Press release on the NOVA University website. To access the original, which includes photography from the event, please click here. The Portuguese version can be found here.
On January 10 and 11, the Campolide campus hosted the “Research in Europe” event, organized by NOVA University Lisbon in partnership with Lancaster University.
In the opening session, the Rector of NOVA, Professor João Sàágua highlighted the importance of enhancing collaborative research opportunities by arguing that “it is clear that current top-level research can only be developed within relevant international networks, and supported by international funding. This meeting is an excellent opportunity to make this possible”.
Over the two-day event, participants and speakers from academia, business and politics shared their insights regarding potential scientific projects, the European research agenda and the future of collaborations between British and continental universities.
More than 60 researchers of NOVA and Lancaster worked together to either identify or stimulate the development of ideas for collaborative and interdisciplinary research projects. The researchers were distributed in five thematic sessions – Industry and Competitiveness, Innovative Solutions, Health Challenges & Policies, Societal Impact and Sustainability.
In his intervention, the Minister of Science Technology and Higher Education, Professor Manuel Heitor, stressed the desirable continuity of the joint work between Portugal and the United Kingdom, as well as its universities, regardless of the trajectory of the Brexit process.
This was, in fact, a common message conveyed by all those involved in the various panels.
The British Ambassador to Portugal, Chris Sainty, and Dr. Filipe Gaspar, Vice-President for Research and Development at Hovione, left their testimonies about the importance of partnerships such as the one existing between NOVA and Lancaster University.
Watch the videos:
– Chris Sainty, British Ambassador to Portugal
– Dr. Filipe Gaspar, Vice President of Research and Development at Hovione
The event was a step further towards strengthening the link between NOVA and Lancaster University which signed a Memorandum of Understanding in June 2018 with the objective of exploring opportunities for collaborative research, joint teaching initiatives and strategic knowledge exchange including internationalization, staff development and student recruitment.
“Research in Europe” was the second event in the regional conference cycle promoted by NOVA In The Globe – Institute for Global Development, and was preceded by “Research in Africa” which took place last October.