PORTUGAL: More money for research

As with other parts of southern Europe, Portugal has experienced one of the steepest declines in economic activity, burdened also with a relatively high level of national debt.

The previous years had already been tough on university operating funds from the state, starting with the fiscal crisis in 2002 and large cuts in overall public funding of higher education in the years leading up to the current great recession.

But the national government has expanded funding for academic research, particularly in science and engineering fields. These funds go directly to research faculty and research units, however, with little of it coming to central university administration in the form of overhead.

In the current fiscal year (2009-10), the higher education sector has experienced budget cuts. Those universities with the ability to raise funds via the private sector remain fairly stable in their financial position; but weaker institutions often have received special funds from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education to keep them afloat.

Portugal just had a general election and this has delayed discussion on important budget issues. But the new government is weaker because it recently lost the majority of seats in parliament. As a result, the role of higher education as a part of any stimulus programme has, thus far, not been well defined.

In January, the government signed an agreement with representatives of public universities and polytechnics that could translate into additional funding. However, the ultimate outcome is dependent on additional negotiations between the ministry and university leaders and may be very difficult.

For 2010-11, there are not many options for mitigating anticipated further cuts to higher education. Tuition fees already exist in Portugal, with a set range that can be changed only by the government.

Most universities are already at the upper bound of that range and it appears that the government will allow for a steep rise to help mitigate cuts. There is the likelihood of across the board cuts in salaries for all government employees as part of an austerity programme intended to avoid the budget crisis now found in Greece.