The National Education Board (1929–36) and scientific research in Portugal

The National Education Board (JEN – Junta de Educação Nacional) was created in 1929 during the Military Dictatorship. The purpose of this organization, much favoured by some sectors of Portuguese academiaf and intellectual elite, was the renewal of scientific, pedagogical and national economic policies. Following the example of similar international institutions, such as the Junta para Ampliación de Estudios e Investigaciones Científicas (JAE) of Spain, JEN put in place a set of articulated practices – scholarships at home and abroad, the funding of research centres and the organization of cultural expansion services – targeting the scientific updating and a greater dissemination of Portuguese culture internationally.