Call of IC&DT Projects in the region of the Montesinho Natural Park

FCT opens applications from July 15 to September 30 for the submission of proposals for Scientific Research and Technological Development (IC&DT) projects for the promotion of Research and Development (R&D) activities to be carried out in the region of the Montesinho Natural Park, part of the Natura 2000 Network and the United Nations Meseta Ibérica Biosphere Reserve.

The budget allocation for this Call project is 1.5 million euros, with a maximum funding limit per project of 250 thousand euros and a duration of up to 36 months.

The Natural Park of Montesinho represents a mountain area with unique characteristics, constituting the last relief in the northeast of Portugal, which still belongs to the Peninsular northwest, and borders the Iberian Meseta. The proposals to be submitted should take into account the projection for the future and new knowledge in several in five thematic areas: 1) observation and knowledge of the earth; 2) climate and climate change; 3) sustainable agricultural systems, including agriculture, forestry and agro-forestry-pastoral systems, and the valorization of their products from a bio-economy perspective; 4) socio-cultural dynamics; and 5) biodiversity and biological resources, natural and cultural heritage, and sustainable regional development.

This program aims to attract research groups of international excellence to work in close cooperation with teams from Portuguese institutions. Thus, candidate projects should adopt a multidisciplinary perspective and international context, facilitating partnerships with experts and institutions of recognized merit.

The following can apply to the program, individually or in co-promotion: non-business entities of the R&I system such as higher education institutions, their institutes and R&D units; state or international laboratories based in Portugal; private non-profit institutions whose main objective is R&D activities; and other public and private non-profit institutions that carry out or participate in scientific research activities. Companies of any nature and under any legal form may also apply, as long as they are part of R&TD projects led by non-business entities of the R&I system, within the scope of an effective collaboration.

The implementation of the International Research Program of Montesinho and the Montesinho Observatory - Dionísio Gonçalves is promoted this Friday, June 19th, at 14 hours, in the Library of the School of Technology and Management of the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança, in a session attended by the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor, the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education, João Sobrinho Teixeira, the Secretary of State for the Interior Development, Isabel Ferreira, and the President of the Foundation for Science and Technology, Helena Pereira. See the program here

More information at IC&DT Projects Montesinho Natural Park.