HEALTH + SCIENCE Competition for Exploratory Projects in Portugal

Thematic Areas

• The present competition provides for the financing of research projects framed in several of the following three thematic areas:
  • Access to health: In this thematic area, research projects that:
    • promote the development of solutions that enable better access to primary and/or specialized care in remote and/or disadvantaged areas will be especially valued;
    • promote the development of initiatives to reduce socioeconomic barriers to access to health services;
    • aims to implement mobile and telemedicine technologies to expand the scope and effectiveness of care, facilitating communication between users and health professionals.
  • Active development: Particularly valued will be research projects that:
    • aim to create community programs that promote physical, mental and social activity among children, and a healthy and active development, through socialization activities,
    • support groups and other forms of community engagement;
    • implement interventions to prevent solidarity and social isolation among the poor population;
    • implement assisted technologies to support the independence of two devices, such as mobility devices, remote monitoring solutions and communication tools.
  • Health Promotion and Safety Prevention: In this thematic area, especially value research projects that:
    • implement educational campaigns focused on the prevention of chronic diseases (diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular diseases), aiming to increase awareness and promote healthy habits; create programs to promote healthy lifestyle habits, focused on balanced nutrition, regular physical exercise and tobacco cessation;
    • aim to reduce the consumption of substances harmful to health, such as alcohol and drugs, through prevention and treatment programs, as well as awareness campaigns.

Funding Information

• The maximum financing per project is €50,000.00 (fifty thousand euros).
• Duration: Projects have a maximum duration of 18 months, without interruptions, they are extended in clearly justified cases, for a maximum of 6 additional months.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applications, with a maximum duration of 18 months, must include two or more beneficiaries, including at least one non-business entity from the I&I system and one non-academic entity under the supervision of the member of the Government responsible for health.
• The following entities are considered non-business institutions of the I&I system:
  • 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 public and private institutions developing or participating in scientific research activities.
• Non-academic institutions are considered all entities under the protection of the member of the Government responsible for the area of health not included in the academic environment, including those that integrate the academic clinical centers (CAC), local units of health, whether primary care, hospital and/or public health and Portuguese Institutes of Oncology (IPO).

Evaluation Criteria

• The methodology of selection and hierarchy of applications is based on the indicator of Project (MP) based on the following evaluation criteria:
  • Scientific quality and innovative character of the project, in an international to cover one or more of the thematic areas promoted in this competition;
  • Scientific merit of the IR and the research team;
  • Feasibility of the work program and its relevance and the impact on participating non-academic entity(ies) and/or in the National Health System.

For more information, visit FCT.