FCT presents new support for researchers on the World Science Day

The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) will mark World Science Day with the organization of a session on November 24 at the Thalia Theatre in Lisbon, starting at 14:30, which will focus on the excellence of research carried out in Portugal. Two new FCT funding programs will be presented at the session - the ERC-Portugal Program and RESTART Programme - as well as the Prize "Impact of Science on Economy and Society", to be launched by FCT and the Office of Strategy and Studies (GEE). The FCT's Arquivo.pt 2022 Awards will also be presented to the winning projects of this year's edition. Entrance to the event is free, subject to registration, and the program is available.

The World Science Day session will be opened by the Prime Minister, António Costa; the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Elvira Fortunato; and the President of the Board of Directors of FCT, Madalena Alves. The program also includes the participation of the President of the European Research Council (ERC), Maria Leptin, and the Minister of Economy and Sea, António Costa Silva, who will close the event. The Glycan Switch project will be presented: Glycans as main switches of B-cell activity in autoimmunity, by researcher Salomé Pinho (i3S), winner of an ERC Synergy Grant.

In the session FCT will present new initiatives to support the scientific community:

ERC-Portugal Program

The ERC-Portugal Program aims to support researchers developing their activity in national scientific institutions whose applications for funding from the European Research Council (ERC) had their projects considered of high scientific quality and recommended for funding, but could not obtain it due to exhaustion of the budget allocated to Call. Given the scientific merit of these applications, FCT will financially support, in the amount of 250,000€, the researchers responsible, so that they can start the proposed research project and improve the conditions for a future application to the ERC. The program is aimed at researchers who are finalists under the Calls of the ERC Starting, Consolidator and Advanced Grant, who are in these conditions and developing their activity in national scientific institutions.

The event will be attended by Ana Luísa Correia (Champalimaud Foundation), Nuno Raimundo (University of Coimbra), José Melo-Ferreira (University of Porto) and Henrique Veiga Fernandes (Champalimaud Foundation), who were candidates for the Studentships ERC and who will make a brief presentation of their projects.

RESTART Programme

O RESTART Programme is an FCT initiative that aims to promote gender equality and equal opportunities in science, supporting those who have opted for extended parental leave, through the funding of exploratory projects in any scientific field, up to a maximum value of 50,000€. This way, researchers will be able to restart their Research and Development (R&D) activities, making up for the period of their absence from research. It is expected that this program will have a greater impact on female researchers, as they are the ones who most resort to extended licenses, which imply a pause in their competitiveness, career progression or lead to the abandonment of research activity.

FCT-GEE Award Impact of Science on Economy and Society

This award is promoted by FCT together with the GEE (Ministry of the Economy and the Sea), an initiative that aims to distinguish scientific articles that contribute to a greater knowledge and point to evidence of how public and private investments in science and R&D have an impact on the economic and social development of the country, the competitiveness of companies, technology-based entrepreneurship, the internationalization of the scientific and technological system, or the response to societal challenges.

Recording of the session is available for viewing here.