The Restart Program was designed to guarantee gender equality and the right to parenthood and aims to support the resumption of scientific activities after parenthood, promoting competitiveness at a critical stage in researchers' careers.
The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) has opened applications for the first edition of the program RESTART, one new funding program for researchers who have recently taken parental leave in the pursuit and development of an original and innovative research idea, with the possibility of associating other human and/or material resources, according to the funding available and the expected implementation time. This program has a budget allocation of 1.25 million euros andApplications can be submitted until March 30th.
THE RESTART is a competitive call for individual R&D projects in all scientific fields, with a maximum amount of €50,000 and an execution duration of 18 months. This funding is aimed at all researchers who have recently taken parental leave, including for adoption, in which the aim is to bridge the period of their absence from research by supporting the resumption of its R&D activities. Aligned with public policies in this area, RESTART also covers, with specific eligibility conditions, cases of shared parental leave, which prioritize equality in the provision of care and the sharing of family responsibilities and leave durations.
With the creation of this program, the FCT, in addition to its commitment to promoting the advancement of scientific and technological knowledge, based on high international standards of quality and competitiveness, aims to promote gender equality in R&D activities and careers, inseparable from equal opportunities for the entire national scientific community.
This new financing instrument is aligned with the concerns and recommendations of the Council of the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) on this matter, making Portugal one of the pioneering countries in responding in this regard.
The competition also features some innovations compared to other FCT instruments. Specifically, it adopts a narrative CV system for a comprehensive and effective assessment of the career paths of researchers working in Portugal. This system simultaneously seeks to promote more qualitative, robust, and integrated assessment methodologies. Within the scope of RESTART, this approach will highlight the impacts of future research, and the contexts and conditions in which it will be conducted, on researchers' career development.
Finally, this competition benefits from a significant simplification of procedures, both in terms of submitting applications and through the adoption of a simplified cost management regime after funding is awarded.
The creation of this program was announced by the FCT at the commemorative session of World Science Day and National Day of Scientific Culture, held on November 24, 2022.
More information at page on the FCT website dedicated to the competition.
