Abstract:

This research aims to highlight the evolution of the Portuguese scientific system in the recent decades. This article presents the process of expansion of higher education in Portugal, particularly at the level of scientific system, which occurred after the Democratic Revolution of 25 April 1974, ending a 48-year dictatorship. Among the many changes that Portugal knew from the April Revolution, the educational ones were overwhelming. Since 1974, there have been significant changes in the whole educational system, namely the rate of illiteracy has sharply decreased, schooling rates and educational demand have increased at all levels of education, public expenditure on education, the establishment of compulsory schooling and unified middle and high school education, the explosion of demand for education, the creation of polytechnic higher education, the privatization of higher education, promotion of scientific research, ratification of the Bologna Declaration or new laws on funding and governance and autonomy of public higher education institutions. In the framework of higher education, the adoption of the Bologna Declaration has led to major changes in the legal framework of the structure of higher education in the countries that have ratified it, and in the Portuguese case, it has resulted in enormous growth in postgraduate studies and in the number of graduates. In this article, the authors support their analysis using official statistics from Portugal and international organizations, analyzing the expansion of scientific research, particularly in the post-Bologna context. It is also presented the path taken by the Portuguese scientific system and contextualizes the Portuguese situation in the international context. The article will be finished with some reflections that may help to formulate public policies conducive to improving the state of public higher education in Portugal, especially in the financing of postgraduate and scientific production. The main results of the study point towards that in recent years the Portuguese scientific system be part of the 10 fastest growing scientific systems in the world.

Keywords:

Higher Education, Scientific System, Public Policies, Financing, Research.