FCT publishes results of the Evaluation of R&D Units

(Only Available in Portuguese)

The evaluation process for R&D units under the Multi-Year Funding Program is complete for 31* of the 32 panels into which the units are organized. The FCT publishes the results proposed under this process (see here), which have already been communicated to the coordinators of the candidate units. A total of 348 R&D units applied for this evaluation process, of which 62 are new units, including four that resulted from mergers between existing units, totaling 19,418 integrated researchers. The applications, submitted by February 9, 2018, consisted of the presentation of a report on activities over the last 5 years, the research team, and a strategic plan for the next 5 years.

This evaluation exercise involved 224 international evaluators with high scientific competence and experience, from 26 countries, 35% of whom were women, distributed across 32 panels (list of panels) who remotely analyzed the applications and carried out visits to all competing R&D units during the period from September 17, 2018, to June 21, 2019. The panels were also supported by 31 external experts from 12 countries.

The results show that 64% of the R&D Units evaluated were rated Excellent or Very Good by the evaluation panels: Excellent 31%, Very Good 33%, Good 24%, Poor 11%, and Insufficient 1%. Integrated researchers are distributed across R&D Units as follows: 43% in units rated Excellent, 35% Very Good, 17% Good, 5% Poor, and 0.2% Insufficient.

As a result of this assessment, FCT will award funding to R&D Units that have been rated Excellent, Very Good, and Good. Total funding amounts to €420 million for the period 2020-2023. These R&D Units were also awarded a total of 1,600 new Studentships , corresponding to an investment of €106 million.

The FCT provides the List of Proposed Results, the preliminary Final Report of the Evaluation Process Coordination Team, and the evaluation reports for each R&D Unit, grouped by panel. (See here)

Note: * Visits to the units evaluated by the Management panel will take place on a date to be set in the last quarter of 2019.