ABIC

ABIC - Associação dos Bolseiros de Investigação Científica is the Portuguese Association of grant-holding researchers. ABIC was established in 2003 and represents early stage researchers, such as doctoral students, and post-doc fellows as well as researchers who are not included is these two groups but are grant-holders. This association originated in a group of researchers who gathered in 2001 to write a document to be presented to all the stakeholders involved with research in Portugal. This group called “plataforma de bolseiros de investigação científica (PBIC)” evolved into ABIC. ABIC's main activities have been in the following areas: i) to alert the funding agencies in Portugal such as FCT (www.fct.mctes.pt) that the grant-holding researchers should have social benefits and pension schemes as recommended in The European Charter for Researchers ; ii) to urge the government to open the positions available in the public sector and not use grant-holders researchers as cheap labour in Portugal; iii) to persuade the government to deliver policies which are able to create scientific jobs, both in the public and private sector.