Academia, Industry, Europe and funding? The perfect match happened at INESC TEC, during an event with “immediate connections” 

Major European funding opportunities in the field of renewable energies took centre stage at INESC TEC. Organised by the Institute, the National Innovation Agency (ANI), and the National Laboratory of Energy and Geology (LNEG), the event served as a platform to build trust and bring academia and industry closer together. 

Any event that brings Europe, academia and industry under the same roof finds a natural environment at INESC TEC. It’s no surprise that a proposal to discuss funding and networking opportunities in renewable energies gathered nearly 70 participants for an afternoon of knowledge exchange and collaboration. 

Researchers, company representatives and members of organisations in the renewable energies sector were invited to a broad discussion on funding opportunities for research and innovation projects under the Horizon Europe programme. Perhaps even more valuable were the networking, idea-sharing, and relationship-building moments between all key players, in an event co-organised by INESC TEC, ANI and LNEG. 

INESC TEC was the chosen venue for this matchmaking opportunity – a space designed to strengthen connections between academia and businesses. To make those connections even more effective, the INESC TEC and LNEG teams within the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) (which has been linking Portuguese companies to Europe for over a decade) also took part in the activities. 

“The true value of this collaborative event between the EEN and the NCPs at ANI translated into putting practical knowledge on European funding and partnership opportunities directly in the hands of participants,” summarised INESC TEC researcher Cristina Barbosa. 

Beyond the theoretical knowledge exchange, the event also included a B2B networking session and the sharing of participant profiles, aimed at encouraging new national contacts interested in European funding opportunities in the sector. The result? “Immediate connections” among participants from large companies, SMEs, academia and research institutes. 

Moreover, “by bringing together academia, industry and stakeholders, the EEN and NCPs once again demonstrated their power as drivers of innovation – helping to turn ideas into impactful projects with European and international reach.” 

The Horizon Europe programme has already allocated more than €1.2B to Portugal, supporting over 3,550 entities. Between 2021 and 2025, 2,218 projects under this Programme featured Portuguese participation. 

The event, Horizonte Europa – Oportunidades de financiamento e networking em energias renováveis, concluded with a roundtable showcasing three European projects with Portuguese contributions, moderated by INESC TEC Power & Energy researcher Alexandre Lucas. All of the event presentations can be found here.