New legal framework for the National Science, Technology and Innovation System | Decree-Law no. 210/2026, of 3 November

   1. Background

Decree-Law no. 210/2026, of 3 November, has been published, establishing the new legal framework for the National Science, Technology and Innovation System (“SNCTI”), defining the organisation, entities, structures and networks that form part of it and setting out the general principles governing research and innovation (“R&I”) and access to public funding (cf. Article 1). The decree-law revokes Decree-Laws no. 63/2019, of 16 May, and no. 126-B/2021, of 31 December (cf. Article 56), and seeks to consolidate a more coherent, simple, integrated, competitive and results-oriented SNCTI.

This revision follows the creation of the Agency for Research and Innovation, E. P. E. (“AI², E. P. E.”), by Decree-Law no. 132/2025, of 24 December, resulting from the transformation of the Agência Nacional de Inovação, S. A., and the merger of the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I. P., and forms part of the goal of achieving, by 2030, public and private investment in research and development of 3% of gross domestic product. The main changes introduced include the following:

   2. New functional approach and types of entities

The current organisation by institutional type is now complemented by a functional approach, focused on the activities and capabilities required to develop the value chain from research to innovation. Accordingly, without prejudice to the legal nature, autonomy and institutional diversity of the entities, recognition, evaluation and funding will take into account three elements: 

1. the remit and core functions performed;
2. the excellence and institutional capacity demonstrated;
3. the results and impact achieved.

For the purposes of recognition, accreditation, evaluation and funding, entities, structures and networks are classified as scientific research entities and/or as development, technology and innovation entities, depending on the remit and core functions they perform (cf. Article 8). Recognition, accreditation and evaluation are the responsibility of AI², E. P. E., upon application by the interested entities (cf. Article 7(3)).

   3. Types of public funding

The new framework distinguishes between and coordinates three types of public support: 

1. competitive structural funding for scientific research entities and for development, technology and innovation entities, intended to ensure their capacity-building, stability and continuity;
2. competitive funding for programmes and projects, geared towards scientific excellence, strategic priorities and results;
3. funding for national strategic infrastructures, intended to ensure their availability, operation, access, maintenance and modernisation.

These types of funding must be complementary, predictable and subject to transparent evaluation, performance and impact criteria. 

The award of funding is formalised through a programme contract, and beneficiaries may be required to repay, in whole or in part, the amounts received in the event of a breach attributable to them (cf. Articles 44(4) and (5) and 45). Entities may apply for more than one structural funding procedure, provided that the activities are separately identifiable and there is no overlap in funding, and they must maintain cost accounting and segregated reporting (cf. Article 47(8) and (9)). AI², E. P. E. may also review the evaluation and amend, suspend or terminate the funding, or even order the loss of recognition (cf. Article 51).

   4. Scope of application

The decree-law applies to entities, structures and networks engaged in R&I activities in Portugal that form part of the SNCTI, including higher education institutions, R&D units, associate laboratories, interface centres, State laboratories, academic clinical centres and companies carrying out R&I activities (cf. Articles 2 and 10 to 21). It also applies to the entities responsible for coordinating, managing, advising on and monitoring the SNCTI, namely AI², E. P. E., the National Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (“CNCTI”) and the Lisbon Academy of Sciences. As regards military and police R&I institutions, the application of the framework safeguards the specificities arising from the special legislation applicable to them (cf. Article 2(3)). 

   5. Strategic principles and objectives

The decree-law establishes the following guiding principles for the activities of SNCTI entities, structures and networks (cf. Article 5):

• Freedom of research: ensures scientific autonomy, diversity and originality of approaches and independence in the production of knowledge.
• Excellence: ensures high standards of quality, scientific, technological and social relevance, recognition and national and international competitiveness.
• Scientific integrity and institutional and individual ethics: ensures transparency, rigour and accountability, as well as non-discrimination, the prevention of conflicts of interest and the fight against corruption and fraud.
• Cooperation, mobility and international openness: promotes interaction between entities, interdisciplinarity and the sharing of human and material resources.
• Social responsibility: directs R&I towards the needs of society and promotes a scientific culture and the dissemination of knowledge.
• Open science: promotes open access to scientific knowledge, the responsible sharing of data and results and citizen participation.
• European alignment: aligns R&I activities with European science, technology and innovation policies, priorities, strategies and instruments. 

The decree-law further establishes the following strategic objectives (cf. Article 6):

• advancing the frontiers of scientific knowledge;
• linking fundamental research, applied research, technological development and innovation, while preserving the autonomy and specific criteria of each activity;
• promoting advanced training and the attraction, mobility and recognition of scientists and scientific careers, as well as supporting science- and technology-based innovators and entrepreneurs;
• promoting scientific and technological leadership and organisational cultures open to innovation and collaboration;
• generating scientific, technological, cultural, social, environmental and economic impact;
• promoting the social and economic valorisation of knowledge and its transformation into goods, services, processes and business models;
• expanding participation in international networks, programmes and infrastructures and securing competitive European and international funding;
• promoting the responsible use of digital systems and artificial intelligence tools;
• promoting Portuguese as a working language in science, without prejudice to internationalisation;
• promoting the transfer and circulation of knowledge, technology and talent between the academic, business and public sectors;
• promoting strategic autonomy and national sovereignty in science, development and innovation. 

   6. Open science, intellectual property and knowledge valorisation

R&I activities are now governed by the principle of open science, which promotes, as a rule, universal access to publications, data and results funded by public resources, without prejudice to data protection legislation and to copyright and intellectual property law (cf. Article 26(1)). 

Its promotion must strike a balance between openness and the protection of intellectual property, allowing for proportionate and reasoned exceptions, including temporary embargoes (cf. Article 26(3)). The decree-law also enshrines the principle that knowledge should be “as open as possible and as protected as necessary” (cf. Article 27(2)), with R&I entities being responsible for assessing which results may be disclosed or should be protected (cf. Article 27(8)). 

Knowledge valorisation must ensure the protection and balanced sharing of assets, including intellectual property, data and software, based on clear criteria (cf. Article 28(6)).

   7. National strategic infrastructures

National strategic infrastructures of a scientific or technological nature must ensure open and shared access, on non-discriminatory terms, whenever compatible with their mission, as well as transparent and regulated access, interoperability and data protection (cf. Article 9).

   8. Procedures for accessing funding

Procedures are announced by means of a call notice and regulations published on the funding entities’ websites, and applications are submitted via an electronic form and signed with a qualified electronic signature (cf. Articles 41(4) and 42). Applicants are exempt from submitting documents already held by the Public Administration (cf. Article 41(5)). Applications are assessed by evaluation panels composed mostly of independent members, subject to the impartiality safeguards of the Code of Administrative Procedure, and the results are made public, without prejudice to confidential information (cf. Articles 43 and 44(2)).

   9. Security, integrity and artificial intelligence

SNCTI entities must adopt proportionate internal instruments, such as research integrity and security plans, focal points and mechanisms for preventing and investigating misconduct (cf. Article 27(5)). The concept of “scientific misconduct” is defined and covers, among other things, the fabrication or falsification of data, plagiarism or the misappropriation of ideas, texts, data or results, and improper authorship (cf. Article 27(6)). The use of artificial intelligence does not relieve researchers, authors and institutions of responsibility for the accuracy, quality and integrity of the results (cf. Article 27(4)).

   10. Transitional regime and entry into force

Entities already forming part of the SNCTI retain their recognition, mission and remit, and programme contracts and other instruments in progress remain fully effective until their expiry, including any renewals (cf. Article 55(1) and (2)). Technology and innovation centres recognised under Decree-Law no. 126-B/2021 retain their public interest status, and the regulations in force continue to apply insofar as they do not conflict with the new framework (cf. Article 55(3) and (4)).

This decree-law enters into force on 1 January 2027 (cf. Article 57).