Portugal Renews International Partnerships in Science
Ten years have passed since the beginning of the partnerships between Portugal and Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Texas at Austin, all from the USA, and the Fraunhofer Society, Germany. All have been renewed as the program GoPortugal – Global Partnerships of Science and Technology for Portugal will be carried out until 2030.
The announcement of the renewal of the international partnerships was two-fold: the of budget €64 million euros allocated was approved and the new agreements were already signed at the Center for Engineering and Product Development (Ceiia) in Matosinhos. The main objectives of this new phase are the stimulation of scientific employment and the development of the AIR Center – the International Research Center of the Atlantic in the Azores.
Portugal has funded these four partnerships with €120,5 million euros, and more than a thousand professors, researchers and entrepreneurs participated in them, with more than 1500 masters and doctoral students involved and about 300 Portuguese (technology-based) companies were supported, according to the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia.
“The balance could not be better,” says Manuel Heitor, Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education. That is why the collaboration has been renewed: “Science, scientific development and the knowledge economy are increasingly global. Today it only makes sense to do science in a close relation, at a global scale. It is crucial to work with great partners worldwide for the recognition of Portugal in the world. ”
The partnership with Carnegie Mellon University has focused mainly on information and communication technologies, that involved more than 364 Ph. D. and Masters students, 42 Portuguese academic institutions and promoted the creation of 11 startups. One of them is Feedzai, which has raised more than € 60 million euros in funding, and is valued at about € 521 million euros. Feedzai is headquartered in Silicon Valley, with offices in Portugal and London.
“We are starting a new phase very focused on data science,” says Nuno Nunes, who coordinates this partnership together with Rodrigo Rodrigues, both of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering of Intituto Superior Técnico. “The areas of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics are very strong at Carnegie Mellon University and we will seek an even closer collaboration with the research groups in Portugal.” Nuno Nunes said that these partnerships are “materialized” in the opening of calls for research projects and fellowships, hoping that the first one will open soon.
Read the Portuguese articles at TVL, TV Online (February 18, 2018) Diário Insular (February 17, 2018) Uniarea Online , Diário de Trás-os-Montes Online, Ambiente Online, Exame Informático Online, Rádio Cister Online, Público (PDF), Diário dos Açores (PDF) (February 16, 2018) Diário do Sul (PDF), Jogo Online, Jornal de Notícias Online, Diário de Notícias Online, Notícias ao Minuto Online, Observador Online, Sapo Online, TSF Online, Negócios Online, APDC Online, Público Online, Rádio Horizonte Açores Online, Rua Direita Online, Sábado Online, Portugal StartUps Online, TV Europa Online, RTP Madeira (February 15, 2018) Diário de Notícias Online, Correio da Manhã Online, JPN Online, Porto Canal Online, Renascença Online, RTP Online (February 14, 2018) Açoriano Oriental (PDF) (February 12, 2018) Expresso (PDF), Expresso Online (February 10, 2018)
