Contextualizing research careers

Abstract

This chapter provides an overview of the research context of the study that provided evidence for this book. More specifically, I provide some insight into historical factors that have influenced the development of Research and Development (R&D) at Portuguese universities. Of major importance is a period of expanded investment in universities during the mid-1990s, which included the establishment of a national foundation for science and technology and, subsequently, the expansion of the postdoctoral researcher population. This period is retrospectively viewed as something of a golden age in Portuguese R&D that was not sustained due to uneven investment in the ensuing decades, with the years following the 2008 economic crisis being particularly problematic. In consequence, while the researcher population has grown, not all have enjoyed the same range of opportunities, rights and entitlements, with stark disparities emerging between people who started their careers before or during the expansion period and others who became researchers in Portugal at a later date.