Knowledge Networks News Launching of the Assessment Phase of Cooperation Opportunities Harvard Medical School - Portugal Launching of the Assessment Phase of Cooperation Opportunities Harvard Medical School - Portugal
- 15/04/2007
An agreement was signed with the Harvard Medical School on 16 April 2007 at a session starting at midday in the Pavilhão do Conhecimento in Lisbon. The principal objective of this agreement is to stimulate internationalisation and cooperation among medical faculties and the main national biomedical science laboratories and research centres.
The agreement is specifically geared towards production and dissemination of medical content, namely for medical students, teaching staff and researchers, but also for doctors and healthcare professionals and for the general public, the objective being to promote the dissemination of this content in Portuguese.
Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) will coordinate planning of related activities for a national platform to distribute medical content via the Internet, implementing an objective laid down in the Connecting Portugal initiative.
In addition, the possibility of developing post-graduate teaching cooperation programs in biomedical fields and clinical research, involving networks between medical faculties and the main Portuguese biomedical science laboratories and research centres, has been provided for.
The agreement will include an initial four-month phase for assessing cooperation opportunities for Harvard teaching staff and researchers, who will work in close collaboration with their Portuguese colleagues in identifying potential areas for cooperation.
This program consolidates public investment in R&D in the biomedical field, namely by means of the Science and Technology Foundation (FCT)’s initiatives in progress in collaboration with the Ministry of Health to stimulate clinical research in Portugal and improving Portuguese biomedical science laboratories and institutions.
The launch session for the initial phase for assessing cooperation opportunities with the Harvard Medical School will be attended by the management of seven Medical Faculties and Associated Laboratories with relevant activities in the biomedical science field, the President of the Council of Vice-Chancellors of Portuguese Universities (CRUP) and the Presidents of the Academy of Medicine and the Lisbon Society of Medial Sciences.
The agreement with Harvard University opens a new cycle of international science and technology and higher education partnerships, extending the scientific and technology areas covered by previous agreements and integrating Portugal in international networks, based on advanced training projects, sustainable schemes to stimulate new knowledge and harness new ideas in collaboration with landmark international companies and institutions, namely in the three programs that have already been approved under the Partnerships for the Future scheme: MIT – Portugal Program, CMU – Portugal Program and UT Austin – Portugal Program.