Gui Menezes says University of Massachusetts Lowell is interested in being a partner of AIR Centre
The Regional Secretary for the Sea, Science and Technology stated today that the University of Massachusetts Lowell is "interested" in joining the AIR Centre. In this regard, there is the possibility of a visit by a delegation from this US University to the Azores in June to "become better acquainted with the regional scientific work, the research conducted here and find new partnerships."
Speaking to journalists on the end of two-day visit to the USA, Gui Menezes made a "very positive" assessment of this working visit. It included meetings and presentations at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), already an AIR Centre partner, and at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.
"We have had the opportunity to visit several departments and several MIT research centres in the fields of Climate, Atmosphere, Space and Oceans," the government official said, adding that the purpose of the visit was "to attract potential interests to develop projects with national and regional researchers on the AIR Centre fields."
"We became acquainted with several ongoing research projects at MIT that are in line with the scientific areas of AIR Centre," Gui Menezes said, also stressing those at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, which is not yet a partner of the Atlantic International Research Centre.
The Regional Secretary mentioned that a researcher from the University of Massachusetts Lowell was interested in collaborating with the Azores at the RAEGE station on Santa Maria, adding that "Space is a field where these partnerships can arise with some ease."
The Secretary for Science and Technology also stated that several calls for research projects will be launched under the MIT Portugal programme, namely for Seed proposals and Flagship Projects. They include eligible areas that are under the scope of AIR Centre, in particular Climate, Climate Change, Oceans and Space.
According to Gui Menezes, these projects will "require partnerships and there is great potential for such partnerships to occur."
In this regard, the Regional Secretary challenged the regional scientific community to "search for partnerships with US universities to bring scientific projects and researchers to the Azores" so that may work together with local researchers.
During this visit, the Regional Secretary accompanied the Minister of Science and Higher Education, Manuel Heitor. The Portuguese delegation also included the President of the Foundation for Science and Technology, Paulo Ferrão, and the Executive Director of the AIR Centre, Joaquin Brito.