Call IC&DT projects in the Montesinho Natural Park region

From July 15 to September 30, the FCT opens calls for proposals for Scientific Research and Technological Development Projects (IC&DT) to promote Research and Development (R&D) activities to be carried out in the region of the Montesinho Natural Park, which is part of the Natura 2000 Network and the United Nations' Iberian Meseta Biosphere Reserve.

The budget for this Call for Projects is 1.5 million euros, with a maximum funding limit of 250,000 euros per project and a duration of up to 36 months.

The Montesinho Natural Park represents a mountain area with unique characteristics, constituting the last relief in the north-east of Portugal, which still belongs to the north-west of the Peninsula, and borders the Iberian Meseta. The proposals to be submitted must take into account the projection for the future and new knowledge in several of the five thematic areas: 1) observation and knowledge of the earth; 2) climate and climate change; 3) sustainable agrarian systems, including agriculture, forestry and agroforestry systems, and the valorization of their products from a bioeconomy perspective; 4) socio-cultural dynamics; and 5) biodiversity and biological resources, natural and cultural heritage, and sustainable regional development.

This program aims to attract research groups of international excellence to work closely with teams from Portuguese institutions. Therefore, candidate projects should adopt a multidisciplinary perspective and international context, facilitating partnerships with experts and institutions of recognized merit.

The following can apply to the program, individually or in co-promotion: Non-business entities in the R&I system, such as higher education institutions, their institutes and R&D units; State or international laboratories based in Portugal; private non-profit institutions whose main purpose is R&D activities; and other public and private non-profit institutions that carry out or participate in scientific research activities. Companies of any nature and in any legal form may also apply, as long as they are part of IC&DT projects led by non-business entities in the R&I system, as part of an effective collaboration.

The implementation of the Montesinho International Research Program and the Montesinho Observatory - Dionísio Gonçalves is being promoted this Friday, June 19, at 2 pm, in the Library of the School of Technology and Management of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, at a session attended by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education, João Sobrinho Teixeira, the Secretary of State for the Enhancement of the Interior, Isabel Ferreira, and the President of the Foundation for Science and Technology, Helena Pereira. See the program here

More information in IC&DT Projects Montesinho Natural Park.