FCT announces results of Call the Award of Studentships and Postdoctoral Studentships 2016

The Foundation for Science and Technology today announced the results of Call 2016 Call for the award of Studentships and postdoctoral Studentships . A total of Studentships 800 Studentships and 400 postdoctoral Studentships were awarded, representing an increase of around 30% compared to the number of Studentships at the same stage of Call .

Studentships are grants awarded to researchers to carry out scientific and technological activities on a full-time basis. The Studentships award process Studentships several stages between application and the announcement of results. After submission, and once their eligibility had been verified, applications were assessed separately by two recognized researchers in each scientific field, with external experts being consulted where necessary.

In Call 5,262 applications were submitted, of which 4,406 were evaluated—2,392 for Doctorates and 2,014 for Post-Doctorates—by 464 evaluators from 39 scientific panels. The success rate for applications was thus 27%. The equivalent figure for Call 2015 Call was 24%.

Scholarship recipients now selected for funding may set the start date of their work plan between October 1, 2016, and September 1, 2017. In cases where the work plan has been started before the Studentship contract is signed, the amounts for the months that have elapsed in the meantime will be paid retroactively.

After the individual evaluation of all applications, the researchers from each panel met in person to reach a consensus on the evaluations in the context of their disciplinary area and to rank the candidates by type of Studentship. Based on the available funding, the FCT proposed to fund the highest-ranked candidates in each panel. All candidates have since been informed of the funding proposal and have access to the panel's comments justifying the ranking assigned to their application. After notification, and in case of disagreement with the proposed ranking, candidates have up to 10 days to present their arguments to the panel at a Preliminary Hearing.

In 2017, FCT will significantly bring forward the schedule Call Studentships Call . As announced, the period for submitting applications for Call for the Award of Studentships will run during the month of March. The documentation relating to this Call published in the coming days.

See the number of Studentships per panel.