MINISTERIO DA EDUCACAO, CIENCIA E INOVACAO

Their core work

Portugal's Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation is the national government body responsible for education policy, curriculum standards, and science policy across the country. In H2020 projects, the Ministry contributes policy expertise, access to the national school system, and coordination with other European education ministries. Their involvement typically brings large-scale validation environments — entire school networks — and the authority to translate project findings into national education policy.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

The Ministry's early H2020 involvement (2017) centered on consumer education and knowledge transfer in food safety through SafeConsumE, a cross-sector application of their education mandate. By 2020, their focus shifted decisively toward STEM education, school improvement, and teacher professional development through MenSI and Scientix 4. This represents a move from peripheral participation in non-education projects toward core education-sector leadership aligned with European STEM skills agendas.

Moving toward deeper engagement in European STEM education networks and digital pedagogy, likely to participate in future calls around digital skills, AI in education, and teacher training.

How they like to work

The Ministry never coordinates projects — it joins as a participant or third party, which is typical for national ministries that provide policy access and validation rather than research capacity. With 42 unique partners across 19 countries from just 3 projects, they operate exclusively in large consortia. This means they bring institutional weight and national-level reach but expect other partners to lead the technical and research work.

Despite only 3 projects, the Ministry has touched 42 partners across 19 countries, reflecting participation in large pan-European education consortia. Their network is broad but shallow — wide geographic spread without deep recurring partnerships.

What sets them apart

As a national ministry, they offer something no university or research institute can: direct authority over Portugal's education system and the ability to implement project results as national policy. For consortium builders, including them signals policy relevance and provides a pathway from pilot results to systemic adoption. They are especially valuable in projects requiring large-scale school-level validation or cross-ministry coordination at European level.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MenSI
  Largest funding (EUR 104,332) and directly aligned with the Ministry's core mandate — school improvement through mentoring and digital pedagogy.
• SafeConsumE
  Unusual cross-sector participation where the Ministry applied its education expertise to food safety consumer behavior change.