Infrastructures led by INESC TEC chosen for FCT’s national roadmap

Infrastructures led by INESC TEC chosen for FCT’s national roadmap

Five infrastructures in which INESC TEC participates have been chosen (after previous evaluation and hearing) to integrate the National Roadmap of Research Infrastructures of Strategic Interest for 2014-2020 (RNIE) of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT). Two of these infrastructures are led by INESC TEC: the Smart Grids and Electric Vehicles Laboratory (SGEVL) and the TEC4SEA, a modular Platform for researching, testing and validating technologies to support a sustainable economy for the Sea.

23rd July 2014

“INESC TEC submitted an application to FCT to strengthen the capacity of the Smart Grids and Electric Vehicles Laboratory, and according to the evaluators this is a high scientific quality infrastructure with potential to attract and retain qualified human resources, to support research activities of excellence and to meet the goals of the national and regional research and innovation policies,” states João Peças Lopes, director of INESC TEC and leader of SGEVL’s application.

The TEC4SEA, also evaluated as Category 1, demonstrated a high scientific potential and strategic regional and/or national relevance. The infrastructure is primarily designed to support advanced training, research, development and validation of technology for the sea. This is an open, multidisciplinary platform with capacity to develop R&D to test technology and robotic solutions for the sea, as well as telecommunications and monitoring sensors for sea operations. Thanks to the installed capacities and its prime location, this infrastructure has easy access to the deep sea and supports multidisciplinary research activities, enabling a full evaluation and validation of technological solutions developed for the marine environment.

These two infrastructures are joined by three other infrastructures in which INESC TEC participates: WindScanner Portugal, the Collaboratory for the Geosciences and the European Multidisciplinary Seafloor Observatory. The five infrastructures are part of a group of 40 infrastructures approved, out of 124 national applications.

As of 2015, the implementation of the roadmap will allow these infrastructures to apply for funding over the next six years. During this period, the infrastructures will be subjected to periodic reviews and updates by the RNIE.

The RNIE was created by the FCT in order to support research infrastructures of strategic interest that promote scientific and technological advances and strengthen Portugal’s R&D capacity, encouraging them to actively participate in European and international projects.

The INESC TEC researchers mentioned in this article are associated with the following partner institutions: INESC Porto and FEUP.

INESC TEC, July 2014