Umic - Joint Portuguese and Spanish Nanotechnology Network Meeting

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Joint Portuguese and Spanish Nanotechnology Network Meeting

- 13/04/2008

Logo of INL International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory The Portuguese and Spanish nanotechnology networks - PortugalNano and NanoSpain respectively - jointly organised their PortugalNano Workshop ’08 and NanoSpain 2008 meetings in Braga, Portugal, from 14 to 18 April 2008. The main objective of these meetings as a NanoIberian Conference is to reinforce links between the researchers and institutions of the two countries’ networks and to provide an opportunity for discussion of the latest nanoscience and nanotechnology developments in the two countries.

The meeting took place in Braga, as it is where the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory is located - the first, and thus far the only, nanoscience and nanotechnology scientific research organisation with full international legal status. The INL was set up as part of a joint initiative by Spain and Portugal taken in Évora in 2005 during the 21st Portugal-Spain Summit. Its Foundation ceremony took place at the 23rd Portugal - Spain Summit (text in Portuguese) held in Braga on 18 – 19 January 2008. Located in Braga, the Laboratory shall develop a scientific policy and recruit its researchers globally and with a worldwide scope. The project will be open to participation by other European countries and countries from other continents in the future. The 1st INL construction contract was launched on 11 March 2008.

Vista geral das instalações do INL

The NanoIberian Conference held in Braga was also attended by the French Centre of Competence C’Nano Grand Sud-Ouest as a special guest. This centre involves laboratories working in nanoscience and nanotechnology in the French regions bordering the Iberian Peninsula: Aquitaine, Midi-Pyrénées and Languedoc-Roussillon.

Roughly 330 participants registered for the conference: 53% from Spain, 35% from Portugal and 5% from France. Researchers from other countries were also involved: Romania, Germany, United States of America, United Kingdom, Brazil, Netherlands, Japan and Venezuela.

The increased scientific cooperation between Portugal and Spain in nanoscience and nanotechnology, in addition to the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory (INL) and stronger links between the PortugalNano and NanoSpain networks, involves setting up a PhD Programme in Nanomedicine in cooperation between Portugal and Galicia (text in Portuguese) based on an agreement signed on 16th January 2008 by the Portuguese universities of Aveiro, Porto and Minho and the Galician universities of La Coruña, Santiago de Compostela and Vigo. This is accompanied by a nanoscience and nanotechnology Empowerment Programme, beefing up cooperation between Portugal and Spain, which receives support from the INL and has three components:

R&D projects approved after international evaluation (see evaluation panel) of the proposals presented from the call for proposals (text in Portuguese) launched in November 2006 by Portugal’s Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) and the Spanish Dirección General de Investigación (10 projects approved involving 36 research teams from Portuguese institutions and the same number from Spanish institutions (see the geographical distribution of research teams for the 10 approved projects), which were selected from a total 72 applications received).
Doctoral grants for training in Portuguese and Spanish research units (15 grants to be allocated equally to both countries’ research units for training and preparation of a call for proposals for the allocation of further grants).
Post-doctorates to be carried out in laboratories by international secondment in areas of specific interest to the INL.

Last updated ( 23/08/2011 )