CIDP was created with the purpose of studying all Portuguese and European Private Law, in a transversal and integrated way. Being a research centre dedicated to the study of Private Law in general, the research projects developed by CIDP may address any scientific problems within private law, preferably within the research lines chosen for the period 2018-2022. [nota: link para as linhas temáticas]
Researchers may, jointly or autonomously, propose certain research projects that they consider to be of special scientific and social interest. Those projects are then presented for approval to both the Scientific Coordinator and the Scientific Committee. For this approval process, the following factors must be taken into account: the scientific and methodological quality of the project, its scientific and social impact, its adequacy to research lines and its alignment with public and CIDP’s own funds and that may be assigned to the project.
The execution of the approved research projects will be ruled by the following principles:
Scientific and methodological autonomy and independence:
The coordinator of the project should, along with the project’s researchers, organize the project in a way that is most appropriate for the scientific purposes pursued. The sources of funding for CIDP, which may come either from national or foreign entities, and either from the public sector or from the private sector, do not condition or compromise, under any circumstances, the independence of researchers or the scientific integrity of results.
Accountability
The project’s investigators are hold accountable towards the Scientific Coordinator and their peers, for their execution and the results achieved.
Data collection
All data collected and produced during the project’s execution should be stored, catalogued and inserted in the CIDP’s internal data basis, allowing a funded confrontation of the conclusions reached. In the data processing, CIDP guarantees the fulfilment of the highest standards of ethics and legality, especially if personal data or copyright are at stake.
Internal diffusion
The disclosure of research results, especially in national and international peer reviews, should be preceded by their presentation at bimonthly meetings held by the various sections. So, it is encouraged the disclosure of interim results in order to ensure the quality of the results and also to enable the collaboration of all researchers.
Integration of young researchers
It is encouraged the active collaboration – and not merely informal collaboration – of the young researchers, in order to enable them to became authors or co-authors of the projects to be carried out.
Exchange
The research activity seeks to integrate national and foreign researchers from other R&D Institutions, in particular R&D Institutions with which CIDP has concluded research collaborations and protocols. Research activity seeks as well to integrate and collaborate with leading personalities within the scientific and social sphere so that they can contribute to the results of the research or which can, within the framework of a scientific dialogue, scrutinize those results.
Interdisciplinary
The articulation between research projects and the constitution of teams of researchers with diverse interests and specialties is enhanced in order to promote interdisciplinary research.
Applied investigation
CIDP seeks a permanent articulation with agents of the legal practice, in order to identify practical questions that, at any moment, demand the study of Legal Science. This balance is needed to stimulate young scientific research and to bring CIDP activity closer to the community in which it operates.
Open Science
The results should be, whenever possible, made available to the academic community for free.