“What we have had until today, with very important results, does not address the challenges that Portugal faces in the European context. It is a system that must look to the future and understand where Portugal wants to stand in the European research space,” emphasized Fernando Alexandre in statements to journalists at the end of the inauguration of two teaching laboratories at the Coimbra School of Health Technology.
Fernando Alexandre announced the beginning of next year will feature a “major national discussion” on Portugal’s strategic priorities in the areas of research and innovation.
“We will have to make choices, something we have not wanted to do in recent years,” said the official, noting that the government is conducting a “profound reform” in the field of science, research and innovation.
The Minister of Education highlighted that Portugal will have a funding agency that does not manage an annual budget as before, “with marginal variations,” but rather medium and long-term planning.
“We will have a five-year budget – the only area where this happens – something that researchers have long demanded and which does not exist in many European countries,” he emphasized.
Highlighting this as “a big step forward in science funding in Portugal,” Fernando Alexandre noted that this model requires different management, “because having a five-year budget means making choices and stating what the country’s priorities are.”
The priority areas for investment, which need government approval, will result “from consultation with the scientific community, companies, innovators, and all institutions in the scientific and technological system.”
At the beginning of the year, the government will announce the methodology for the national discussion on the science and innovation sector, set to begin in February and conclude by the end of the year.
According to the Minister of Education, in 2027 a program contract with the future agency will be signed for a five-year period, extending to 2031.
The future Agency for Research and Innovation, incorporating the Foundation for Science and Technology and the National Innovation Agency, was promulgated on Thursday by the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
A note from the Presidency of the Republic states that the decree creating the agency was promulgated “considering that the commitment to consult relevant entities on the matter was fulfilled and that amendments the President considers essential were accepted by the government.”
