Provisional results of the Call of Studentships for PhD Research 2020

FCT has announced the provisional results of the Call for the Attribution of Studentships of Research for PhD 2020, which foresee the attribution of 1.350 Studentships. This year's Call welcomed 3,797 applications, 400 more than in 2019. The approval rate was 41.6% of the total applications eligible for funding (with a score of 3.00 or higher). The total investment approved for this Call amounts to 101,682,000.00€ (one hundred and one million, six hundred and eighty-two thousand euros).

This year's Call involved the participation of 407 evaluators, distributed among 36 scientific panels, who analyzed and classified the applications and proceeded with their seriation in the panel. The Scientific Coordination team of Call defined the number of Studentships to be funded in each panel, taking into account the respective demand and the scientific policy guidelines for Portugal in the European context(Higher Education, Research and Innovation in Portugal - Perspectives for 2030).

A brief analysis of the provisional results of the 2020 Call shows that women represented 58.1% of the applicants that achieved funding priority and men 41.9%. The Studentships that will be carried out entirely in Portugal correspond to 80.1% while 17.0% will be mixed (part in Portugal and part abroad) and 2.9% will be carried out entirely abroad. Of the selected applicants, 80.8% are of Portuguese nationality. In total, candidates from 43 countries, including Portugal, are proposed for funding. Of the foreign candidates (19.2% of the total), Brazilian (115 Studentships), Italian (41 Studentships), Iranian (15 Studentships), Spanish (12 Studentships) and German (10 Studentships) stand out.

The FCT Doctoral Research Grants Studentships are Studentships of merit awarded in all scientific areas and are intended for the development of research work plans for obtaining the academic degree of doctor, through doctoral programs in Portuguese or foreign universities. The selection of candidates takes into account the merit of the candidate, the merit of the work plan and the merit of the host institution and advisors.

The provisional results of this Call have been communicated to all candidates, who now have access to the comments that justify the classification assigned to their application by the evaluation panel. In case of disagreement with the proposed decision, candidates may present arguments in a prior hearing of interested parties that will be analyzed by the evaluation panel.

The final results of Call will be announced by FCT on November 30, after the period for review of the prior hearings has ended. The contracting process of Studentships will begin from this date, in accordance with the FCT Regulation of Studentships of Research. As in previous years, it is the grant recipient who indicates, when contracting the Studentship, the date for the beginning of the funding of his/her Studentship, which may be between September 1, 2020 and August 1, 2021, with retroactive payment of Studentships, when applicable.