Call of R&D Projects 2017: FCT is paying 30% advances

The projects approved under the Call of R&D Projects in all scientific areas in 2017 are in the final stages of contracting. To date, 85% of the terms of acceptance of the approved projects have been validated by FCT. 

The value of the advance payment increased from 15% to 30% of the project's funding amount. FCT transferred about 80 M€ to the proposing research institutions, through national funds and Portugal 2020 European funds.

The change in the amount of the advance payment was the result of the joint effort of the FCT and the PT2020 Operational Programs to facilitate the start and execution of projects. The change in the payment rule provides greater liquidity to the investment needed for research, and contributes to simplifying the process of submission and analysis of expenses in which the FCT is engaged, since payment requests will now have larger financial volumes but the minimum number of documents in the sample remains the same - i.e., the number of documents needed to validate the expense is reduced.

In line with what is foreseen, the nearly 1,600 projects approved in Call have to finance the contract of a PhD researcher. With the beginning of the execution of the projects, the first Calls are being launched in this scope.