Direção de Projectos (DP)

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES) announced last Wednesday, January 10, the creation of a funding mechanism to support the hiring of PhDs for scientific research careers in public higher education institutions (HEIs), with an allocation of 20 million euros. Despite the early interruption of the current legislature, the urgency of implementing a program to support scientific employment remained and, following the approval of the State Budget for 2024, the government is already discussing the criteria for allocating this funding with public higher education institutions.

The amounts earmarked to support the hiring of researchers will be allocated to public HEIs, to reinforce their budget allocations for 2024, and exclusively for the indefinite hiring of researchers. The amount per HEI will be proportional to the number of researchers hired by them, including those hired through private law subsidiaries set up or owned by the HEI in question, under Decree-Law no. 57/2016, of August 29, in its current wording, under program contracts with the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), whose contracts expire in 2024, 2025 and 2026. Eligible for funding are all Calls for a researcher’s career whose procedures – through the publication of the respective notices – have started from July 31, 2023 until the end of the first half of 2024. In the case of contracts started before January 1, 2024, funding will only take place from that date.

This funding mechanism is in addition to other funding instruments for the integration of researchers into permanent careers in higher education institutions, complementing the FCT-Tenure program, whose first edition Notice of the Call was published in November 2023, with the aim of supporting the hiring, in 2024, of 1,000 PhD researchers and teachers, exclusively for permanent positions. These measures pursue the goal of promoting the employment stability of doctoral graduates, enshrining the objectives behind the adoption of the Decent Work Agenda and Valuing Young People in the Labor Market, namely combating precarious employment in its various forms, as well as promoting the growing integration of researchers in higher education institutions, implementing the commitments set out in the Government’s program, which includes measures to strengthen the value of scientific employment, including strengthening the employment contract regime as a rule for doctoral researchers.

For the full MCTES press release, see the link.

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