UT Austin Portugal Newsletter | A lesson we take with us (original) (raw)

Over the last several months, we have been faced with many constraints that have made us rethink the way we live, work and stay connected, be it in a professional or social context. If, at first, it seemed too difficult to maintain any sense of normality, the Covid-19 crisis has forced us all into a quick learning path: we had to adapt, roll up our sleeves and carry on with our lives, even if somehow differently.

Our Program was affected by this exceptional situation as well. For example, research exchanges in the frame of advanced training programs like the one we launched in 2018 and continued into 2019 – the Advanced Computing Training Program – were simply not possible to organize due to the many international travel restrictions in place. The Portuguese Leadership of the Program could not go to Austin nor could our American fellows fly to Portugal to give talks as they did so many times before. We managed, however, to work around some of these obstacles and keep the ball rolling.

We moved our events, including our Annual Conference, to an online stage, and had our first External Review Committee meeting since the start of Phase 3. We also announced a new batch of exploratory research and company-led projects aiming to tackle real, global challenges and offer impactful solutions to our society’s main concerns in matters of health, sustainability, climate change, just to name a few. We kept on connecting and engaging with our community, beneficiaries and key stakeholders. Our relation with them is vital to our mission and overall success as we are a partnership that draws on the expertise, commitment and willingness of so many minds on both sides of the Atlantic.

2020 will definitely be a year to remember – we grew stronger, became more resilient and quicker in our feet. A new year is now approaching. And we are optimistic that the world itself will leverage on the challenges it has endured. We will certainly carry this lesson with us in the years to come.

Thank you for your continuous support and trust.
We will see you soon!

UT Austin Portugal's elite of industry-driven research projects

This year, we produced and premiered a promotional video about the 11 projects selected for funding under the 2019 Call for Strategic Research Projects. In five minutes, get a glimpse of how the Program is tackling major challenges through science-based innovation.