FIF Analysis · Science & Innovation
How much should Portugal invest in basic science compared with business innovation? Which scientific areas deserve budgetary priority over the next decade? And how can we ensure that public funding for R&D is no longer held hostage to political cycles? These are some of the questions that the Strategic Focus Report, published in June 2026, begins to address — and which are now open for public consultation.
The document is the first deliverable of a large-scale strategic assessment, commissioned by the 25th Constitutional Government, to support the creation of the Agency for Research and Innovation, E.P.E. (AI²), established by Decree-Law No. 132/2025. AI² will centralise the funding and evaluation of science, knowledge transfer and science- and technology-based business innovation in Portugal, replacing the current model, which is more fragmented between the FCT and the ANI.
A “Vision for 2050” drawn up on the basis of more than 400 contributions
Scientifically coordinated by Maria do Rosário Partidário (Instituto Superior Técnico), the study applied the methodology ST4S — Strategic Thinking for Sustainability, based on backcasting: first define the future you want, and only then map out the path to get there.
Between January and May 2026, the process collected more than 400 contributions from national and regional organisations within the scientific and business ecosystem, through institutional meetings, thematic round-tables and five decentralised workshops — in Évora, Funchal, Bragança, Porto and Coimbra. The result is a “Vision for 2050” in which Portugal establishes itself as a country that “cultivates talent and knowledge and transforms them into economic, social, cultural and environmental value”, with a competitive research and innovation system linked to international networks.
The (somewhat uncomfortable) portrait of Portuguese science
The report does not hold back on the figures. Portugal currently has around 65,000 researchers, 312 R&D units and 56 scientific facilities — but with precarious careers and job security below the international average. Funding is far from balanced: the inequality index for distribution reaches 0.58 (Gini), and the SIFIDE (tax incentive) accounts for almost all of it — around 99% — fiscal expenditure on R&D, highlighting a funding structure that lacks diversity.
Among the most frequently cited weaknesses are: institutional fragmentation, excessive bureaucracy, dependence on political cycles and a persistent “cultural divide” between academia and business, which hinders the transformation of scientific knowledge into economic value — precisely the kind of gap that innovation ecosystems such as FIF’s seek to bridge.
Five factors will determine where the money goes
The core of the report is the Strategic Assessment Framework, built around five Critical Decision Factors (CDF) which will guide AI²’s future budget allocation:
Excellence in Scientific Research — quality, originality and international leadership.
Science and Innovation as a Driver of Development — competitiveness, high-tech exports and European technological sovereignty.
Organisation and Coordination of the SNCTI — less fragmentation, more inter-ministerial governance and the capacity for strategic foresight.
Stable and Diversified Financing — beyond grants: venture capital, equity, blended funding and more balanced tax incentives.
Human Resources and Infrastructure — attracting and retaining talent, sharing critical infrastructure.
It is on the fourth factor — funding — that the financial and insurance sectors have the most to say: the report openly acknowledges the need to diversify scientific funding beyond the current model, which is heavily reliant on public funds and tax incentives, making way for venture capital, equity and public-private hybrid models.
What’s next
The report is now in public consultation, available on the platform AI2participa.pt. The input gathered will inform the second phase of the process — the identification and assessment of strategic options — with a final conference and the signing of the AI² multi-annual programme contract scheduled for the end of 2026.
For anyone who follows innovation in Portugal closely, now is the time to get involved: the rules governing scientific and technological funding for the next decade are being drawn up right now.
Source: Strategic Focusing Report — Strategic assessment for the definition of national research and innovation priorities in the context of the creation of AI², PLANAPP/DGE/DGEPA, June 2026.