Preliminary Results of the 8th Call for Proposals to Promote Scientific Employment – Individual Category

On September 30, the FCT published the provisional results of the Individual Scientific Employment Incentive Competition—8th Edition (CEEC Individual), under which 400 new employment contracts will be awarded to researchers with PhDs in all scientific fields, representing a financial investment of approximately 63 million euros. Across all eight editions held to date, the CEEC Individual has awarded a total of 3,100 contracts to researchers holding a Ph.D.

In this 8th edition of the CEEC Individual program, 2,956 applications were evaluated. The 400 researchers selected fall into two contractual categories: 243 Junior-level contracts and 157 Assistant-level contracts. Of the 400 selected applications, 17 were approved under Decree-Law No. 29/2001, of February 3; the remaining 383 contracts were distributed proportionally by evaluation panel and category, based on the number of applications evaluated.

Of the selected applications, 54% are from women and 34.5% are from researchers of foreign nationality. In addition to Portuguese nationals, the nationalities with the highest representation are: Italy (34 researchers), Spain (22), and Brazil (11).

The applications were selected through a peer review and evaluation process conducted by 32 panels composed of scientific experts with international affiliations, for a total of 428 reviewers. Women accounted for 49.8% of the reviewers. Click here to view the composition of the review panels.

Following the release of the preliminary results, a ten-business-day preliminary hearing period begins, during which unsuccessful candidates may, if they wish, comment on the proposed decision.

Employment contracts must be signed between the researchers and the host institutions within 90 days of the signing of the program contracts between the host institutions and the FCT. This will take place after the final results are announced (following the preliminary hearing).

The CEEC Individual is one of the funding instruments for hiring researchers established by the Scientific Employment Regulation (REC) issued in 2017 by the FCT, following the publication of Decree-Law No. 57/2016, and updated in 2023 (see the current version of the REC here). The Individual CEEC has been held annually since 2018.

Below is a table summarizing the eight editions that have already been completed.