More Science, Better Society

The More Science, Better Society dialogues are designed to stimulate discussion of scientific and technological activity currently underway in Portugal by researchers within the scope of the Scientific Employment Stimulus Program, as part of a strategy for the next decade and with a particular impact on the implementation of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, based on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It includes sessions that aim to stimulate debate on the participation of Portugal and Portuguese institutions in the future 9th European Framework Program for Research and Innovation, 2021-2027, "Horizon Europe."

The convergence towards a Europe of knowledge over the next decade should mobilize and guide us. And while it is true that the latest statistics show a considerable increase in public and private investment in Portugal in recent years, as well as in the number of researchers, our joint effort must continue to combine the capacity and interests of the scientific community with the needs of citizens, businesses, and civil organizations. We benefit from the experience of launching public participation initiatives and laboratories by Ciência Viva and the preparation by FCT and ANI of mobilizing research and innovation agendas, but we must know how to raise the bar and our growing scientific maturity.

The Mais Ciência (More Science) dialogues, Better Society dialogues thus represent a continued effort by researchers and teachers to mobilize open dialogue between scientific and academic communities and Portuguese society through a continuous and systematic process of aligning strategies and ensuring mechanisms and ways to stimulate the production and dissemination of knowledge, in close relation to major societal problems and Portugal's development in the global context.

The More Science, Better Society dialogues include sessions presenting ongoing scientific activity by new researchers in terms of their experiences and challenges, as well as the presentation of scientific employment plans by institutional leaders.

The sessions, which will begin in Lisbon and Porto, will be complemented by a series of dialogues at Centros Ciência Viva (Science Centers), to be held throughout the country starting in November. These dialogues will be open to the public, but specifically geared toward young people and schools.

The presentations to be included in the More Science, Better Society dialogues refer to researchers and heads of institutions supported under theScientific Employment Stimulus Programin 2018, including:

• 500 doctoral researcher employment contracts in all scientific areas and in the four contractual categories: i) 276 Junior Researcher contracts; ii) 154 Assistant Researcher contracts; iii) 66 Principal Researcher contracts; and iv) 4 Coordinating Researcher contracts;
• 400 employment contracts for PhD researchers in all scientific fields under 67 scientific employment plans by institutions and/or consortia of institutions;
• More than 3,600 doctoral researcher employment contracts in all scientific areas within the scope of new R&D projects and the application of the new legal regime to stimulate scientific employment;

The ongoing monitoring of the scientific employment stimulus program has been carried out through the Scientific Employment Observatory, with regular updates published on the internet.

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session 1: Lisbon, October 31, 2018, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Thalia Theater

session 2: Porto, November 13, 2018, 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Almeida Garrett Library

Watch videos from both sessions of the event here.