Results of the special support "Portugal and the Holocaust: research and memory"

The FCT has released the results of the special support "Portugal and the Holocaust: research and memory", in which 6 research and development (R&D) projects of an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary nature were selected for funding under the project "Nunca Esquecer" - National Program around the Memory of the Holocaust. This support had a budget of 200,000 euros financed by national funds through the FCT budget.

The application period ran from December 18, 2020 to January 15, 2021 and 26 eligible applications were submitted. The 6 selected projects will receive funding of between €31,973 and €33,656 per project, for a maximum duration of 12 months.

The projects will cover the following lines of research and action: the provision of educational resources, in physical or digital format, including the creation and production of artistic content that highlights the importance of knowledge and memory of the Holocaust in the field of education, particularly in education for citizenship; the work of Portuguese people who stood out in various areas, namely in supporting the victims of Nazi persecution and extermination policies, the life journeys of Portuguese victims of the Nazi concentration camp during the Second World War, the role of Portuguese diplomacy, in which the figure of Consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes stands out, the work of journalists, taking into account their influence on shaping public opinion and the cultural representation and interpretation that arose from all these events; archival processing, digitization and study of Portuguese documentary collections relating to the aforementioned themes; and collaborative research that promotes best practices in knowledge exchange, public engagement and the impact of research on this theme.

Of the projects selected, 4 are coordinated by men and 2 by women. The committee of experts that issued a scientific opinion to support the decision of the Chair of the Board of Directors was made up of 10 members, 5 men and 5 women. The success rate of the applications was 23%.

The Memory of the Holocaust is the subject of Council of Ministers Resolution no. 51/2020, of June 25, and includes a program with a set of initiatives to strengthen knowledge, preserve memory and disseminate it. This special support for R&D projects "Portugal and the Holocaust: research and remembrance", based on the Holocaust and its conceptual framework, aimed to promote scientific research, developing new knowledge in various areas from a multidisciplinary perspective, with contributions from history, philosophy, human rights, religious studies, political science, law, sociology, literature, the arts, in short, with developments in the social sciences and humanities, reinforcing its presence on the national scientific agenda.