCT proposed the funding of the highest ranked applicants in each panel. All applicants have since been informed of the proposed decision and have access to the panel comments that justify the ranking attributed to their application. After notification, and in case of disagreement with the proposed ranking, applicants have up to 10 days to present their arguments to the panel in a prior hearing of interested parties, which will be duly analyzed.