Holiday Greetings and a Year in Review from MIT Portugal

There is no question that the last two years have been challenging years. In 2021 we still dealt with the pandemic impact and we’ve all had to adapt to a “new normal”. Adapting to change is never easy and, as a Program, we are proud of the accomplishments we’ve made this year: we’ve reinforced our resilience and continued to invest in research, people & ideas; we’ve combined digital and face-to-face collaborations leading to relevant Program initiatives and we’ve continued to make progress, contributing for a better world.

As we reminisce about the year that is ending we want to share some of the Program achievements:

On the field of scientific research:
– We opened 2 small-scale project calls (Seed and Exploratory) and 21 new research projects were approved in the MPP strategic areas;
– Our 7 Flagship projects carry on at cruising speed and we meet regularly with them to share the latest progress on the ongoing projects.

On the field of education:
– We have 37 PhD students starting their doctoral studies supported by MPP-FCT grants;
– We launched a new PhD call for 40 PhD grants and soon we will be announcing the final results;
– We organized the first edition of the 2-week Marine Robotics Summer School hosting undergraduates and Master’s students from 7 different universities from Portugal and abroad.

Activities to promote the Program were also a goal of this year. We held 26 dissemination activities in different research areas while establishing links with different stakeholders. Our Annual Conference marked a very significant milestone, the 15th anniversary of MPP, hosting over 85 on-site participants and receiving over 220 online views.

More than ever, the challenges that our planet and society face today require state-of-the-art research and collaboration between different stakeholders to find technological solutions that can be used when facing adversity. We are looking forward to the new discoveries and enterprises that will be made next year! And we will continue to support the academic community and industry in their efforts to reach a more sustainable and advanced planet.  

Wishing you the happiest of holidays and a healthy and auspicious New Year, from all of us at MIT Portugal Program.