Interview with FCT President in Nature magazine

The president of FCT, Miguel Seabra, recently unanimously elected to lead Science Europe from September 2014, answered questions from Nature magazine about the balance between homogenization and cooperation in research in Europe. Emphasizing the role that Science Europe has played as a "third voice" (alongside governments and the European Commission) in the debate on the creation of the European Research Area (ERA), Miguel Seabra explained that the organization's opinion is that "the diversity of [research] systems [research] systems is an asset and not a disadvantage," such that "we [Science Europe] do not share the vision of a federalized, homogeneous, centralized European research system."

The interview took place during the third annual meeting of the Global Research Forum, where more than 60 research and science funding organizations, including FCT, discussed measures for establishing a common basis for funding early-career researchers and open access to scientific publications and data. On the latter topic, Miguel Seabra stressed the indisputable importance of open access for the advancement of science and drew attention to some issues that Science Europe takes seriously: flexibility in the approaches adopted, quality of repositories, and associated costs. The approach of the European organization he will lead is to "understand the positions involved, without taking an arrogant attitude."

When asked about the impact of austerity on the Portuguese research system, Miguel Seabra explained that “since 2011, we [the FCT] have been able to pay the same amounts, or slightly higher amounts, as a result of an effort to make better use of European structural funds for science, which make up a third of the FCT’s budget.  According to the President of the FCT, this effort will help to meet the challenge of improving the quality of the system, after 10 to 20 years of unquestionable quantitative growth. Funding is more competitive, "in the context of the crisis and the exponential growth of the scientific community." The FCT has been introducing new rules, in accordance with internationally accepted standards for peer review, in order to ensure greater transparency and rigor in the evaluation process.

Science Europe comprises 50 organizations that support or conduct scientific research in 27 European countries, representing an annual budget of €30 billion. Created in October 2011, its aim is to promote the collective interests of its members and to create a platform for collaboration on science policy and activities. In September 2014, Miguel Seabra succeeded Paul Boyle (Chair of the UK Economic and Social Research Council) as President. The President of Science Europe is elected by the General Assembly for a two-year term.