Portugal - DGEG & FRCT

MINISTERIO DE ECONOMIA & Fundo Regional para a Ciência e Tecnologia

Dgeg11


The Directorate-General of Energy and Geology (DGEG), under the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy, is the Portuguese public administration responsible for designing, implementing and evaluating policies on energy and geological resources, in a perspective of sustainable development and security of energy supply. Its mission includes regulatory measures and policy implementation as well as raising awareness about the importance of such policies for the economic and social development by informing citizens about tools for implementation of policy decisions and disseminating the results of monitoring and implementation. 

DGEG has collaborated in the past with scientific expertise through universities and research centers,having recently integrated research in its structure enabling indoors capacity to develop new tools for developing scenarios and in support of decision taking to promote innovation in the energy systems in Portugal. DGEG collaborates with international organizations and participates in working groups and committees in the European Union, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). DGEG also participates in national committees and management groups namely those related to national programmes for funding in innovation.

Lead person

Ms. Isabel Cabrita studied Chemical Engineering in Oporto University (PT) and got a PhD in Chemical Engineering in 1981 at the University of Sheffield (UK). From 1981 to 1983 she got a lectureship in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Oporto (PT) and afterwards she took a research position in the National Laboratory for Engineering and Industrial Technology (LNETI) in Lisbon, becoming head of the department of Conventional Energies in 1986, position that she maintained after restructure to the National Institute of Engineering Technology and Innovation (INETI) until May 2009, as Head of the Department of Energy Engineering and Environmental Control. She became research coordinator in 2004, and from 1986 implemented various R&D and demo projects, of which more than 62 had EU funding, one of which a ERA Net project: Innovative Energy Research – INNER ,  with the role of working package leader. In May 2015, she took the position of head of the newly formed division of research studies and renewables, in the Directorate-General of Energy and Geology, taking the responsibility as SHERPA in the SET Plan, participating in the Steering Group and from December 2015 in the Bureau.



The Regional Fund for Science and Technology (FRCT) is an administratively and financially independent public institute in the sphere of the Regional Secretariat for the Sea, Science and Technology (SRMCT), Regional Government of the Azores. FRCT was created in order to coordinate and manage financial resources available for scientific research, technological development and innovation from Regional, projectsandEuropean and International programs. As such, it is a privileged channel for the particprojects andcollaborative activities with entities that are external to the Regional Government. With an annualturnover of about 2M€, it is run by a board of three members, with administrative support from theRegional Directorate of Science and Technology.One of the main goals of FRCT is to facilitate the link between regional public entities and the scientificcommunity in order to improve the performance of regional participation in European programs andthereby promote the excellence of research and innovation in the Azores.The main areas were FRCT develops its activities in the Azores comprehend:

  1. Support to advanced training, through the attribution of research grants
  2. Financing and/or organization of international events relevant to the regional scientific community
  3. Participation in regional, national and international projects, as coordinator or partner
  4. Support for the participation of other regional public entities and the scientific community in funding programs external to RAA, among which HORIZON 2020 stands out.
To enhance its international networking capability, FRCT became a member of the Macaronesia Marine and Maritime Cluster and of the Smart MED Cluster (Smart Cities). The Azores region is also a founding member of NEREUS (Network of European Regions Using Space Technologies), namely via the RegionalDirectorate for Science and Technology that shares its presidency with FRCT.

Lead person

Francisco Wallenstein Macedo - graduated from Economics (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 1994) and in Biology (Universidade dos Açores, 2002), and concluded training with a PhD in Marine Biology (Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh-Scotland, 2011) focused on the use of seaweed communities for the assessment of ecological quality. After 10 years of experience in scientific research on coastal ecosystems, Francisco has integrated the Regional Government of the Azores as a Project Officer in May 2012, first in the Fisheries Department (GEPETO “Sharing knowledge for sustainable fisheries”) and since December2013 in the Science and Technology Department – FRCT (BEST III “Measures towards Sustaining the BESTpreparatory Action to promote the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biodiversity and Ecosystem services in EU Outermost Regions and Overseas Countries and Territories – Macaronesian Hub”). Currently member of the board of the Regional Fund for Science and has been involved in the Coordination and Development of EC/PCT-Mac funded projects