# Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (Portuguese: Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Ensino Superior or MCTES) was a Portuguese government ministry dedicated to the design, development, execution and assessment of the science, technology and higher education national policy. Its official address was the Palácio das Laranjeiras in Lisbon. The rest of the education system fell within the scope of the Ministry of Education. Its last minister was Elvira Fortunato, aided by Pedro Nuno Teixeira as secretary of State of Higher Education.

## Powers

The MCTES' main powers are creating, executing and assessing the science, technology and higher education national policy, but it has many other powers, among them, governing the General Directorate of Higher Education (Direção-Geral do Ensino Superior), tutelage over the public higher education institutions, and tutelage and oversight over the Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia and the Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre.
The MCTES co-governs (with other Ministries and within its scope) the General Secretariat for Education and Science (Secretaria-Geral da Educação e Ciência), the General Inspectorate of Education and Science (Inspeção-Geral da Educação e Ciência), and the Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics (Direção-Geral de Estatísticas da Educação e Ciência) and has co-tutelage and co-oversight of the Institute of Financial Management of Education (Instituto de Gestão Financeira da Educação) and the Agência Nacional de Inovação.
The MCTES has legal influence over the National Agency for Management of the Erasmus+ Programme, the Lisbon Academy of Sciences and observes the work done by Portugal Space, the Agency for Clinical Research and Biomedical Innovation's (Agência para a Investigação Clínica e Inovação Biomédica), and all state laboratories.
The MCTES can consult two national boards, the Education National Board and the Science, Technology and Innovation National board.

## List of ministers

| No. | Name | Term of office | Term of office | Term of office | Prime Minister | Party |
| 1 | Mariano Gago | 28 October 1995 | 6 April 2002 | 6 years, 160 days | António Guterres | Independent |
| 2 | Pedro Lynce [pt] | 6 April 2002 | 6 October 2003 | 1 year, 183 days | José Manuel Barroso | Social Democratic Party |
| 3 | Maria da Graça Carvalho | 6 October 2003 | 12 March 2005 | 1 year, 157 days | José Manuel Barroso, Pedro Santana Lopes | Social Democratic Party |
| - | Mariano Gago | 12 March 2005 | 20 June 2011 | 6 years, 100 days | José Sócrates | Independent |
| Note: During the two Pedro Passos Coelho governments, this Ministry was merged back with the Ministry of Education, under the name the Ministry of Education and Science. |||||||
| 4 | Manuel Heitor | 26 November 2015 | 30 March 2022 | −6 years, 124 days | António Costa | Independent |
| 5 | Elvira Fortunato | 30 March 2022 | 2 April 2024 | 2 years, 3 days | António Costa | Independent |
| Note: During the Luís Montenegro government, this Ministry was merged back with the Ministry of Education, under the name the Ministry of Education, Science and Innovation. |||||||