Provisional results of Call 2020 PhD Studentships Call

The FCT announced the provisional results of Call the Award of Studentships for Doctorates 2020, which provides for the award of 1,350 Studentships. Call year Call received 3,797 applications, 400 more than in 2019. The approval rate was 41.6% of the total number of applications eligible for funding (with a grade of 3.00 or higher). The total investment approved for this Call to €101,682,000.00 (one hundred and one million, six hundred and eighty-two thousand euros).

Call year Call involved the participation of 407 evaluators, distributed across 36 scientific panels, who analyzed and classified the applications and ranked them within the panel. Call Scientific Coordination team Call the number of Studentships be funded in each panel, taking into account the respective demand and scientific policy guidelines for Portugal in the European context (Higher Education, Research, and Innovation in Portugal – Perspectives for 2030).

A brief analysis of the provisional results Call shows that women accounted for 58.1% of applicants who achieved funding priority and men 41.9%. Studentships will be carried out entirely in Portugal account for 80.1%, while 17.0% will be mixed (part in Portugal and part abroad) and 2.9% will be carried out entirely abroad. Of the selected candidates, 80.8% are Portuguese nationals. In total, candidates from 43 countries, including Portugal, are proposed for funding. Among foreign candidates (19.2% of the total), those of Brazilian nationality (115 Studentships), Italian (41 Studentships), Iranian (15 Studentships), Spanish (12 Studentships), and German (10 Studentships) stand out.

FCT Doctoral Studentships are Studentships awarded in all scientific areas and are intended for the development of research work plans to obtain a doctoral degree through doctoral programs at Portuguese or foreign universities. The selection of candidates takes into account the merit of the candidate, the merit of the work plan, and the merit of the host institution and supervisors.

The provisional results of this Call communicated to all applicants, who now have access to the comments justifying the rating assigned to their application by the evaluation panel. If they disagree with the proposed decision, applicants may present their arguments at a preliminary hearing of interested parties, which will be analyzed by the evaluation panel.

The final results of Call announced by FCT on November 30, once the period for analyzing the preliminary hearings has ended. The process of contracting Studentships on this date, in accordance with FCT's Studentships Regulations. As in previous years, it is the scholarship holder who indicates, at the time of contracting the Studentship, the date for the start of funding for their Studentship, which may be between September 1, 2020, and August 1, 2021, with retroactive payment of Studentships, where applicable.