Foundation for Science and Technology

What Foundation for Science and Technology does

Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) is a Portuguese government public institute (Instituto Público) established in 1997 and headquartered in Lisbon. It is the central national agency responsible for funding, evaluating, and supporting scientific research and technological development in Portugal, operating under the supervision of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. FCT serves Portuguese universities, R&D laboratories, individual researchers, and graduate students, channeling state budget appropriations and EU co-funding into research grants, doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships, and institutional infrastructure investments.

FCT's activities are organized around two main portfolios. The first is funding programs, including the Teaming for Excellence program (€81 million committed for six new research centers), the ERC-Portugal Program (ERC-PT) with its A-Projects and Careers lines for ERC-eligible but unfunded researchers, the ERC Plus coordination program offering up to €7 million in supplementary grants, and the FCT Mobility program (€2.8 million for 450+ researcher mobility grants). Since the start of Horizon Europe, FCT has co-financed €144 million in ERC grants to Portuguese awardees. The second portfolio is FCCN Digital Services, which operates Portugal's national research and education network (RCTS), the Deucalion supercomputer, the Polen open science data platform, the National Advanced Computing Data Center (NAUC, under construction at the University of Minho with €5.1 million in initial funding), and the IAedu AI services platform for higher education launched in 2025.

As a public institute, FCT does not generate commercial revenue; its financial model is state appropriations disbursed as competitive grants and institutional funding. Its competitive position is defined by an exclusive national mandate, structural integration of grant administration with research infrastructure, and active participation in international cooperation frameworks including the 5+5 Dialogue, EU-CELAC, EU-Africa, and EU-MED science partnerships. FCT's strategic significance is best understood as Portugal's sole aggregator of national science funding combined with operational ownership of the country's primary research-compute and networking infrastructure.

Name

Foundation for Science and Technology

Legal name

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.

Website

https://fct.pt

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

FCT is Portugal's national science and technology funding agency, a public institute that disburses state and EU research grants, fellowships, and infrastructure investments to Portuguese universities, R&D labs, and researchers, while also operating the FCCN digital services stack.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Government Research Funding Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Science, Technology & Innovation Administration (National R&D Policy) (BPAIAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI), Research Administration & Grants Management Support (Pre/Post-Award, Compliance) (EDAEALAO)

Keywords

• Government research funding
• Science grants administration
• Research infrastructure services
• Advanced computing services
• Scholarship program management

Headquarters

HQ city

Lisbon

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) is Portugal's national public institute for funding scientific research and technological development. It administers scholarships, R&D project grants, scientific employment programs, and ERC-Portugal calls, while also operating FCCN — its digital services unit that provides advanced computing, research connectivity (RCTS), collaboration tools, and knowledge-management infrastructure to the Portuguese scientific community.

Product overview

FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) is Portugal's national science and technology funding organization. The organization offers two main portfolios: (1) FCCN Digital Services - a comprehensive suite of digital services for the academic and research community including collaboration tools (Colibri, Studio, File Sender, Videocast), knowledge platforms (Archive.PT, B-On, Science ID, Science Vitae, Educast, NAU, Polen, RCAAP, PTCRIS, IAedu), computing resources (Deucalion supercomputer, RNCA network), connectivity (RCTS network, Eduroam), and security services (RCTS aai, CERT RCTS, RCTS Certificates, Zelo); and (2) Funding Programs - including Bolsas (studentships), Scientific Employment, R&D Projects, R&D Institutions, Research Infrastructures, Advanced Computing, and the ERC-Portugal Program with sub-programs ERC-PT Pre-Assessment, ERC-PT A-Projects, and ERC-PT Careers. FCT also funds international research collaborations and operates programs like FCT Mobility and AERO2cycle.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• FCCN - Unidade de Tecnologia para o Conhecimento: FCT's digital services unit providing technology and resources for research, science, and knowledge development, serving students, teachers, and researchers.
• ERC-Portugal Program
• FCT Mobility

Products and services

• FCT Research Scholarships (Bolsas FCT) Individual scholarships and stipends awarded competitively to master's, doctoral, and post-doctoral researchers hosted at Portuguese research institutions.
• R&D Project Funding Program Competitive grants awarded to research institutions and research units to fund multi-year scientific research and development projects across disciplines.
• Scientific Employment Program (Concurso de Emprego Científico) Competitive funding line that supports the recruitment of researchers into scientific employment contracts at Portuguese universities and research laboratories.
• ERC-Portugal Program National counterpart program to the European Research Council, supporting frontier research projects led by principal investigators based in Portugal.
• FCCN Digital Services Integrated digital services platform operated by FCT that delivers advanced computing, research connectivity via RCTS, collaboration tools, and knowledge-management services to Portuguese universities and research units.

Quantifiable outcome

• €144 million in ERC funding captured since Horizon Europe start, approaching Horizon 2020 total of €150 million with 2 years remaining
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• NOVA.ID.FCT (NOVA School of Science and Technology)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNOVA.ID.FCT is a private non-profit association affiliated with NOVA University Lisbon that leads the AERO2cycle international consortium to convert fish processing waste into biochar for carbon capture technology. FCT provides primary funding for this research initiative.
• University of ÉvoracoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the AERO2cycle project consortium alongside NOVA.ID.FCT and B2E CoLAB, focusing on developing functional aerogels from fish by-products for industrial CO2 capture applications.
• B2E CoLAB (Blue Bioeconomy CoLAB)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBlue Bioeconomy Collaborative Laboratory participating in the AERO2cycle project, contributing expertise in bioeconomy applications for the carbon capture technology research.
• University of MinhocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFCT sponsors a €5.1 million data center project on the Azurém campus in Guimarães to house a supercomputer for the National Center for Advanced Computing. The project is funded through the Recovery and Resilience Plan and scheduled for completion in September.
• DST (Construction Company)minorOthersConstruction company building the €5.1 million data center facility for the National Center for Advanced Computing on the University of Minho campus.
• European Research Council (ERC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFCT coordinates Portuguese participation in ERC funding programs through the ERC-Portugal program, providing pre-assessment, A-projects funding, and researcher attraction/retention support for all ERC grant categories including the new ERC Plus.
• 5+5 Dialogue CountriesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFCT participates in the 5+5 Dialogue on Research, Innovation and Higher Education, an informal high-level forum for policy dialogue and cooperation in science, technology and innovation among Mediterranean countries.
• EU-CELAC, EU-Africa, EU-MEDminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFCT participates in international science policy dialogues including EU-CELAC (Latin America), EU-Africa, and EU-MED (Mediterranean) to promote international research cooperation.
• ERC-Portugal Partner InstitutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPortuguese higher education institutions and R&D units that host ERC-funded researchers and participate in ERC-Portugal programs including ERC-PT Attract and ERC-PT Retain for researcher career development.
• Champalimaud FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch institution hosting ERC-funded researcher Juan Álvaro Gallego's project SELECT on sensorimotor learning at the new Center for Regenerative Neurotechnology.
• Instituto Superior TécnicominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading Portuguese technical university where ERC Consolidator Grant recipient Ricardo Araújo conducts research on dinosaur-bird endothermy at CERENA (Center for Natural Resources and Environment).
• goPortugal ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternationalization initiative for Portuguese science and technology coordinated by FCT to promote Portuguese research internationally.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• FNR (Fonds National de la Recherche): FNR is Luxembourg's national research fund, supporting R&D projects, doctoral training, and researcher mobility in a small EU economy — a scale-comparable peer to FCT given Portugal and Luxembourg's similar population size.
• NWO (Dutch Research Council): NWO is the Netherlands' national research council, funding scientific research and managing national research infrastructure. Like FCT, it disburses competitive grants, manages research infrastructure, and coordinates national participation in ERC and Horizon Europe.
• ANR (Agence Nationale de la Recherche): ANR is France's national agency for research funding, distributing competitive grants across all scientific disciplines and coordinating French participation in EU framework programs. It is structurally analogous to FCT in mission and operating model.
• SNSF (Swiss National Science Foundation): SNSF is Switzerland's national science foundation, funding basic research across all disciplines through competitive grants and supporting researchers' careers. Its mandate and grant programs closely mirror FCT's Bolsas, R&D Projects, and Scientific Employment offerings.
• AEI (Agencia Estatal de Investigación): AEI is Spain's national research agency, responsible for funding scientific and technical research through competitive calls and managing Spanish participation in the European Research Area — a direct Iberian counterpart to FCT.
• DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft): DFG is Germany's central research funding organization, supporting research across all scientific fields through competitive grants, collaborative research centers, and research infrastructure. It is the closest large-scale analogue to FCT's mandate.

Broad incumbents

• UKRI (UK Research and Innovation): UKRI is the UK's umbrella research and innovation funding body, encompassing multiple research councils. It is a much larger incumbent of the same national funding model FCT operates, with overlapping programs in doctoral training, research infrastructure, and international collaboration.
• CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique): CNRS is France's largest public research organization, both performing and coordinating research across disciplines. While FCT funds rather than performs research, CNRS represents the scale of national research institutions FCT supports in Portugal.
• FCT of Spain / CDTI: CDTI is Spain's Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico e Industrial, focused on industrial R&D and innovation funding. It overlaps with FCT in technology transfer and industry-academia collaboration funding streams.

Emerging players

• GÉANT: GÉANT is the pan-European research and education networking organization connecting national research networks (such as FCT's RCTS). It is a direct infrastructure peer to FCT's FCCN connectivity and advanced computing portfolio at the European level.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/fct_pt
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCwImg1IJ7tAgct-MxPXxR2A
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/fctpt

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Foundation for Science and Technology