Fulbright and FCT sign cooperation protocols

On January 16, the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the Fulbright Commission signed three cooperation protocols that strengthen cooperation and scientific exchange between Portugal and the United States of America (USA).

Fulbright Studentships will thus receive financial support from the FCT in 2014, both for PhD programs at accredited universities in the USA, and will also allow PhD professors and researchers to teach and/or carry out research projects at universities and research centers in the USA.

FCT funding for Fulbright Doctoral Studentships is €18,500 per scholar (maximum) for the first year of studies with the possibility of additional funding in the second and third year, for a total of 10 Studentships to be awarded. In the case of Studentships for Professors and Doctoral Researchers, funding for three Studentships is equivalent to up to €8,880 depending on the length of stay.

To bring the two countries closer together, the FCT will also fund five FulbrightStudentships for invited American professors and researchers, who will be able to teach and carry out research projects in Portuguese universities and research centers for three months.

At the signing of the protocols, Miguel Seabra, President of the FCT, stressed the impact of the Fulbright program on relations between the US and Europe, particularly with Portugal. He also highlighted the advantages of this cooperation, which reinforces the quality of training for Portuguese students in the USA, by supporting candidates and providing access to quality programs that the Fulbright Commission allows. Virginia L. Staab, President of the Board of Directors of the Fulbright Commission, focused on the evolution of the Commission, which is celebrating its 54th anniversary this year, highlighting the role of its partners and the importance of new ideas that will continue to allow Fulbright to grow. 

The Fulbright Commission and its Information Center are now operating in the FCT building, under one of the protocols signed. The Commission's historical archive is also now part of the FCT's Historical Archive of Science and Technology (AHCT). In a partnership that also involves the Institute of Contemporary History (Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universidade Nova), the archive that illustrates more than 50 years of exchange and sharing of knowledge with the USA will thus be processed and made available for study by the scientific community. The archive includes the files of Portuguese and American grantees funded with Fulbright support since the 1960s, as well as minutes of meetings of the Commission's Board of Directors.