On October 17th, Instituto Superior Técnico signed a collaboration protocol with the real estate company Vanguard Properties, increasing the number of partnerships included in the Técnico Partner Network to 25. Within this collaboration are research grants, merit awards and workshops – initiatives that seek to strengthen the research-industry link. This is the second company in the Civil Engineering sector to join this network.

The ceremony was attended by the president of Técnico, Rogério Colaço. “Our strategic plan, in force until 2030, is based on three pillars – teaching, research and development and, finally, what we call societal impact, which consists of the duty that public higher education institutions such as Técnico have to contribute to the development of society”, he clarified, adding that “having partners is nothing more than the instrument we created to achieve this mission”. In his speech, Rogério Colaço also highlighted the importance of “diversifying the portfolio of companies that are part of the Partner Network”.

José Cardoso Botelho, CEO of the company, highlighted that “Técnico is a school of national reference”. Manuel Collares-Pereira, former professor at Técnico and now scientific consultant at Vanguard Properties, argued that “the university has a fundamental role” with regard to knowledge and technology.

The partnership will focus on two fronts:

• Talent proximity activities – a merit award and new advanced training offers through the Técnico+ program;
• Acceleration of innovation – organization of annual ‘research-industry’ workshops, new editions of TecInnov (innovative ideas competition) in collaboration with Vanguard Properties and a scholarship for doctoral students.