The Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), which regularly evaluates the Portuguese R&D institutions, carried out by panels of experts, classified two research centers of Politécnico do Porto with its maximum score " excellent "on a scale of five values (insufficient, weak, good, very good, excellent).
The centers are the Research Group on Intelligent Engineering and Computing for Advanced Innovation and Development (GECAD) and the Research Centre in Real-Time and Embedded Computing Systems (CISTER), both belonging to the ISEP (Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto), P.PORTO's engineering school.
The evaluation criteria of the FCT fundamentally scrutinize three aspects: quality of the research team; national and international impact of the activities carried out, and the alignment of the organization's goals and strategies with the regional and national strategies.
Politécnico do Portothus has research centers recognized in four areas of knowledge: engineering, education, health and business sciences - with two excellent evaluations, five good, and one a research center with the evaluation process still ongoing.
In general terms, GECAD's mission is to carry out and promote scientific research for the development and evolution of intelligent engineering systems and other fields; CISTER, for its part, focuses its activity on the analysis, design and implementation of integrated computer systems in the physical environment.
The FCT evaluation system is based on the analysis of reports, strategic plans and activities of the centers, as well as direct contacts with researchers and institutions through visits to all units. This evaluation results in a classification that determines the volume of multiannual funding to be allocated until a new evaluation is carried out.