Fixed-term employment contracts under fire
Portugal’s former Minister of Science, Manuel Heitor, is worried about the employment conditions of young researchers in Europe.
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“Fixed-term, project-based funding for young researchers is a bad practice that needs to be broken in Europe”.
In March 2026, Manuel Heitor, Portugal’s former Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, delivered a speech at a conference entitled ‘Fostering Innovative Careers’. In it, he pointed out a new norm among European funding organisations, linking work contracts for young researchers to projects with fixed-term funding. This merely results in creating precarious employment circumstances, however, according to a report that Heitor issued in 2024. The European Commission has meanwhile launched an initiative in favour of longer contracts.
