On December 3rd, the Rectory’s auditorium featured the University’s top research and innovation efforts, wihile the NOVA Innovation Fair showcased leading spin-offs, CoLABs, and projects in the atrium. Rector João Sàágua opened the event with a positive review of NOVA’s achievements, emphasizing significant growth in scientific output, including 21 ERC grants since 2018 and €47 million in funding. He also highlighted a near 30% rise in active patents, most protected internationally, and NOVA’s participation in 20 PRR-funded projects aimed at business capitalization and innovation.
Vice-Rector Isabel Rocha emphasized the expanding talent ecosystem, interdisciplinarity, and impact at NOVA, attributing their secured resources to the excellence of their research and researchers. She highlighted NOVA’s strong performance in open-access science, recognized by the Leiden Ranking, and its importance in communicating research value to society. The Vice-Rector also noted NOVA’s significant progress in entrepreneurship, citing successful spin-offs like CellmAbs and a record-breaking biotech transfer agreement. NOVA’s entrepreneurial reputation, recognized as Europe’s most entrepreneurial university, reflects their efforts in attracting and retaining talent.
Celebrating Achievements
The first segment highlighted researchers who secured significant projects over the past year. Tiago Correia, lead researcher of the GHTM | IHMT-NOVA coordinated consortium VAX-Action, presented the EU-funded project’s key goals and actions aimed at tackling vaccine hesitancy in Europe.
Recognizing Outstanding Research
A special moment was dedicated to recognizing the highest Field-Weighted Citation Impact for 2021-2023 publications of the organic unit. Liliana Rodrigues represented GHTM | IHMT-NOVA with the article “Drug Repurposing for COVID-19: A Review and a Novel Strategy to Identify New Targets and Potential Drug Candidates“ co-authored with Renata Bento Cunha, Tatiana Vassilevskaia, Miguel Viveiros, and Celso Cunha.
Impact Narratives Challenge Winners
The morning concluded with the announcement of the six winners of the Impact Narratives challenge, selected from 25 submissions across eight academic units. Details of these projects are featured in the 2024 edition of NOVA Science magazine, which is also available online.
Citizen Science and Innovation
The afternoon focused on Citizen Science and Innovative Projects. Teresa Novo presented MosquitoWeb, an initiative to track invasive mosquito species in mainland Portugal, inviting all citizens to help combat mosquitoes that transmit diseases like dengue and yellow fever. Pedro Pedrosa (ITQB-NOVA), head of the Innovation Unit InnOValley, introduced DxHub, a new Center of Excellence for Infectious Disease Detection between Portugal and Greece. This initiative aims to boost regional visibility and competitiveness through innovative, high-value products for detecting infectious diseases. GHTM | IHMT-NOVA is part of this EU-financed consortium, led by Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of the Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (IMBB-FORTH) in Crete.
Responsible AI
The final session explored the responsible use of Artificial Intelligence, featuring Daniela Melandri from the European Commission’s AI Directorate live from Brussels. Melandri emphasized the potential of AI as a powerful support tool, stating, “AI is a fantastic support tool, provided it is used responsibly and with awareness of its risks and limitations.” Following her presentation, a roundtable discussion, moderated by Steffen Hoernig from Nova SBE, reinforced the importance of ethical and critical approaches to AI in science and innovation.
Innovation Fair
Throughout the day, the Galleria Mellonella Research Hub hosted a booth where visitors could learn more from Sofia Santos Costa and PhD student Mariana Andrade. At the poster session, PhD students Helga Vicente and Iolanda Alves presented their work on acute febrile illnesses and healthcare for vulnerable populations, respectively.
Explore More – Find the full details of the NOVA Science & Innovation Day here.