The Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P. (FCT) announces its 2024 Call for Exploratory Research Projects (ERPs) under the UT Austin Portugal Program.
The ERP Call is designed to help teams of researchers from non-corporate entities of the Portuguese scientific and technological system and The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) come together to conduct joint exploratory research activities in the leading scientific areas of the UT Austin Portugal Program.
This Call only funds resources and activities attributable to research teams of eligible Portuguese beneficiaries (supported entities). Nevertheless, through the Program’s budget at UT, the U.S. partner will grant funding to its faculty partnering with eligible Portuguese beneficiaries.
Please note that the information provided throughout this page does not exempt you from reading the official announcement and related documentation, available on the sponsor’s website.
Deadline
Submissions are accepted until January 22, 2025, 5 p.m. (Lisbon time)*
*Applicants must use a specific on-line form submitted through myFCT platform.
What type of research projects are we looking for?
Submitted proposals must aim to stimulate and promote Portugal’s international competitiveness through high-risk / high-impact research activities in three core areas of the UT Austin Portugal partnership: Advanced Computing, Space-Earth Interactions and Nanotechnologies. Proposals on Clean Energy-related topics are welcome, provided that they are framed within the broader core areas.
Proposed projects must configure groundbreaking, high-risk/high-reward projects with a potential for further expansion. Although exploratory research projects are not expected to achieve, during their standard time frame, the sort of results typical of longer projects, submitted proposals must be able to clearly frame the outcomes they should deliver in 12 months and link them to long-term goals for full value realization.
The ERPs should value impact, i.e., propose potential solutions to real-world problems, thereby going beyond the production of scientific papers.
Research Areas
Submitted proposals should fit in, at least, one of the following areas:
- Advanced Computing;
- Nano Materials for New Markets;
- Space-Earth Interactions.
Proposals addressing Clean Energy topics are also eligible, provided that they are framed within at least one of the three previous broader scientific areas.
For detailed information regarding the topics covered by each research area, please refer to the Terms of Reference, available for download on this web page.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to get an overview of the eligible topics in order to pick the core area that best aligns with their proposal. Proposals wrongly assigned by their proponents to a scientific area may end up being assessed by evaluators whose expertise does not relate to the topics addressed by such proposals.
What Portuguese entities are eligible to apply?
The Portuguese entities eligible to receive funding through the present call are:
- Higher Education Institutions, their institutes and R&D units;
- State, international or associated Laboratories with head office in Portugal;
- Non-profit private institutions whose main objective is R&D activities, including Collaborative Laboratories (CoLab) and Centres for Technology and Innovation (CTI);
- Other non-profit private and public institutions developing or participating in scientific research activities.
UT Austin also establishes criteria for their faculty and research staff to be eligible to co-lead a project application under this call. Always refer to the Call Announcement to consult the applicable requirements.
What are the criteria for consortium composition?
Submitted proposals must include:
- One or more Portuguese entities with eligibility status (as identified above);
- At least one partner at UT Austin. Proposals in the area of Advanced Computing may be led by a Principal Investigator affiliated with the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC).
Members of the UT Austin Portugal Program (e.g. Area Directors) are not allowed to participate as PIs, team members or consultants.
The project consortium may include, on the Portuguese side, collaborative institutions, i.e., companies and other similar entities, that may wish to invest in the exploratory research project and whose participation is likely to bring relevant expertise to the project. However, such entities will not be funded under this call.
Available Budget
The budget allocation for this call is €400,000 for eligible Portuguese institutions. Selected projects will receive up to €50,000 each to fund activities carried out by the Portuguese teams.
The UT Austin Portugal Program’s budget at UT Austin will fund its teams with between $50K and $100K per project to make possible for PIs to hire full-time PhD students who may spend some time in Portugal as exchange students during the projects. UT Austin teams will be officially notified of their selection for funding by the Program’s office at UT, not by FCT.
The Program is expected to support, at least, 8 exploratory research projects through this Call.
Duration
The maximum duration of a project is 12 months, extendable for a maximum of 3 months, upon formal request, in duly justified cases.
FAQs
Applications must be submitted only by the Lead PI in Portugal and the funding available through this call is solely aimed at eligible Portuguese entities. Nevertheless, the Portuguese research team is required to identify, at least, one Principal Investigator at UT Austin. In the area of Advanced Computing, full-time senior researchers from TACC are also entitled to lead projects.
The UT Austin team must be led by a tenured or tenure-track faculty at UT Austin, who will be responsible for the project at UT Austin.
In the area of Advanced Computing, full-time senior researchers from the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) may also lead projects, as long as they have a PI status, which should be indicated in the confirmation statement.
As previously mentioned, under this call, only proposals submitted in Portugal, through FCT’s electronic platform (myFCT) will be considered for eligibility checks and evaluation. The lead PI in Portugal is responsible for submitting the application forms and required documents on behalf of their team in Portugal and of the UT Austin team.
The lead PI at UT Austin is required to send to the lead PI in Portugal a statement confirming that he/she will be the PI at the American counterpart and that he/she holds a tenure-track faculty appointment at the same university. In the case of proposals in the area of Advanced Computing, led by PIs at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC), the confirmation statement must indicate the PI is a full-time senior researcher with PI status.
Alongside this statement, PIs at UT should also ensure that the Technical Annex, which is part of the application, includes:
- The work plan at UT Austin/TACC;
- Requested budget (and its justification) at UT Austin / TACC.
No, there is no limit on the number of projects for which one particular PI at UT Austin may apply.
The total funding available for Portuguese research institutions under this call will be up to €400,000 (four-hundred thousand euros).
An awarded project may be granted up to € 50,000 (fifty-thousand euros) to fund the research work carried out by the Portuguese team.
Considering the maximum amount of eligible funding per project, the Program expects to support eight exploratory research projects through this call. However, the actual number of exploratory projects funded will depend on the quality of the submitted proposals and requested funding.
The UT Austin Portugal Program’s budget at UT Austin will fund its teams with between $50K (fifty-thousand US dollars) and $100K (one hundred thousand US dollars) per project to make possible for PIs to hire full-time PhD students who may spend some time in Portugal as exchange students during the projects. UT Austin teams will be officially notified of their selection for funding by the Program’s office at UT, not by FCT.
An international panel of independent reviewers affiliated with foreign institutions will carry out the evaluation.
The selection and ranking of projects are based on a Project Merit Indicator (MP) using the following criteria, which are described in greater detail in the Guide for Peer Reviewers and in the Terms of Reference for the 2024 Call for Exploratory Research Projects under the UT Austin Portugal Program:
- Scientific merit (A1) and innovative nature (A2) of the project from an international standpoint and alignment with the objectives of the UT Austin Portugal Program and the scientific area where it falls under – 40%;
- Scientific merit of the PI and the research team (B1), including the impact of project execution in developing the PI´s career and/or research (B2) – 35%;
- Feasibility of the work plan and the expected indicators (C1), as well as the budget adequacy (C2) – 25%.
The Merit of the Project (MP) is given by:
MP= 0.40 (0,50*A1 + 0,50*A2) + 0.35 (0,60*B1 + 0,40*B2) + 0.25 (0,50*C1 + 0.50*C2)
The project consortium may include, on the Portuguese side, collaborative institutions, i.e., companies and other similar entities, that may wish to invest in the exploratory research project and whose participation is likely to bring relevant expertise to the project. However, such entities will not be funded under this call.
Yes, we’ll be glad to help you find the best match for you. You should contact us at our offices in Portugal (research@utaustinportugal.org) and at UT (Marco Bravo – bravo@austin.utexas.edu). When reaching out to our team, provide us with a brief description of your project idea, your research interests and/or the research expertise you are looking for.
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