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Studentships

2022 Call for PhD Research Studentships

2022 Call for PhD Research Studentships

Latest News

21.10.2022 - FCT has published the final result of the 2022 Call for PhD Research Scholarships: Final List and Results by Panel. A total of 1451 PhD Research Scholarships were proposed for funding. (see News)
28.07.2022 - FCT announced the provisional results of the 2022 Call for PhD Research Studentships, which foresees the allocation of 1,450 grants. (See News)
22.07.2022 - Informative Note - The List of Evaluators that integrates the 37 evaluation panels of the 2022 Call for PhD Research Studentships was updated. For compelling personal reasons, it was indeed necessary to replace two evaluators (on the Clinical Medicine and Health Sciences Panel and the Specific Panel - Applications in a Non-Academic Environment), so the list of evaluators previously published has been updated and can be consulted.
17.06.2022 - FCT has published the composition of the Evaluation Panels for the 2022 Call for PhD Research Studentships.
13.04.2022 - The 2022 FCT PhD Studentships Call received 3130 applications. (See News)
11.03.2022 - FCT reminds that in this Call for PhD Studentships, in addition to applications in all scientific areas and with research work to be carried out in scientific and academic institutions, which must be submitted in the Regular line in scientific and academic institutions, an application line is also open for PhD studentships in which work plans are totally or partially carried out in non-academic entities, and such applications must be submitted in the Specific line for applications in a non-academic environment.
It should be noted that, however, to be admitted to the specific line of application, it is mandatory to specify, at least, one non-academic host institution, and to associate one member of the supervising team integrated in the non-academic host institution (minimum). If these requirements are not cumulatively met, the application will not be admitted to the call.
FCT also highlights that each candidate may choose only one line of application, hence submitting a single application in the call, under penalty of cancellation of all applications submitted.

Purpose and Overview

The 2022 Call for PhD Studentships aims to support researchers, in all areas of knowledge, who wish to develop research activities leading to a PhD degree.

PhD studentships are aimed at applicants enrolled in, or that comply with the requirements to enrol in PhD studies, and who wish to carry out research activities towards this degree, in any scientific domain.

In addition to the applications in all scientific areas and with research work to be carried out in scientific and academic institutions, this call opens a specific line of application for PhD studentships in which work plans are totally or partially carried out in non-academic entities, namely in companies, Collaborative Laboratories, Technology and Innovation Centres, Technological Interface Centres, Public Administration or third sector entities. It should be noted that, within the scope of this specific line, research activities can be carried out in collaboration with academic entities, promoting institutional cooperation. Applications with work plans to be carried out, entire or partially, in a non-academic host institution, herein referred to as applications in a non-academic environment, must be submitted in the corresponding application line and will be evaluated by a specific panel.

The research activities of applications submitted to the regular line of applications may be carried out in any environment of production and dissemination of knowledge, national or international, including higher education institutions, R&D units, Associated Laboratories, State Laboratories and other public research institutions, as well as private non-profit institutions developing R&D activities.

The work plan may be entirely or partially carried out in a national institution (national or both in Portugal and abroad studentship, respectively), or in a foreign institution (abroad studentship). In case of a studentship carried out both in Portugal and abroad, the work plan period in a foreign institution cannot exceed 24 months.

As a rule, studentships are annual, and can be renewed for the number of months for which they have been requested. No studentships are granted for periods of less than 3 consecutive months or more than 48 months.

Who Can Apply

Portuguese citizens, citizens of EU member states and citizens from third-party states, stateless citizens and citizens beneficiaries of political refugee status.

Applicants need to:

  • Be a citizen permanently and usually living in Portugal in case the work plan will be carried out entirely or partially at foreign institutions (both in Portugal and abroad or entirely abroad); this requirement applies to both national and foreign citizens.
  • Not have held any prior PhD or PhD in Industry studentship directly funded by FCT, of any duration;
  • Not to hold a doctoral degree.

Funding

Selected applicants will have monthly allowances and supplementary support, according to the established in the Regulation (RBI), which may include tuition fees, support for complementary training activities or presentation of work at scientific meetings, personal accident insurance and, when applicable, travel and relocation costs.

The studentships granted in this call shall be financed by the FCT with funds from the State Budget and, whenever eligible, by the European Social Fund (ESF) within the framework of PORTUGAL2020, namely through the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (NORTE 2020), Programa Operacional Regional do Centro (Centro 2020) and the Programa Operacional Regional do Alentejo (Alentejo 2020), or any other funding schemes that might be approved, according with the legal requirements to the regulatory provisions applicable for this purpose.

How and when to apply

Applications should be submitted online, using the respective application form, in MyFCT portal from March 8th 2022. Each applicant may submit only one application, regardless of the line of application he/she is applying for.

Before application submission, FCT recommends the careful reading of the following documents: Notice of the Call, Annex I to the Notice of the Call (Evaluation Guide), Application Guide, Research Fellowship Holder Statute and the FCT Regulation for Students and Fellowships.

Evaluation

Proposals will be assessed by evaluation panels specifically set up for this call, involving experts of acknowledged experience and scientific merit. Applications will be graded using scores from 0 (0,000 minimum score) to 5 (5,000 maximum score), for each of the following three criteria:

  1. merit of the applicant;
  2. merit of the work plan;
  3. merit of the hosting conditions.

The relative weights of three criteria are 40%, 40%, 20%, respectively.

The merit of the applicant will be evaluated based on two sub-criteria: academic career, with a relative weight of 50% and personal curriculum, also with a relative weight of 50.

Applicant personal curriculum will be analysed in an integrated manner, considering a global view of scientific and professional achievements.

Assessment of the work plan and of the host institution conditions will be based on a duly substantiated assessment decision by the review panel.

Applications will be ranked according to the weighted average of the scores for each three criteria.

The information on this page does not replace or override any requirements set forth in the FCT Regulation for Students and Fellowships, in the Notice of the Call and in the Evaluation and Application Guides applicable to the call.