he Polytechnic of Porto signed yesterday, December 5th, the deed of acquisition of the Asprela building to the Catholic University of Portugal in Porto. The ceremony, which formalized the last phase of this transaction, took place at 11am, in the Sala de Atos. It was attended by the Secretary of State for Science, Technology and Higher Education, João Sobrinho Teixeira. The signatory institutions are represented by João Rocha, President of the Polytechnic of Porto, and Isabel Braga da Cruz, President of the Porto Regional Center of the Catholic University of Portugal.
The building will allocate a superstructure dedicated to research, technology transfer, innovation and entrepreneurship, the PORTIC - Porto Research, Technology & Innovation Centre, joining most of the Porto Polytechnic research centers and groups as well as Porto Global Hub (constituted by Porto Design Factory, Porto Business Innovation and Start-up Porto).
The Polytechnic of Porto's new ecosystem strengthens the idea of an environment that stimulates synergies, the fertile crossing between areas of knowledge, adding skills and teams, fostering cooperation and formation of joint projects, in a space of knowledge, science, transfer and reproduction in line with the best International practices.
This model allows collaborative work between the I&D units, facilitating the involvement of P. PORTO in consortia and research projects while promoting the acceleration of ideas and an entrepreneurial mindset.
The President of the Polytechnic of Porto welcomes the end of a long process, “which will enable P. PORTO to create a new supporting structure and assistance for research and innovation, concentrated resources, monetizing available resources and above all gaining scale. This dimension is very important, associated with the fact that we have several groups in the same space, which will be an asset for fundraising and financing". “We will have another ability to meet the challenges of the future”, he concludes.
Isabel Braga da Cruz considered this ceremony as a moment “more than symbolic", stressing that “today we made history and a future." For the President of the Catholic University this is a crucial strategy for the positioning of P. PORTO and the Catholic University, of strengthening the country's science, and - underlines - "a moment of strengthening the relations between these two institutions".
João Sobrinho Teixeira sees the creation of PORTIC as an advantage for Porto, for the country and for the people. "We hope that with this center, more science will be done, that it will follow in a concrete return to people's lives and that it will be an element of equality and equity." For the Secretary of State this was undoubtedly "a day of celebration, and a day to congratulate Science in Portugal".
