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Paulo Branco, Fernanda Rollo, and Helena Freitas, members of the TERRA Associate Laboratory, join the public debate on the merger of FCT and ANI, sharing concerns and reflections on the future of science in Portugal.
The government’s decision to abolish the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) and the Agência Nacional de Inovação (ANI), merging both into a new Agência para a Investigação e Inovação (Agency for Research and Innovation) – AI2 , has generated a strong reaction in the scientific community. Three members of the TERRA Associate Laboratory — Paulo Branco, Fernanda Rollo, and Helena Freitas — publicly shared their positions, warning of the risks and challenges of this institutional reconfiguration.
In an opinion piece published in Expresso (in Portuguese), TERRA CEO Paulo Branco acknowledges that reform of the national scientific system was expected, but criticizes the manner and timing of its implementation. He emphasizes that FCT and ANI were pillars in the structuring of science in Portugal, despite suffering from chronic underfunding and unpredictability. While giving the new agency the benefit of the doubt, he warns of the risk of prioritizing innovation over fundamental research: “Science cannot live confined to short cycles of quick economic returns. It is a marathon, not a sprint.”
Fernanda Rollo argued in an opinion piece published in Público (in Portuguese) — full content available only to subscribers — that any reform of science policy must be clear, strategic, and committed to the common good. She recalls that the creation of the FCT was a historic achievement and warns of the risks of irreversible administrative decisions that could compromise institutional balance and the collective memory of science in Portugal.
Helena Freitas was one of 13 scientists interviewed by Público in an article (in Portuguese) that brings together criticism and suggestions regarding the extinction of the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and its merger with the Agência Nacional de Inovação (ANI) – full content available only to subscribers. In her statement, Helena Freitas harshly criticizes the lack of dialogue with the scientific community and the risk of subordinating science to market logic. She acknowledges that the FCT needed reform, but considers that the proposed model represents a dismantling of the founding principles of national science policy.
In a post on her personal Facebook page, Helena Freitas elaborates on her position (in Portuguese), describing the decision as politically irresponsible and intellectually poor. She argues that science should be the foundation of major contemporary transitions — climatic, digital, demographic, and social — and not a disposable variable subject to short-term logic.
A decisive moment for the Portuguese scientific ecosystem
The positions of TERRA members converge in defending fundamental research, academic autonomy, and the need for participatory, knowledge-based reform. The extinction of FCT and the creation of AI2 represent, for many, a turning point—but also a test of the country’s ability to preserve and strengthen its scientific ecosystem.
The TERRA Associate Laboratory reaffirms its commitment to free, critical, and transformative science, and will continue to closely monitor developments in this reorganization.
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DOI 10.54499/LA/P/0092/2020
Copyright Labterra 2024 © By Ação360
DOI 10.54499/LA/P/0092/2020