Associate Laboratories – Draft Regulation for the Granting of Status and Funding

The FCT submits the draft Regulation for the Granting of Status and Allocation of Funding to Associate Laboratories in public consultation ( here ), for a period of 30 days, from the publication of notice no. 10377-C/2019 in the Official Gazette of the Union 2nd series, no. 177 of June 21, 2019 . Within the scope of public participation, and under the terms of article 101 of the CPA, interested parties must submit their suggestions to the FCT via the email address avaliacao.las@fct.pt .

Within the scope of the legal regime of research and development (R&D) institutions, approved by Decree-Law No. 63/2019, of May 16, 2019, the FCT is responsible for conducting the process of evaluating proposals for the creation and renewal of Associate Laboratories , as well as for its monitoring.

One Associate Laboratory is an R&D institution, or a consortium between R&D institutions, which is established to pursue certain national scientific and technological policy objectives. In this context, and within the scope of the strategy of diversification and densification of R&D institutions, the Associate Laboratories must have as their main objective to gather the critical mass necessary to achieve specific objectives of national scientific and technological policy and to deepen the development and promotion of specific scientific or technical careers, provided through an employment contract for an indefinite period or an employment contract for an indefinite period, according to the applicable legal regime. 

The draft Regulation for the Granting of Status and Allocation of Funding to Associate Laboratories aims to clarify the rules for the recognition or assignment of the status of Associate Laboratory to the entities that apply for it, thus ensuring the transparency and rigor of the process, as well as equitable treatment of interested parties. This draft Regulation is prepared in accordance with the provisions of the legal framework for research and development institutions, Decree-Law No. 63/2019, of May 16, 2019.