LARSyS – Laboratory of Excellence

The provisional results of the Call for the Attribution of Associate Laboratory (AL) Statute of FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia was announced on February 24, 2021. The list of results includes 40 institutions, research centers, and consortia.

LARSyS – Associate Laboratory of Robotics and Engineering Systems, was one of the AL approved, in which ITI is integrated, being evaluated with 100 points, corresponding to an “Excellent” rate. Check LARSyS evaluation report here.

The research units that are part of the several AL’s were receiving an overall fund of €53 469 000 per year, for a 5-year period. With this call, complementary funding of €23 843 000 per year will be allocated for specific activities, starting in 2021 and for a 5-year period as well.

The Associate Laboratory Statute is given to I&D institutions as a boost to meet the objectives of the Science and Technology National Policy. This way, these laboratories will be able to, in a sustainable way, support scientific and technical careers for doctorates.

The applications to this Call occurred in 2019, having been submitted between September 28 and October 29, 2020. R&D Units R&D Units funded by FCT with a rating of “Excellent” or “Very Good” were eligible to compete individually or as a Consortia, as long as they had a minimum of 80 Ph.D. researchers at the time of application.

Overall, there were 45 applications, which encompassed 118 Research Units, and 10 088 Integrated Researchers. All of these applications were publicly presented and discussed. LARSyS was presented on December 2, 2020 watch the video live streamed here. Videos of the sessions are available here.

The applications were submitted and discussed publicly, and the assessment reports are available here.

FCT source: https://www.fct.pt/noticias/index.phtml.pt?id=637&/2021/2/FCT_divulgou_os_resultados_do_Concurso_para_Atribui%C3%A7%C3%A3o_de_Estatuto_de_Laborat%C3%B3rio_Associado

IST source: https://tecnico.ulisboa.pt/en/news/9-associate-laboratories-with-a-link-to-tecnico-have-been-approved-by-fct/