Editorial
The end of the year is traditionally a time to take stock. For the FCT, and its new executive team, it is particularly pertinent to reflect on what we have achieved in 2012, and on what still needs to be done in the coming years, towards the ultimate aim of achieving of scientific excellence and strategic sustainability in R&D in Portugal.
As this newsletter goes “to press” the first batch of FCT Investigators are about to be announced: over 80, highly talented, independent researchers, selected via a process of international peer review, to be the next generation of scientific leaders. By the end of the first five years of annual calls for the FCT Investigator programme, around 1000 Portuguese and foreign researchers will have been recruited, to underpin the research and innovation programmes of research institutions in Portugal.
The FCT Investigator programme is one of several instruments designed by FCT to prepare the national science and innovation system for the looming challenge of Horizon 2020 (2014-2020). It is crucial that the scientific community in Portugal is aware, and, above all, equipped to successfully apply to what is expected to be the largest EU budget for research and development and innovation ever. The stories of the seven latest European Research Council (ERC) grantees in this issue illustrate the increasing number of success stories that we hope will inspire others.
World-class, research-based, graduate education is indisputably crucial to ensure a steady stream of talented researchers and innovators. In 2012, 1157 PhD studentships (13% less than in 2011) and 664 post-doctoral fellowships (up by 8.5% compared to 2011) were awarded in the annual call. Besides the regular individual PhD studentship calls, we expect to launch a new scheme for competitive FCT PhD Programmes this. The selected PhD Programmes are expected to bring together university, research centres and industry resources, to train excellent scientists, well-equipped to contribute to academia and/or to the creation of knowledge-based businesses.
Also as this newsletter goes “to press”, the final panel meetings for the 2012 project grant call are being held: 723 million euro were applied for, by 5210 applications (including the call for projects under the agreement with the French Agence Nationale de la Recherche – ANR). For the first time, the portfolio of grants on offer included four types. Depending on the experience of the applicants and research team, the aims and duration of the project and the funding requested, researchers could apply for Exploratory Grants, R&D Grants, Excellence Grants or Consolidation Grants. In another change with previous calls, the review process was expanded: over 6000 external reviewers assessed the applications, which were then seen by one of 25 evaluation panels, with 263 international referees.
The year-in, year-out sustainability of funding for scientific research has long been a sore issue in Portugal. FCT is determined to find long-term solutions for this problem. It entails, obviously, securing a strong national budget for research, but also ensuring that all available funds are spent, within the timescale of research projects and institutional funding programmes. FCT has made a concerted effort to speed up repayments to grant holders and institutions, so that research is not interrupted. If the numbers are anything to go by, we’ve been successful in this effort: between January and October 2012, FCT transferred 41 million euros more to research centres than in 2011 (January to October), covering grants, institutional funding, fellowships and positions. Indeed, FCT will hopefully achieve close to full budget execution in 2012. We hope that this effort by FCT will be matched by the scientific community, with more accurate and efficient spending and claiming of expenses, so that we all play by the same rules.
As I wrote in a previous editorial, we are faced with a unique opportunity to adapt our research and innovation landscape to these challenging times. A vital area of opportunity is re-structuring the existing network of research centres and units, to make it more competitive and forward-looking. Next year, research centres can look forward to a bottom-up approach, in which, when applying for funding, they will have total freedom to either stay as they are or reconfigure, based on scientific goals and world-class track-records, that will be internationally evaluated.
Despite the difficult times Portugal, and Europe, are going through, FCT has maintained and even increased its funding portfolio in 2012. I’ve mentioned some in this editorial mentions some of them; others are described in this newsletter – the partnerships with Carnegie Mellon and UT Austin have been renewed, an ESA-funded space technology transfer programme is running. Together with a wider funding portfolio, FCT is also working towards improving communication links with the scientific community and the public - the “Centro Internet Segura”, featured in this issue, is bringing the issues of a safer internet to society as a whole. Crucially, we aim to make FCT a think-tank for science and science policy, with strong engagement of all stakeholders.
I could not end this editorial without expressing esteem and thanks to everyone at the FCT, on behalf of the executive team. The changes put in place over the past year would not have been possible without their hard work and dedication. With much still to do, we look forward to reflecting on two years at the helm of FCT, in a year’s time!
Miguel Seabra, President