Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT Portugal)

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) is the Portuguese funding agency for science and technology, set up in 1997. Today, FCT also coordinates public policies for the Information Society in Portugal (since 2012), and manages the national research and education network (NREN), providing high-performance computing and communication services to the research and education communities (since 2013). We are a publicly funded government agency, under responsibility of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. FCT's vision is to: - Establish Portugal as a global reference in research and innovation; - Ensure that knowledge generated by scientific research is used fully, for economic growth and the wellbeing of all citizens. Portugal has a well-established research base: diverse, productive and internationally competitive. It drives new areas of frontier science, underpins knowledge-based innovation and is set to contribute to solving the challenges faced by modern societies. FCT support cuts across the entire spectrum of Portugal’s science base: talented people, groundbreaking research projects, internationally competitive centres, and state-of-the-art infrastructures. FCT provides funding and support across all areas of research: exact sciences and engineering, life and health sciences, natural and environmental sciences, social sciences and the humanities. For greater economic impact and growth, FCT connects research with industry through several dedicated programmes, in close collaboration with other agencies in Portugal. Science is global. FCT acts internationally, with both established and emerging science nations, ensuring researchers in Portugal have access to international research programmes, funding and networks. The FCT community is made up of tens of thousands of researchers. Together, we work towards making our vision a reality.