Science-Based Innovation

INESC TEC, as an interface institution between academia and industry, embodies the metaphor of the knowledge-value chain, broadening the action of basic science and applied research to launch spin-off companies and provide international advanced consultancy.

This metaphor, part of our DNA for more than 30 years, is consolidated not only through the natural maturation of the cycle of science and innovation, but also due to an elementary feature of any institution that subsists on knowledge: the differences and the complementarities of the people who actually shape it.

In recent years – and thanks to policies that promote scientific employment – INESC TEC has gone through a deep transformation, in which the body of researchers, comprising university professors and research fellows, began to include a quite significant set of R&D contract workers. The institution’s capacity has clearly increased, leading to a substantial growth in activity, both in quantity and quality, and to an even greater impact on society.

During the challenging years of Portugal’s financial rescue, these hired researchers, together with teachers and fellowship holders, focused much of their activity on European funds, thus becoming true experts in the formulation of strong and impactful applications; in this sense, INESC TEC became an institution of even greater national relevance (with an average H2020 project approval of 13.28%, higher than the European average of 11.98%). Concerning the value of the EC contribution to the Horizon 2020 programme, we rank second among the Portuguese private research institutions (€28.18M), just behind João Lobo Antunes Institute of Molecular Medicine. Outstanding figures that make us proud and that demonstrate our ability to generate and transfer knowledge and innovation.

In a world where ideas are more and more the differentiating factor, it is crucial to ensure that this pipeline of production of new knowledge is not exhausted, since nowadays its valorisation has much shorter life cycles. Hence, it is important to emphasise the importance of fundamental research, carried out with the academy – including professors and research fellows who, in a free and unpretentious way, generate many of the ideas that we need to value. This is our differentiating factor; this is what will let us continue creating knowledge with a social and economic impact.

The challenge is to maximise cross-fertilisation between researchers from different universities, clusters and centres, and to be more creative, innovative and competitive. In order to be an institution of superior impact, everyone ought to be involved in all stages of the innovation cycle: teachers and fellowship holders participating in projects focused on applied research, technology transfer and the creation of innovative IP; hired researchers co-supervising theses and co-publishing with professors and fellows. Everyone working together, in a cooperative and solidary way, and at creative environment of truly multidisciplinary knowledge.

The preservation of the INESC TEC spirit and identity (footprint) will only be possible if we all work together to generate, demonstrate and value disruptive knowledge, which will later be useful to society – after all, we are a private entity of public utility.

Luís Seca, Member of the Executive Board