Concurso Bolsas de Doutoramento — Linha de Candidatura Especifica em Ambiente Nao Academico

FCT doctoral scholarship for research outside academia

You get 1,686 EUR per month to do a PhD in Portugal, for up to 4 years. On top of the monthly grant, the scholarship covers your tuition fees (propinas), accident insurance, and support for training courses and scientific conferences. Travel and relocation costs may be added where they apply. The money comes from the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal's national research funding agency, partly through the European Social Fund. In the 2026 round FCT funded 600 of these scholarships from a pot of 54.4 million EUR. The grant is tax-free up to the Portuguese minimum wage (920 EUR in 2026); anything above that counts as taxable income.

Who can apply

• Degree: You are enrolled in a PhD programme, or eligible to enrol, and do not already hold a doctorate.
• No prior FCT PhD grant: You have never held an FCT-funded doctoral or company-PhD scholarship, no matter how short.
• Where you research: Your research plan puts you for at least 12 months (in one stretch or split up) at a non-academic organisation in Portugal, such as a company, public body, hospital, museum or NGO. You also work with at least one university, in Portugal or abroad.
• Residence: If part of your plan takes place abroad, you must normally live in Portugal.
• Nationality: Open to Portuguese and EU citizens, non-EU nationals, stateless people and recognised refugees.
• Field of study: Open to all research areas, from engineering and exact sciences to humanities.

How to apply

You apply online through the myFCT portal, choosing the "Ambiente Não Académico" (non-academic) line. Applications open each year in March; the 2026 window ran from 2 to 31 March. The university you name as your contracting institution then validates your application. A panel scores your CV, research plan and host conditions, and you need a final score of at least 3.0 out of 5 to be funded.

How realistic are your chances?

This line is narrower than the general PhD competition because your plan must run partly inside a non-academic organisation in Portugal. A strong fit with an interested company, hospital or public body matters as much as your grades. In 2026 FCT received 4,461 applications across both lines and funded roughly 36%, so the field is competitive but far from a lottery. If you have a clear non-academic host, a solid research plan and you apply early, your prospects are good.