The following entities are eligible to apply:

a) Non-profit private legal entities based in Portugal, including scientific societies or non-profit scientific associations;
b) Higher education institutions and their institutes and R&D units, whether public or private.

Each proposal must designate a Principal Investigator (PI) responsible for coordinating the entity's work, who must hold a PhD degree for at least five years.

An investigator may not be part of more than one application.

Applications must be submitted in English by completing the electronic form available on the myFCT page. Proposals must include a project description, planned activities, objectives, technical means, human and financial resources, budget justification, a project presentation with a maximum of 10 slides, and a timeline.

The evaluation of the applications will be carried out by a jury composed of individuals, preferably with foreign affiliations, of recognized international merit in the field of biodiversity-related sciences, nominated by FCT and FBA.

The jury will consist of 5 or more members, in an odd number, depending on the number of applications received.

The evaluation and selection process will be based on the following criteria:

A. Scientific merit of the project, methodology used, and expected results (40% weighting);
B. Scientific merit of the proposing entity, research team, and involved partnerships (25% weighting);
C. Feasibility of the work program, potential impact, and budget reasonableness (35% weighting).

After completing the evaluation process and selecting the best candidate(s), the jury will submit its proposal to FCT and FBA, who will have the final decision on the award(s).

Both foundations, in equal parts, will award one or more prizes up to a maximum value of €500,000 (five hundred thousand euros). Each prize awarded will be a maximum of €250,000.00 (two hundred and fifty thousand euros) and a minimum of €100,000.00 (one hundred thousand euros).