FCT CEEC Individual — 8th
Supports Portugal researchers with structured pathways in scientific employment opportunities for early-career PhDs, from planning to deployment.
⚠ This may reflect a past cycle — verify the current call on the funder's site.
The 8th Edition of FCT's CEEC Individual call awarded funding for 400 individual research-employment contracts at Portuguese R&D units. Applications opened 15 December 2025 and were originally due 29 January 2026; FCT extended the deadline to 2 February 2026 by mid-January news announcement. Selected PhD candidates are hired directly by their chosen host institution, with FCT covering the contract cost.
Four reference categories: Junior Researcher (PhDs with limited postdoctoral experience or no scientific curriculum after PhD in the target area); Assistant Researcher (PhDs for more than 5 years, with relevant experience in the area, without requiring scientific independence); Principal Investigator (PhDs for more than 5 years, with scientific-independence evidence over the last 3 years); Coordinating Researcher (PhDs for more than 5 years, holding habilitation or associate-professor title, with leadership evidence in the area). FCT framed the 8th Edition as a continuation of the model running in parallel to FCT-Tenure, with CEEC Individual now focused on the initial cycles of a research career.
All scientific fields. Applicants are PhD holders of any nationality (or stateless) hosted at Portuguese R&D units funded by FCT.
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