Paulo Jorge Ferreira responded to the announcement made on Thursday by the responsible minister, Fernando Alexandre, regarding the dissolution of the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and the National Innovation Agency (ANI) and the creation of a new entity, named the Research and Innovation Agency.
This measure is part of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation reform approved on Thursday in the Council of Ministers.
For the president of CRUP, Paulo Jorge Ferreira, it will be “a gained opportunity” if the dissolution of the FCT and ANI and the creation of the new agency are “guided by intentions to streamline the scientific system and bring innovation and knowledge closer together.”
The rector of the University of Aveiro emphasized that the national scientific system “is complex,” as it includes a “huge diversity of research units,” namely over 300 laboratories associated with universities, state laboratories, and collaborative laboratories, with the latter integrating companies.
According to Paulo Jorge Ferreira, “it is important to invest in science,” but also “to transfer more added value from science to the economy,” so the alignment between knowledge and innovation must be “coherent and aligned.”
The rector advocated for, for example, distinct funding competitions for applied science, conducted by research units that create innovative products in partnership with companies, and for fundamental science, the “curiosity science.”
In a brief reaction, the president of the Coordinating Council of Polytechnic Institutes, Maria José Fernandes, stated that the Government’s reform “will be positive” as long as it aims to “improve the functioning” of the sector and “does not jeopardize the funding of science.”
On Thursday, the Minister of Education, Science, and Innovation, Fernando Alexandre, assured that regarding the dissolution of the FCT, science funding will be preserved, with four-year funding guaranteeing stability, predictability, and “the protection of the most basic research funding.”
Under the Government’s dependence, the FCT is the main entity that finances scientific research in Portugal, namely through scholarships, work contracts, direct support to institutions, and projects.
The Government expects the new Research and Innovation Agency to eliminate “the redundancies currently existing between the ANI and the FCT, with obvious operational and administrative gains, for example in platforms, human resources, and financing systems.”
According to the Ministry of Education, Science, and Innovation, this agency will provide “more personalized and effective support to researchers, companies, startups, and entities of the national scientific and technological system” and “achieve more cohesive management of national and European funds.”
“This model is already applied in other European Union countries, having strengthened international presence and articulation with different European programs,” notes the ministry in an explanatory note.
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, stated today that if he has doubts “about any point” in the dissolution of the FCT, he will ask the Government to reconsider the decree, and if the executive insists, he may veto.
