Statement on the Evaluation of R&D Units 2013

Following recent news reports and comments and opinions received through other channels, FCT reaffirms the following:

– Your complete confidence in the robustness of the evaluation exercise currently underway for the Research Units. The evaluation of the research units carried out by the FCT in collaboration with the European Science Foundation (ESF) is a regular evaluation exercise, provided for by law, which is proceeding as planned and announced, both in terms of procedures and the announced schedule;

On its website, the ESF reiterates the robustness and high standards of the assessment exercise.

– The evaluation exercise is conducted with complete transparency, rigor, impartiality, and in compliance with the best international practices recommended by the FCT and extensively described and applied by the ESF in numerous evaluation exercises;

– The Call regulations Call subject to public consultation and was widely discussed, incorporating proposals from organizations and members of the scientific community. The evaluation and application guidelines have been public since the beginning of Call explain, in detail, the evaluation criteria that were scrupulously complied with;

– FCT strongly rejects any direct or indirect interference in the evaluation process , which was closely monitored by ESF;

– The members of the evaluation panels were selected by the ESF in accordance with the most demanding criteria of scientific merit and proven experience in similar evaluation exercises;

– On this date, the Preliminary Hearing period begins for units that do not proceed to the second phase of evaluation, during which unit coordinators may contest any errors or mistakes that may remain in the consensus reports submitted by the evaluation panels;

– FCT is closely monitoring the 2013 Unit Evaluation exercise and has reaffirmed its commitment to collaborating with units that were not proposed to proceed to the second phase of evaluation, in order to identify the most appropriate solutions for defining their future strategy.