RUNIN completed its sixth Training Week out of a total of eight, in Aveiro, Portugal on 10th to 14th June. The training week started with a meeting on Monday on the ESRs’ planned video production as a paper abstract. Professor Ina Drejer provided the ESRs with some information about the basic requirements for the videos as well as instructive examples of some video abstracts, based on which the ESRs conducted a discussion on the strengths and weaknesses of those exemplary video abstracts.
On Tuesday we got a formal inauguration of the training week with a welcome by the rector of the University of Aveiro (UA), Dr. Paulo Jorge Ferreira, as well as a presentation of the UA by Professor Carlos Rodrigues. These were followed by two speeches, one by the UA’s Professor Gillian Moreira, and the other by the president of the General Council of UA, Professor Eduardo Marçal Grilo, on the issue of career development, which was the main theme of the training week. A guided tour of the UA campus was the next activity.
Wednesday started with a visit to the Creative Science Park of the Aveiro Region. During the visit, the ESRs took a guided tour of the Park, which was followed by short speeches on the history of development of the Park by the mayor of Aveiro, Mr. José Ribau Esteves, as well as the UA’s vice-rector for cooperation, Professor Eduardo Castro, and the secretary of Intermunicipal Community of the Aveiro Region, Mr. José Eduardo de Matos. A visit to the Museum of Aveiro was the next activity, where the ESRs were presented about the STEAM CITY project, which is an urban network for upgrading science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics (STEAM) skills of the prospective workforce in the region, and is supported by the European Commission’s Urban Innovation Actions. This was followed by a visit to the Bairrada Wine Museum, located about 30 km southwest of Aveiro city, during which the ESRs could also attend a presentation on the development of wine industry in the region.
The following day of the training week was chiefly dedicated to the topic of innovation and growth. With regard to this, the ESRs were presented by two lectures given by Professor Artur Rosa Pires and Professor Carlos Rodrigues, concerning the history of UA’s relevance for the regional industrial development, and the issue of knowledge and technology transfer in the context of Industry 4.0, respectively. This was followed by two panel discussions around the issues of rural development and community development, following the respective presentations by Elisabete Figueiredo and Jose Carlos Mota, two of the UA’s senior researchers.
The training ended on Friday with the ESRs’ review and evaluation of the activities during the week, and the main responsible organiser, Carlos Rodrigues summarising the key elements and findings of the training, before wishing all a good journey back to our home regions.
