Pros
- It's wonderful to have FCT to dream with a career in research. We can apply for scholarships of merit to achieve the goal of performing a PhD. - The faculty fee is payed by FCT. - In the last years there was a raising in the scholarship value (after 20 years of blocking). - You work with a major goal : YOUR PhD and get all the knowledge and information you can.
Cons
- It is not a salary. - You have no rights as other workers (which you are in fact, because you sign an exclusivity contract). - The scholarship value is low. - There are no help in schools' fees as the fee you pay to your PhD defense (That varies north to south, as 0 to 800€ more or less) - As researcher you have to prove your dissemination work around the world, nevertheless, you only get a one and only payed congress with a previous stablished value. - Your career and your life are on hold all the time. You have serious difficulties in building a career because you jump from a scholarship to another and rarely get a job contract.