It remains to be seen how much money will be allocated in 2025 to the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), the main institution funding science in Portugal. A week after presenting the state budget proposal for next year, the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation remains mum on how much will be allocated in the FCT budget.
The FCT budget includes the opening of competitions to fund scientific projects and research centers located in Portugal and also the salaries of most Portuguese researchers and doctoral students. For the third year in a row, the amount the FCT administration will be responsible for managing has not been included in the report or maps accompanying the Democratic Alliance government's state budget proposal.
While the 2024 Employment Report, submitted by the previous Socialist Party government, still contained a reference to an increase in the budget allocated to the FCT, in the document submitted last week there are no references to the FCT budget.
The FCT's 2024 budget was €675.1 million, an increase of only 2.5% compared to the 2023 budget. PÚBLICO has questioned the Fernando Alexandre-led ministry on several occasions since last Thursday, but has not received any response.
More upfront expenses
Since the new government took office, Fernando Alexandre has been highly critical of the administration he now oversees. The Science Minister explained his view that the FCT has a budget shortage problem. For example, at his July hearing before Parliament's Education and Science Committee, he noted that the foundation owed around €100 million to higher education and research institutions.
That same month, at the Science 2024 meeting, before an audience of researchers, he argued for greater predictability “in payments to institutions in the scientific and technological system.” “For my part, I will do whatever is necessary so that there is no shortage of resources. Then you have to do yours [parte]”, he said, addressing FCT President Madalena Alves. The Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation directly supervises the FCT, and is responsible for setting its budget.
Even without a budget issued by the Trust, there are more expenditures planned for the FCT in the coming year. For example, a large portion of the 1,100 contracts awarded through the FCT-Tenure program should start paying in 2025, and the FCT will be responsible for a large portion of these salaries in the first years, which are aimed at a doctorate degree integrated into teaching or research. . Jobs. Spending on doctoral integration among FCT staff will also increase and there should be a new supplementary budget for research centers – given that the results of the evaluation of these centers will not be finalized until the middle of next year.
In the OE of 2025, the government is also talking about increasing doctoral scholarships outside academia, which could also mean an increase in scholarships offered – which are also paid for by the FCT. In addition to other problems that have not yet been resolved, such as the risk of inactivity of the Portuguese research infrastructure, which includes equipment, archives or biological collections.
According to calculations provided by the government, the budget for the areas of science and innovation – excluding education in mathematics – has a total expenditure of 3,841.6 million euros, “which exceeds the implementation estimates for 2024 by 3%.” It is noteworthy that the total consolidated expenditures in the employment office for the year 2024 of the former Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education amounted to 3,597.5 million euros. In Fernando Alexandre's first budget, priorities seem to focus on innovation, with the aim of increasing doctoral degrees in companies, and creating Start-ups Or the intention to maintain a commitment to partnerships with North American universities.
Before the general vote, on October 31, the scientists have scheduled a national demonstration on October 23, where they will march between the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation and the Assembly of the Republic, in the fight against instability and underfunding of education. sciences. Fernando Alexandre will be summoned to Parliament in the first two weeks of November to discuss the sectors he supervises, before the final vote on the budget proposal that will be approved or rejected, after changes in the specialized committees, on November 29.
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