Startup funds aim to support the probabtionary period of Assistant Professors and Researchers, promoting their academic and scientific independence.

The startup funds have two components:

• Component A: funding to support the mission associated with taking a partial sabbatical period (up to 6 months) abroad during the probabtionary period, ideally up to the seventh semester after hiring, in the form of travel allowances, and in accordance with the rules in place at Técnico.
  Component A is partially funded by the Santander Foundation.

  Component B: funding for implementing the scientific-pedagogical project proposed in the application submitted for the position of Assistant Professor, or the research project proposed in the application submitted for the position of Assistant Researcher.
  This component of funding has two dimensions:

  • Basic component B1, intended to guarantee minimum conditions to support the work of teachers or researchers during a probationary period, for example, the purchase of computer equipment, participation in conferences, hiring of scholarship holders;
  • Programmatic component B2, dependent on the project presented and its level of experimental, and/or laboratory, and/or technological intensity.

The amounts of funding for components A, B1, and B2 for new contracts for Assistant Professors and Researchers on probation are defined in Técnico’s annual budget by the Vice-President for Financial Management.
Startup funds are granted according to the following general rules (see also Workflow);

• All Assistant Professors and Researchers on probation must apply for startup funds during their first year of employment.
  The call for applications opens in April/May each year, and the results are announced by the end of July.
• Funding is granted through a project managed by “Direção de Projetos do Técnico”;
• The project is active until the 42nd month after the contract is signed, and component B of the funding must be executed by the 36th month after the contract is signed;
• Expenses are deemed eligible in accordance with national project management rules;
• Component A of the funding cannot be transferred to component B of the funding;
• The balance of the project cannot be transferred to other projects of the professor or researcher in probation, and the remaining balance reverts to the funding of new startup fund projects.