FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. General Information Click to Expand ▼

1.1 How do I become a member of CEI-Iscte?

The CEI-Iscte team is composed of Integrated Members, Associate/Collaborating Members, and PhD students/fellows.

Integrated Member – researchers whose sole institutional affiliation is CEI-Iscte.
Associate Member – researchers with some level of formal involvement with CEI-Iscte.

Researchers interested in becoming members or collaborators should fill out the form: https://docs.google.com/forms/… Applications will be evaluated by the Board and the Scientific Committee. Researchers who are not members, but who intend to designate CEI-Iscte as their host institution in applications for national or international projects, must first submit their intention to the Board.

1.2 How do I obtain a workstation at Iscte?

To request a workstation, please send an email to cei@iscte-iul.pt. Please indicate your full name; contract type; name and reference of the project/grant; contract start and end dates; and the name of your supervisor(s). Whenever possible, CEI provides a computer for the workstation.

1.3 How do I obtain an email account and access to Iscte networks?

The request is made through CEI-Iscte by providing: full name; gender; type and number of identification document; date of birth; nationality; address; personal email; academic degree; category; and activity start/end dates. Iscte IT Services will assign a username and password to access online services (Fénix, E-Learning, email, Library Databases, etc.). More information can be found here.

1.4 How can I obtain a statement from Iscte as a host institution?

Please send a request by email to CEI-Iscte via cei@iscte-iul.pt.

1.5 What should I do if I need an ethical opinion?

Proposals involving ethical issues must be analyzed by the Iscte Ethics Committee. Requests should be addressed to the Rector with all supporting documentation. Information available here.

1.6 I would like to publish my research results, where should I do it?

Contact CEI-Iscte for lists of relevant publications in your area, particularly those in the main international indexing databases. Iscte also publishes 9 scientific journals.

1.7 Who owns the copyright of my scientific publications? Can I share the results in open access?

Unless otherwise stated by the publishers, copyright belongs to the authors. Under the FCT and Iscte Open Access Policies, research results must be deposited in the Iscte Repository. An embargo period is allowed, after which the content must be freely available.

1.8 Where can I find more information about research at Iscte?

The Research Support Office (GAI) prepares the Iscte Mundi e-book annually for newcomers. Some Research Units also provide specific welcome manuals.

1.9 Where can I consult the evaluation regulations for contracted researchers?

The regulations for Iscte’s contracted researchers can be consulted here.

2. PRE-AWARD Click to expand ▼

2.1 How can I find information on funding opportunities?

Opportunities are shared through CEI-Iscte in coordination with the Research Support Office (GAI). If you are interested in a specific call, contact CEI-Iscte for support.

2.2 What kind of support can I get in the preparation of an application?

Support includes identifying opportunities, establishing consortia, obtaining institutional documentation/signatures and checking eligibility requirements.

2.3 Do fellowship eligibility requirements differ from program to program?

Yes. Each funding call publishes its own specific eligibility requirements that candidates must meet.

2.4 How should I refer to the affiliation in scientific production?

According to Rector’s Order No. 116/2016, the affiliation must be written in full and in Portuguese, regardless of the language of the publication: Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL), Centro de Estudos Internacionais, Lisboa, Portugal Identification must not be made in English.

3. POST-AWARD Click to expand ▼

A. Submission of requests (procedures and deadlines)

Purchase requests must obligatorily be submitted via the Purchase Request Form (Note: we welcome your feedback for improvement, so we can make the form as intuitive as possible).
The request must be described in as much detail as possible (e.g.: travel time/airline preferences or direct identification of the intended flight, stay preferences up to 3*/reference points for it).
If there are documents to attach, the respective documentation can be sent to the CEI Iscte Procurement email: compras.cei@iscte-iul.pt.
Submission of requests must be made at least 30 days in advance to ensure timely acquisition, as CEI depends on Iscte central services, CVTT, and responses from various suppliers to proceed with and conclude the acquisition process. For international travel, this period should be increased to 45 days. If these deadlines are not met, it is not possible to guarantee a timely response and the best rates.
We remind you that we are dependent on the dates indicated by the Iscte Management Board for the closing of the accounting year, which usually takes place in October of each calendar year. Therefore, we advise that for all planned activities, requests be submitted by the end of September. Additionally, we inform you that during the holiday period (from July 27 to September 08, 2026), it will not be possible to proceed with acquisition processes, so we ask for your cooperation in submitting requests in advance for this period.

B. Typology of requests and support documents

The summary table of the typology of purchase requests and respective procedures can be consulted at: https://cei.iscte-iul.pt/documentos-de-apoio/ On this page, we provide support documents (for all indicated procedures) and highlight some FAQs about procurement processes. We will update this page in the coming months based on questions that arise.

C.1 CEI Research Support Funds

CEI allocates research support funds to each PhD Integrated Researcher with a contract with Iscte and to PhD Students with a Research Grant who are part of the CEI research team. This fund is one of the strategic lines of the CEI Multiannual funding, which is awarded by the FCT based on the evaluation process that ended last year. Thus, the funds have strict usage rules, being equivalent to an FCT project. You can consult information about available amounts and other details at: https://cei.iscte-iul.pt/documentos-de-apoio/ The CEI Research Support Funds are intended for: B – Support for Publications: text revision and open access fees for publication in indexed journals or relevant academic publishers.

CEI has a global amount of 12,000.00€/year to promote publication in international indexed journals, or texts in relevant academic publishers, in order to support CEI’s scientific production and publication. Access to this fund can be requested via email (cei@iscte-iul.pt) by sending the details of the article/publication: Title, abstract and identification of the journal intended for submission.
Type of eligible acquisitions: text revision/proofreading, payment of open access fees (Note: FCT has Open Access publication requirements, so we will have to analyze case by case the eligibility of fee payments (“gold” vs “green” route) and compliance with FCT rules).
In these publications, reference to FCT support is mandatory: “This publication was supported by national funds through FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (Foundation for Science and Technology) under the framework of UID/03122/2025 (https://doi.org/10.54499/UID/03122/2025).” Insert the FCT + CEI logo (if applicable/possible – example: books, reports, e-books).

C.2 Management of CEI Research Support Funds

The management of CEI’s multiannual funding, granted by the FCT and which supports the research support funds, is now carried out through the Iscte – Knowledge and Innovation Association (Iscte-CI or CVTT). For this reason, a new financial management system will be used: SIGEST.

To access this platform, you must be at Iscte or connected to the VPN.
For approval of receipt of reimbursements for invoices or per diems, researchers need to access this platform to approve the receipt of that reimbursement. For those who have not yet made their first registration, we ask that you do so now, so that later you are not affected by delays in receiving reimbursement for these supports.
Whenever there is a pending authorization, you will receive a notification in your email to access and approve in the system.
Attention: for invoice reimbursements, the CVTT Tax ID (NIF) is 516 155 636.

Important: We will have two financial management systems in parallel, and a division of projects/funds managed on each of the platforms. Projects/funds managed in Iscte-CI/SIGEST:

CEI Research Support Funds.
All projects in which the partner/coordinating entity is identified as Iscte – Knowledge and Innovation Association. Whenever you have new funded projects, the Project Manager will always provide this indication.
In the case of projects with direct management via Iscte-CI/SIGEST, procurement procedures must be initiated directly in the system, and not via the purchase request form mentioned above.
Attention: for these reimbursements, the Iscte-CI Tax ID (NIF) must be used: 516 155 636.

Projects/funds managed in Iscte/SINGAP:

Individual funds allocated by Iscte, such as: Teaching hours, Master’s funds, PhD funds, Iscte academic fund.
All projects in which the partner/coordinating entity is identified as Iscte – University Institute of Lisbon. Whenever you have new funded projects, the Project Manager will always provide this indication.
Attention: for these reimbursements, the Iscte Tax ID (NIF) must be used: 501 510 184.

The summary table of the typology of acquisitions reflects the change in the Iscte vs Iscte-CI procedure, marking the different color in the last two columns. If you have difficulties using SIGEST, you can make a request to the email compras.cei@iscte-iul.pt to schedule a clarification by video call. You can consult all this more detailed information in the FAQs on the CEI website: Support Documents & FAQs.