From July 3 to 5, the city of Porto became the center of science and innovation during the Science Meeting “Ciência 2024”, Portugal’s premier Science and Innovation event. Organized by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Universidade do Porto, and Ciência Viva, the event brought together a vibrant community of national and international researchers to exchange cutting-edge results, knowledge, and experiences under this year’s inspiring motto: “+Science for One Health and Global Wellbeing”.

INESC-ID once again showed a strong presence this year, co-organizing and participating in two impactful sessions. The first session, “Smart Care: The Bridge Between AI and Healthcare Systems According to Advances Made at INESCs”, brought together INESC-ID with partner institutes INESC TEC, INOV, and INESC-MN, along with key players from the healthcare sector.

Aligned with our institute’s R&D Thematic Line – Life and Health Technology and mission to address pressing societal challenges, the discussion focused on key advances in Smart Care, through the emerging contributions of the INESCs institutes at the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Health Systems. Rui Henriques, a researcher at INESC-ID, presented “Human Health Technologies: Ongoing Advances at INESC-ID,” highlighting the institute’s innovative R&D+i initiatives. His presentation covered a range of cutting-edge topics, including smart monitoring for intelligent care, precision decision-making for diagnosis and treatment, and advanced robotics for critical and social care, optimization, and molecular therapies.

The second session, titled “Collaborative Projects within Portugal’s Partnerships with Carnegie Mellon Portugal Program, MIT Portugal Program, and UT Austin Portugal Program”, was hosted by the three programmes. The CMU Portugal session was moderated by INESC-ID President and co-director of CMU Portugal, Inês Lynce, and highlighted innovative initiatives, partnerships, and contributions to talent and academic development, industrial innovation and entrepreneurship.

In the third session “ERC in Portugal: Sinergies and Good Examples”, a panel of researchers consisting of European Research Council (ERC) Grantees, former ERC Panel members, and ERC-Portugal participants, including INESC-ID researcher Nuno Santos, shared their valuable experiences and debated future opportunities.

A highlight of the event was when José Tribolet, Founder of INESC and Professor Emeritus at Instituto Superior Técnico, was honoured with the prestigious Scientific Merit Medal by the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Higher Education. This award celebrates individuals whose exceptional contributions have significantly advanced science and scientific culture in Portugal.