Exceptional requests to change the contracted duration of Studentships

The awarding of Studentships implies a commitment by both contracting parties with regard to the terms of the contract, namely: the type of Studentship; the host institution; the supervisor; the work plan; and the duration of Studentship. Any change to these terms is exceptional (Article 17 of the Research Scholarship Regulations) and requires strong scientific justification, not least because the definition of the period requested for the Studentship the application is the responsibility of the applicant and is one of the relevant elements in the application evaluation process.

Such requests for exceptional changes do not imply the suspension of Studentships payments during the contractual period and under the contractual conditions.

In recent years, these requests for changes have become very frequent, thus increasing the waiting time for a response, whose procedures were designed for exceptional cases. In addition, many requests are made in the last quarter of Studentship term, which puts even greater pressure on the process, creating situations of fragility for scholarship holders.

Thus, while 1,100 requests for changes to contractual conditions were received in 2019, this number rose to 2,500 in 2022 and will be identical in 2023. In terms of the volume of Studentships contracted—around 8,000—this means that in two years, 62.5% of Studentships subject to requests for changes. All requests for changes arising from the pandemic period were responded to in full.

The FCT has reviewed its procedures in order to streamline these processes as much as possible. Of the 2,500 requests for exceptional changes received in 2023, 85% have already been responded to. Of the remaining requests, approximately 5% are in the process of being dispatched and 10% are under review. Of this total, less than 2% (approximately 45) correspond to requests for extensions that could potentially have implications for the payment of an extra-contractual period.

The FCT will continue to work to respond as quickly as possible to a growing number of requests and is committed to responding to outstanding requests within one month.

The FCT remains in direct and constant contact with all grant recipients and is sympathetic to the particular situations of each researcher, improving and speeding up the processes underway.