http://www.uc.pt/fctuc/ID/Geo/cgeo2015_2020
CGeo is a research focused consortium based on the full commitment of its institutional members:
• the University of Coimbra (UC);
• the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD);
• the Polytechnic Institute of Tomar (IPT);
• the Earth and Memory Institute (ITM).
All institutional members, are continuously searching improvement and enhancement of knowledge, creativity, research and technology, contributing decisively to the progress of science, technology and to the enhancement of knowledge as an essential element of people’s lives. The strategic guide lines are: reinforcing the presence in the European research space by developing a research policy centered on the promotion of excellence, investing in quality teaching, intensifying the connections with society and the surrounding environment, and promoting a proactive, rational, responsible and thorough management of resources, based on criteria of economy, efficacy and efficiency.
UC’S, has a strong liaison with Institutes in the fields of applied science and technology transfer, as well as science based enterprise incubation (e.g. BIOCANT, IPN, ADAI, ITECONS). Both universities have a long track of lecturing in earth sciences, offering degrees from BSc to PhD and Post Doc studies. The Polytechnic has a strong dimension in geoarchaeology and in applied geosciences in various domains (conservation, engineering), also offering BSc and MSc degrees. ITM is a purely research driven entity, with a major focus on past technology, landscape survey and management and in bridging earth and humans sciences.
Two major consequences derive from this:
• the team members collaborates as if they belong to the same institution;
• the laboratory facilities are run as an integrated lab resource, avoiding redundancies and maximizing the investment.
All institutions have identified Geosciences as a strategic priority, and do favor a networking structure. Results of CGeo as stated in this report illustrate the advances achieved, and also led to some structural modifications that will render it more effective from 2014 on. One major dimension of this shared commitment has been the collaborative work in international projects with Africa (Ethiopia, Angola, Senegal) and Southern America (Brazil, Colombia).
The management structure derives from this approach, and the strong attractiveness of the offered advance studies degrees is to a large extent also a consequence of these projects. The strategic goals, in line with the 2020 strategy, but also with the regional priorities (namely territorial cohesion) focus on building a three pillars approach: – identification and characterization of resources; – their transformation and use; – and human related adaptive strategies. All the prior main specific objectives have been achieved in the recent past. The CGeo will introduce a few changes in its internal organization, as will be described in the current report and application.