FFMS
Fernando Alexandre, Minister of Education, Science and Innovation.
Study on FCT reorganization did not foresee merger with Ani or extinction. Only recommended a paradigm shift in the organization.
A study commissioned in 2023 by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) did not include the merger with the National Innovation Agency (Ani), nor the end of the foundation itself.
According to, who had access to the document, the plan did not mention anything about the merger recently by the Minister of Education, Fernando Alexandre, in the context of a major reform in education.
The study was also requested in the mandate of Elvira Fortunato As Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, in the last PS government of António Costa, and conducted by the consultant LBC. The analysis evaluated the internal structure of FCT and compared it with international function of similar function. According to the public, the report did not identify the need to integrate innovation within the FCT, nor did it point to it as a fragility of the national scientific system.
Currently, FCT is organized by financing instruments, with separate departments for research scholarships, projects, support for scientific employment and scientific institutions. The study considered that this structure lacks “synergies” and integration, especially in common areas such as expenditure management.
The central recommendation was to align FCT with the most common model in the international scenario, creating departments structured by scientific areas. THE new organizational design would include a department of scientific affairs, divided into three major areas: Life Sciences; Physical Sciences and Engineering; and Social and Humanities Sciences. Departments dedicated to international relations, digital services, financing management and internal management would be added.
In addition, the study stresses that FCT has reduced operation costs compared to the total expense volume. In 2024, of the 835 million euros executed, only 15 million were allocated to operating expenses.
The FCT, created in 1997 during the first government of António Guterres and under the protection of Minister Mariano Gago, is the main entity of science financing in Portugal. Since its founding, it has played a central role in supporting scientific research, promoting advanced training and international cooperation in science and technology.
