This website was discontinued on 20/12/2022. Visit the new website at www.fct.pt.

Skip nav

Career Development

2013 FCT Investigator Programme

Call for Applications

Purpose and overview

FCT wishes to support outstanding researchers, of all nationalities, who have the potential to develop innovative research and become established leaders in their field. Following the 2012 call, in which 158 new grants were awarded, FCT launches the 2013 call for funding of up to 150 FCT Investigator grants.

Read the Official Announcement of this call.

What’s included

FCT Investigator grants provide a competitive salary and start-up funding for those researchers with no on-going FCT-funded research as of 1st January 2014, via a FCT Exploratory Project Grant of up to €50 000.

This call is supported by the national budget of the Ministry of Education and Science and, when applicable, by the Programa Operacional Potencial Humano (POPH), of the QREN framework, within the European Social Fund of the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme (FP7).

Eligibility

All researchers holding a PhD degree, of any nationality, and in any research or academic field may apply.

There are three types of FCT investigator grants:

  • Starting Grant – aimed at researchers with more than 3 years and less than 8 years post-PhD experience at the time of application, with no need for previous experience of scientific independence;
  • Development Grant – aimed at researchers with a curriculum of exceptional merit and experience as an independent researcher;
  • Consolidation Grant – aimed at researchers with experience as an independent researcher, with a curriculum of exceptional merit and evidence of scientific leadership in a particular area of knowledge.

Further information on eligibility requirements may be found in the Official Announcement of the Call, in the Regulations and in the Application Guide.

How and when to apply

The call is open from 25 July 2013 to 17h00 (Lisbon time), 10 September 2013.

All applications should be submitted online, in English, via the FCT Investigator platform.

For further information on how to apply and detailed guidance notes, please download the Application Guide and the Ethics Guide.

Evaluation

Submitted proposals shall be evaluated by independent panels of international leading experts in each research area, according to the following evaluation criteria:

  • Scientific merit of the applicant
  • Career development plan
  • Scientific merit, innovativeness and feasibility of the research project

Applications shall be evaluated on a scale of 1 to 9. Only applications graded equal to or above 7 will be considered to have been approved.

Further information on the evaluation process is available in the Evaluation Guide.

The information on this page does not replace or override any requirements set forth in the Regulations or the Announcement of the Call for Proposals.