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Studentships research directly funded by FCT

Exclusive Dedication Scheme

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  • Research grant recipients must perform their activities in strict compliance with the work plan agreed upon under an exclusive dedication regime. Thus, it is only possible to carry out any other paid work or activity if it falls under one of the exceptions set forth in article 5(3) or (4) of the Research Grant Holder Statute, approved by Law no. 40/2004, dated August 18, 2004, as amended. In any case, the exercise of the function or activity that is intended to be accumulated can never jeopardize the execution of the work plan of Studentship.

    The accumulation of functions must always be previously requested and authorized by FCT, as the funding entity of Studentship.

  • Yes, you may receive remuneration arising from copyrights or intellectual property rights, as this is one of the exceptions to the regime of exclusive dedication established by law. Thus, remuneration from copyrights, such as royalties or others, from articles, books, works of art or similar, or remuneration from industrial property rights, arising from patents or trademarks, may be accumulated with your research Studentship .

    However, you must send a request to FCT by email to bolsas@fct.pt, specifying which rights you wish to receive the remuneration, as well as the framework that gave rise to them and whether this remuneration will be one-time or regular and, if regular, how regularly you expect to receive it. You should also attach a statement from the supervisor on the situation in question, stating whether or not the receipt of copyright remuneration jeopardizes the feasibility of the work program underlying the Studentship and indicating the period of completion of the work that gave rise to the receipt of royalties.

  • No. The Research Grant Holder Statute makes no mention of a ceiling for royalties.

  • What is compatible with the aforementioned regime is the receipt of remuneration deriving from the publication of the work and not from the performance thereof, since only the publication of the work constitutes the author's right, and the performance thereof is not necessarily compatible with the regime of exclusive dedication. Thus, if you intend to start an activity that will generate creations protected by copyright, regardless of whether or not it will generate copyright or industrial property rights, you will always have to verify whether or not it is compatible with the regime of exclusive dedication.

  • Yes, activities such as workshops, summer schools, seminars, conferences, lectures, short-term training sessions, etc., are compatible with the regime of exclusive dedication. It should be noted that these are sporadic events, of short duration and not habitual, that is, they are not repeated over long periods.

  • You must submit your request by email to bolsas@fct.pt, indicating the frequency and duration of the actions to be taught, attaching the following documents:

    a) Advisor's opinion on the activity in question, stating whether or not it compromises the feasibility of the work program underlying Studentship;

    b) Declaration of the entity that made the collaboration invitation, certifying the terms of the collaboration, namely the period and the number of daily hours of its exercise.

  • Yes, as long as they are attributed in the context of carrying out the tasks underlying the work program funded by Studentship. Please note that the amount to be received is limited to per diem / travel expenses and cannot constitute a separate research Studentship .

  • You should address your request to FCT by email, to the email bolsas@fct.pt, attaching the following documents:

    a) Advisor's opinion, contextualizing the allowances/travel expenses;

    b) Document from the institution that finances the allowances.

    It should be taken into account that the awarding of per diems does not allow the grantee to receive the complementary training allowance for the same travel, since such accumulation would constitute double funding for the same purpose.

  • Yes, within certain limits. The Research Grant Holder Statute only allows the accumulation of Studentship in cases of participation in bodies of the host institution itself or, in the case of bodies external to the host institution, only in advisory bodies. However, note that when the law calls for participation in bodies, it means participation as a full member of the body. Thus, by way of example, the functional assignment of someone to a particular body, for example as a collaborator or employee, does not constitute participation in that body.

  • You should request the accumulation of Studentship with participation in organs by email to bolsas@fct.pt, explaining the organ you want to be part of, the institution it belongs to, the foreseeable start date and, whenever possible, the foreseen end date of such participation and attach the following documents:

    a) Declaration of the supervisors, clarifying whether or not this participation jeopardizes the feasibility of the work plan underlying Studentship;

    b) Document issued by the host institution if you intend to participate in the institution's bodies, proving the appointment to the position/function and stating the terms of that collaboration, namely how long it takes, whether or not it is remunerated and in what form;

    c) Document issued by the institution with which you will collaborate, if you intend to participate in bodies of an institution other than the host institution, proving the appointment to the position/function, the nature of the body in question and certifying the terms of that collaboration, including the time during which it takes place, whether or not it is remunerated and in what form;

    d) Declaration of the person responsible for the host institution authorizing said participation.

  • You may, provided that the Calls, exams or assessments in which you carry out the mentioned activity are external to your host institution. You may also participate in committees that issue opinions, but only if these opinions have been requested by national or international bodies.

  • You must request the accumulation by email, to the email bolsas@fct.pt, indicating which jury or evaluation commission you were invited to participate in and, if applicable, that your participation is to issue an opinion requested by a national or international body, indicating which body. You must attach the following documents:

    a) Advisor's opinion on the activity in question, stating whether or not it compromises the feasibility of the work program underlying Studentship;

    b) Declaration of the entity that made the collaboration invitation, certifying the terms of the same, namely the period and the number of daily hours of exercise of the referred activity.

  • Yes, although the teaching service must observe the following limits:

    a) It must be provided in a higher education institution;

    b) It cannot imply the sole responsibility of the grantee for courses or course units;

    c) It cannot exceed four hours in any one week;

    d) May not exceed an average of three hours per week per semester.

  • Teaching activities are considered to be all those that teachers are specifically responsible for performing, under the terms of their respective career statutes, including preparing and teaching classes and monitoring/guiding students, among others.

  • You should request the accumulation by email to bolsas@fct.pt, indicating the institution where the teaching service will take place, the respective workload (in hours per week and average per semester), as well as the start and end date. The following documents should be attached:

    a) Statement issued by the entity where you intend to teach, certifying the number of effective hours you will teach per week in each semester, the average number of hours per semester, and whether or not teaching implies the exclusive responsibility for the curricular units;

    b) Opinion of the advisor acknowledging the accumulation of Studentship with teaching activities, clarifying whether or not it puts into question the feasibility of the work plan;

    c) Declaration of the head of the host institution authorizing the exercise of the teaching activity.

  • Yes, the accumulation of Studentships with participation in scientific research projects is generally allowed, even if the project takes place in another research institution. However, please note that it is not possible to accumulate your Studentship contracted with FCT with another Studentship assigned within the project, and that the accumulation of Studentship with any paid activity should always be framed within one of the exceptions to the regime of exclusive dedication. Participation in the project must never jeopardize the punctual execution (i.e., point by point and within the given time frame) of the work plan.

  • You should request the accumulation of Studentship with the participation in projects by e-mail, to bolsas@fct.pt, identifying the project in which you intend to participate, the respective institutional context and, preferably, the connection of the activities to be developed with your current work plan. You must attach the following documents:

    a) Statement from the supervisor clarifying: whether or not said participation puts into question the feasibility of the work plan underlying Studentship; whether the participation is continuous or occasional; whether the participation is remunerated or financed and in what manner;

    b) Statement from the head of the host institution authorizing the grantee's participation in the identified IC&DT project.

  • Any accumulation of funding to support periods of mobility must always be previously requested to FCT.

    In any case, you cannot accumulate, in the same period, the complementary training allowance, or the change to the monthly maintenance allowance for working in a country institution different from the Host Institution, or any other of the allowances foreseen in article 18 of the RBI relative to the same mobility/period.

  • You must send your request by e-mail to bolsas@fct.pt, indicating in the subject of the message the reference of your Studentship FCT, attaching the following documents:

    1. Statement from the advisor, stating the relationship of the mobility/mission/funding to be made/received with the fulfillment of the work plan of Studentship funded by FCT.
    2. Regulation of the Studentship/financing to be accumulated, also mentioning the type of expenses covered and the period of the financing to be attributed.
  • The following rules apply to expenses or income, related to participation in R&D projects, of grant recipients directly funded by FCT:

    1. Participation must have been previously authorized (see question 16);
    2. If the participation in the project is on behalf of the grantee's connection to the Host Institution, the expenses related to the project (accommodation, travel, conferences) must be financed by the institution, in accordance with article 19 of the Regulation of Studentships of Research, nos. 1 and 2. Such payment must, for public institutions, obey the per diem regime regulated, at national level, by DL 106/98 (for national territory) and DL 192/95 (for international travel);
    3. If the grantee's participation takes place within the framework of his/her connection to an entity other than the Host Institution, per diems cannot be covered unless it is demonstrated that this is legally possible according to the regime of the entity paying the per diems;
    4. Whenever travel, subsistence or other expenses are actually borne by the institution or paid to the grant recipient, the grant recipient cannot benefit, for the same assignment, from the corresponding support under the Studentship FCT; namely complementary training allowance, change of amount due to activity in a different country, or travel/installation allowances.
    5. The entity financing the referred expenses is responsible for the compliance with the applicable procedural legality.
  • You should request the accumulation of Studentship with the other activity by email to bolsas@fct.pt, indicating the start date of the new activity and, whenever possible, the expected completion date, the nature of the connection under which you will provide this activity and, whenever possible, the identification of the institution that will benefit from it, whether or not it is a paid position or activity and whether or not it is permanent in nature.

    You must also specify whether or not the activity to be accumulated is compatible with the punctual execution (i.e. point by point and within the given time) of the work plan of your Studentship. You must attach the following documents to the application:

    a) Statement from the supervisor, indicating knowledge of the referred activity and stating whether or not it is of a permanent nature, whether or not it is compatible with the punctual fulfillment (that is, point by point and in the given time) of the work plan, and whether the activity is related (and in what way) to the research carried out in the context of Studentship;

    b) All documents that in his opinion may contribute to the clarification of the facts, with relevance to the decision, and that are included in his application.

  • No. The Research Grant Holder Statute states that the conclusion of an employment contract with the host institution is cause for termination of the Studentship contract, with the cancellation of the respective status.