R&D Projects
Call for Proposals for Scientific Research and Technological Development Projects in all Scientific Domains — 2008
Announcement
Objectives and Priorities
The Portuguese government’s science and technology policy considers growth, reinforcement and consolidation of the Sistema Científico e Tecnológico Nacional (SCTN) to be a national priority in order to make the system more competitive, both within the country and internationally, and to facilitate articulation between centers of knowledge and business. In this framework, fostering and strengthening the capabilities of scientific and technological institutions by enabling research teams at these institutions to participate in scientific research and technological development (SR&TD) projects in all scientific fields is deemed particularly important.
Recipient Entities
Research teams from the following entities, either individually or jointly, may apply:
- Institutions of higher education, their Institutes and R&D Centers;
- Associate Laboratories;
- State Laboratories;
- Private, not-for-profit organizations whose principal object is science and technology activities;
- Companies, as long as they are integrated in projects led by public or private not-for-profit R&D organizations;
- Other public and private not-for profit organizations which carry out or participate in scientific research activities.
Regional Scope and Scope of Funding
Regional scope
The region to which the projects belong is determined by the NUTS II Region where the Proposing Organizations and participants are located.
Funding
Projects in which the Proposing Organization is located in the NUTS Regions of Lisbon or the Algarve or the Autonomous Regions are financed through national funding from the Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior (MCTES).
Projects in which the Proposing Organization is located in the NUTS II Convergence Objective Regions (North, Central and Alentejo) are co-funded with funds from the Operational Programme 'Thematic Factors of Competitiveness'. In these cases, any Proposing Organizations located outside the Convergence Objective regions are financed by Portuguese funds through MCTES.
Funding from the Competitive Factors Operational Programme shall take the form of non-reimbursable funding in the amount of 70% of eligible project expenses, or 50% in the case of companies. In the latter case, only applied research activities shall be funded. Companies located outside the Convergence Regions shall be funded at 50% through national funds.
The maximum funding per project shall be 200,000€.
Budgetary Appropriation
The FEDER budgetary appropriation designated for this call for proposals as part of the Operational Programme 'Thematic Factors of Competitiveness' is 50 million €.
Submission of Proposals
Proposals must be submitted between 26 November 2008 and 5:00 pm (Lisbon/GMT time) on 4 February 6 February 2009, on the proper electronic form, and must be submitted online at the following website:
https://concursos.fct.pt/projectos/
Projects in which the Principal Investigators exceed 100% FTE of time dedicated to FCT-funded research projects shall not be funded.
Proposals in which the Principal Investigators or Proposing Organizations are in a situation of unjustified noncompliance with the regulatory requirements with respect to submission of Technical or Financial reports or return of unused balances from previous projects shall not be accepted.
The maximum duration of the projects to be funded shall be three years.
Method of Selecting Projects to Receive Support
The evaluation shall be done by international panels of independent reviewers, to be set up for each scientific area.
The selection method and ranking of projects is based on a Project Merit Indicator using the following criteria, which are described in greater detail in the Regulations Governing Access to Funding for Scientific Research and Technological Development Projects:
- Scientific merit and innovative nature of the project from an international standpoint,
- Scientific merit of the research team,
- Feasibility of the plan of work and reasonableness of the budget,
- Contribution to increasing the body of knowledge and competence of the National Science and Technology System (expected effects and results).
For the purpose of selection and decision-making regarding funding, projects shall be ranked in decreasing order of the score obtain in the review process.
Publication and further Information
This Announcement and other pertinent items and information are available on the websites of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia and of the Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade.
Information regarding the contents of the application form may be requested by e-mail from concursoprojectos2008@fct.pt. For information regarding questions related to the technical aspects of the website, please contact the webmaster by e-mail at webmaster@fct.pt.
26 November 2008