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"I accepted the invitation to voice my reasoning, or lack of, on the growth of INESC Porto. The title of this article reveals my feelings straight away in relation to this growth...", Graça Barbosa

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In this section, the reader may find reference to public announcements made by INESC Porto offering grants, contracts and other opportunities of the same kind.

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INESC TEC is the new name proposed for the Associate Laboratory

INESC TEC is the new name proposed for the Associate Laboratory

The new architecture of the Associate Laboratory led to the new designation, INESC TEC, or INESC Technology and Science, which will replace the current name, INESC Porto LA. This proposal was accepted by the remaining institutions in the INESC group and has been submitted to the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology) to be approved as the official title of the Associate Laboratory. This recognition should be confirmed shortly.

For Vladimiro Miranda, director of INESC Porto, the adoption of this new title will acknowledge the “strong alliance” in the Associate Laboratory. “INESC Porto will remain a legal institution and at the centre of the sphere, but INESC TEC will build an environment where we can collaborate with the Polytechnic Institute in Porto and Universities in Porto and Minho. Adopting this new label symbolises how we are crossing borders and we want our strong allied structure to be recognised”, he confirms.

The challenges that the new title will bring include: culturally consolidating INESC TEC and uniting its groups under an organisational model that continues to promote activities that range from the generation of knowledge to its valorisation, maintaining a highly professional core of expertise and realigning the Unit’s activities to maximise the potential of synergies.

Vladimiro Miranda also highlights the need to ensure the institute’s financial stability by increasing the diverseness of its sources of funding, reinforcing its advanced R&D services, working directly with industry (in 2010 this represented 42% of the project gains for INESC Porto) and speeding up internationalisation (in 2010 this represented 30% of INESC Porto’s activity in projects).

“We still have to look at some numbers to give us a global idea of what INESC TEC will represent, bearing in mind the fact that INESC Porto had a budget of 10.5 million Euros in 2010. We hope that the level of recognition and responsibility will evolve to the same level.
The director of INESC Porto states that “we must promote our vision and guide our 600 researchers and 200 PhD holders that are working together in the universe of INESC TEC: this is the challenge and we welcome it”.