Results of the special support "Portugal and the Holocaust: research and memory

FCT released the results of the special support "Portugal and the Holocaust: research and memory", in which 6 research and development (R&D) projects of interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary nature were selected for funding under the project "Never Forget" - National Program around the Memory of the Holocaust. This support had a budget allocation of 200 thousand euros financed by national funds through the FCT budget.

The application deadline ran from December 18, 2020 to January 15, 2021 and 26 eligible applications were submitted. The 6 selected projects will be funded between €31,973 and €33,656 per project, for a maximum duration of 12 months.

The projects will focus on the following lines of research and action: provision of educational resources, in physical or digital format, including the creation and production of artistic content that highlight the importance of knowledge and memory about the Holocaust in the field of education, particularly in education for citizenship; the action of Portuguese people who stood out in several areas, namely in the support to the victims of Nazi persecution and extermination policies, the life paths of the Portuguese victims of the Nazi concentration camp during World War II, the role of Portuguese diplomacy, where the figure of Consul Aristides de Sousa Mendes stands out, the action of journalists, taking into account their influence in the formation of public opinion and the cultural representation and interpretation that arose from all these events; archival treatment, digitalization and study of Portuguese documentary collections related to the themes mentioned; and collaborative research that promotes best practices in knowledge exchange, public engagement and the impact of research on this theme.

Of the selected projects, 4 are coordinated by men and 2 by women. The expert committee that provided scientific advice to support the decision of the President of the Directive Council was composed of 10 elements, 5 men and 5 women. The success rate of the applications was 23%.

The Memory of the Holocaust is the object of Council of Ministers Resolution no. 51/2020, of June 25th, and includes a program with a set of initiatives for the strengthening of knowledge, preservation of memory and dissemination. This special support for R&D projects "Portugal and the Holocaust: research and memory", with the Holocaust and its conceptual framework as a reference, aimed to promote scientific research, developing new knowledge in various areas from a multidisciplinary perspective, with contributions from history, philosophy, human rights, studies of religion, political science, law, sociology, literature, the arts, in short, with the developments in the social sciences and humanities, reinforcing its presence on the national scientific agenda.