The Director-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, Jean- Eric Paquet, visited the NOVA School of Science and Technology | FCT NOVA on Tuesday, February 1st, within the scope of his visit to Portugal.
Jean-Eric Paquet, together with the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCTES), Manuel Heitor, participated in a comprehensive dialogue with the scientific community and several representatives of companies at the Associated Laboratory CENIMAT-i3N - Materials Research Center. The meeting was moderated by the Vice-Rector of NOVA, Elvira Fortunato, who is a professor and researcher at the Department of Material Sciences at FCT NOVA.
The meeting, which was broadcast live, was attended by the President of the National Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CNCTI), José Manuel Mendonça, by the Coordinator of the Council of Associated Laboratories (CLA), João Rocha, by the CEO of the Centro Internacional do Atlântico – AIR Centre, Miguel Bello, by the President of the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation , Helena Pereira, and several directors, researchers and entrepreneurs. At this meeting, priorities of the European Research Area (ERA) were addressed, namely those related with scientific careers, scientific infrastructures, Open Science and missions within the scope of Horizon Europe.
The visit of the European Commission's Director-General for Research and Innovation additionally provided an opportunity to reflect on Portugal's participation in the current European Union Research and Innovation Framework Programme, the Horizon Europe Program.
During the recent Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Portugal announced its intention to double its participation in the Horizon Europe Program for 2021-2027, when compared to the Horizon 2020 program, and to attract two billion euros for research and innovation activities, aiming at an effective convergence for the Europe of Knowledge by 2030.
Source: FCT NOVA