After a petition in late July due to changes in the rules of the applications of open individual research grants, the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) now corrected the conditions for access to these scholarships. However, the Fellowship Association for Scientific Research (ABIC) protested on Wednesday in front of the headquarters of the FCT, Lisbon, keeping criticism of the Portuguese scientific system is losing funding.
In late July, now with over a month late, the FTC launched tenders for the individual scholarships for doctoral and post-doctoral, specifying that candidates had the obligation to have defended to the master the deadline for submitting an application, in the case of open to doctoral grants, which would be until September 19. It applied a rule equivalent to the post-doctoral candidates, in this case: those who wanted to apply would have already defended the doctoral thesis.
“This policy removes many potential candidates who would have to survive for more than a year (between the conference and the beginning of the degree of exchange) without any income,” explained the ABIC a statement at the end of July.
On Tuesday, August 6, the FTC issued a clarification on its website on tenders for PhD scholarships, explaining that the concept of “closing date of the tender” refers “to 31 December 2013 “. So, who wants to apply for these scholarships must defend the thesis master’s degrees or doctorates by the end of 2013 and not later than 19 September. However, the delivery of applications to end September 19.
“This is a retreat from the FCT,” Andrew played Janeco, the direction of ABIC, in a conversation with the PUBLIC. Despite this change, the protest on Wednesday remained – in front of the headquarters were about 20 people – even with the ball for a meeting with officials of the FCT.
says ABIC is concerned about the decline in the number of fellows in Portuguese scientific system. In a meeting that the association had with officials of the FCT in June, they said “the number of doctoral and post-doctoral assigned in 2013 would be reduced by half,” explained André Janeco.
According to FCT, the “budget for 2014 is in preparation,” says turn the PUBLIC Ana Godinho, the communication office of the FCT. So even “can not come up with a number of scholarships.” However, “the number of grants awarded in the competition for doctoral fellowships must be added those that are assigned within the FCT PhD programs approved in the contest of 2012: more than 400 scholarships per year,” explains Ana Godinho.In relation to post-doctoral scholarships, Ana Godinho adds that researchers have gained funding for projects in 2012 have “the possibility of revising the budget headings in order to cover costs of post-doctoral scholarships.”
In 2012, 1186 were awarded scholarships and 668 doctoral scholarships for post-doctoral, values ??that are far from the maximum of 2007, which were given 2031 scholarships and 914 doctoral scholarships for post-doctoral. Since 1998, the year with fewer doctoral scholarships awarded was 2003, with 670 bags. Already the year with fewer scholarships for post-doctoral memo was that of 1998, with 164.
“There are many research centers of the faculties to replace the work of scholars in the work of undergraduate students and master,” said the PUBLIC during the protest, Maria Davila, the direction of ABIC and PhD student at the Faculty of Sciences Human and Social Universidade Nova de Lisboa. “It seems that the future of the country is volunteering.”
News updated at 16h43 with statements FCT
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