Neither Utopia nor Suhour: Suggestions to defend the pockets of the investigation
In Portugal, the national scientific system is largely dependent on the work developed by the pockets of research – the first professional researchers to develop activities in research projects, but not only. These pockets develop their work alone, or in research teams, in higher education institutions, research centers and other entities, which are often supported by scholarships funded by the FCT Foundation (FCT).
Written by Bruno Wilhelina, Katarina Obli and Cátia Cardoso *
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Currently, there are different types of scholarships, each with a specific role in shaping and uniting scientific professions. The most common are research scholarships, which aim at university, master’s or doctorate students, and are attributed under research projects (research units, or no) to develop these projects, and the presence of pre -specific periods (usually 6 months or one year, renewable) and a specific goal. PhD scholarships (or doctorate in corporate doctorates), which FCT granted directly to doctoral students, aims to support advanced training for researchers who presented themselves to a competition with an investigation project to implement the doctorate. There are also post -doctoral scholarships for investigators who are already wanting to deepen and/or diversify their investigation lines.
In the years of socialist governance – between 2015 and 2024 – measures that sought to respond to the structural risk associated with this model were adopted and the “Troika” period of the investment disposal period.
PS has increased the budget of the Science and Technology Corporation (FCT), allowing more scholarships, projects and contracts for researchers. Creating motivation to scientific employment, allowing the employment of thousands of doctorates and combating lightness in the sector. In addition, regular competitions encouraged doctorate and post -doctoral scholarships, ensuring an increase in stability and prediction. PS also strengthened scholarship rights, which increased the value of bags, expanding social protection and implementing measures to support paternity and motherhood. Structurally, socialist governments have invested in unifying the research centers network and supporting the internationalization of Portuguese science in European programs. Decree No. 57/2016 (which approved the doctoral employment system designed to motivate scientific and technological workers in all areas of knowledge) that allowed the replacement of part of the scholarships with work contracts in the term, and ensuring some workers ’rights for the investigators who jumped from the stock market for years.
However, the rest is still funded by bags, without employment bond, and subject to instability – such as delay in initial payments and the commitment to exclusive dedication, as we follow. Despite the developments, the system is still fragile, with no similarity between institutions and relying on some scholarships for the work of research centers, which feed a political debate on the future of scholarships, its role in the future of science in Portugal and its appreciation to reform talent and enhance the role of knowledge in the development of the country.
The parties tend to adopt investment science in scientific research in years of electoral campaign, and this issue appears in electoral programs as a priority. However, the reading that is concerned with legislative programs for the year 2025 reveals that with regard to research pockets -the backbone of science in Portugal -the Socialist Party (PS) offers concrete, realistic and implemented proposals in the short/medium -term.
On the right, the liberal initiative and the arrival in the pockets of research failed, not only to respond to the difficulties they face, but they completely ignore them in their programs. AD is limited to general investment goals in science and innovation, without a word about the danger of scholarships or the need to ensure decent working conditions. He talks about “making investment closer to 3 % of GDP” and “attracting researchers”, but it deprives researchers already in here.
IL, with a supporter approach to the market, is not even mentioned by the pockets of the investigation of its program. His vision is limited to “scientific autonomy” and “progress of entitlement”, without recognizing the structural weakness that undermines any dangerous policy of science. They look at the creation of scientific knowledge regarding the market: what gives more than others must have priority, as it implicitly that the rest must be placed in the background.
In turn, it suggests a “mysterious investment in scientific workers”, with a focus above all on artificial intelligence, but without providing any solution to those who work without contracts and without work, not stability. Full ignorance of what science is and how science is done in Portugal, or the desire to cast a specialization and dissemination of scientific knowledge, had it not been for attacks on universities and knowledge, a farm mark
On the other side of the political spectrum, nominations such as CDU, the left and free mass have ambitious but also utopian proposals, it is impossible to achieve in the legislative body. Defending the immediate cancellation of the major statute of errors and automatic transformation of all contracts of workplace is undoubtedly just from an ethical point of view, but it is unrealistic. We have even said that it reveals that they do not understand how they work and what they serve different types of scholarships. The proposals of these parties ignore the differences between the types of scholarships (research, doctorate, post -doctorate, etc.), and the treatment of the diversity of the scientific environmental system as if it were a homogeneous mass. It should be noted that the structural dispute of contracts in four years has not been solved without questioning the financing and the operational capacity of many investigation units.
If we want to change, it is necessary to provide practical and feasible measures, so that they can be adopted without resistance by institutions.
Free, for example, suggests reducing scholarships for two years and transferred ever investigate the employment contract. The intention of merit, but it must be accompanied by measures that can solve the problem that does not prepare all institutions or projects, to accommodate the budget and administrative materials that mean – immediately risk by reducing the number of opportunities available to young researchers, and can also weaken the doctoral system itself.
In turn, instead of the promise of the impossible, PS is committed to concrete progress: to equal the pockets of the investigation of workers for social security purposes; The bureaucracy of the relationship of research centers with FCT; Enhance I & D to reach international standards; And the launch of support programs for specialized support professions in management and research. These proposals not only improve the conditions of pockets directly, but also enhance the entire scientific ecological system, creating the foundations for future structural reforms. More importantly, they are suggestions that can actually make a difference tomorrow.
In electoral times, instead of submitting nice and gift proposals, it is important to realize that the mandate, even when transferring to the end, is a limited period through which it is not possible to fix the entire scientific research structure, especially with regard to granting a doctorate. However, it is possible to think in the short/medium term and with realistic framing.
For example, the contract between scholarships and FCT has an advertisement on jobs in light of exclusive dedication, however, from the date of the start of this contract to the date that actually receive scholarships the first monthly fees (and survival, with the return of business) may be done months. During these months, scholarships not only receive any amount, but also cannot perform another paid activity. This, therefore, is the position that puts scholarships in an environment of instability, enhances its unstable condition and its lack of financial security.
When applying for the scholarship, PhD students already submits almost all the necessary documents, so we understand that this time it can be shortened, which makes a difference in the life of PhD students when they enter a Polly law. In fact, a similar policy has already been adopted by the previous PS government in the context of scholarships for higher education, and in the case of a doctorate scholarship, it is not even awaiting, because the value of scholarships is the same for all doctoral students, and there is no need for subsequent amendments. Consequently, this is an implemented proposal that this article defends, as it only intends to speed up the process of paying scholarships and thus reduce the restrictions caused by delaying these payments.
It is necessary to realize that science and scientific research must be pillars of contemporary societies. We cannot allow young researchers – necessary to contribute to the social and economic development of our country (regardless of research centers and universities) – they are entitled to search for a future there or abandon their academic path. Keeping this talent and evaluating it is necessary to develop Portugal and must be a collective responsibility. In these elections, PS contains measures that can be implemented in the short and positive term in the long term that can be presented in practice with proposals such as those mentioned here to circumvent the delay in FCT payments. It is time to enhance science and promote a future in which scientific knowledge is a engine of progress.
* PhD Scholarship.
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