The line of the Equator

Last March we celebrated the one-year anniversary of the General Assembly, which took place in São Paulo, Brazil, that would lead to the establishment of the non-profit association that became INESC P&D Brasil (INESC R&D Brazil).

The event was discrete, a modest profile strategy that has been promoted so that the trust of partners is not destroyed by unnecessary smugness. However, it is worth marking this occasion on the calendar of those memorable events whose importance can only be perceived later on: when people realise that there is a before and an after. Meanwhile, all is evolving with an apparently quiet normalcy.

This may very well be the first time that an R&D institution that is an Associate Laboratory, and acknowledged as a Unit within the National Scientific and Technological System, takes on internationalisation by settling in another country, in another continent in fact.

It was quite encouraging to see that the Brazilian universities that partnered this project have always found the idea extremely exhilarating – which brings an added responsibility towards the initiative, as the welcoming country must benefit from it. Coherently, this initiative will only benefit Portugal if it adequately serves Brazil, as only a win-win situation will lead to the sustainability that will ultimately guarantee durability.

Thus, this is an overwhelming challenge to all those wizard apprentices who think that science is possible in a country without strong institutions and structured science management processes: may you prove that only by funding volatile research projects and groups you will be capable of designing, investing and taking advantage of a strategic concept that is as bold, irreverent and innovative as this.