Science minister says partnerships with US agencies are being reviewed

The Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education this Sunday assured that she has not severed partnerships with the three US universities, and added that the process of renegotiating the contract has begun, which ends at the end of this year.

“The Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education has not put an end to the above-mentioned partnership. Instead, since the current contract expires on December 31 and has an automatic extension until 2030, the trusteeship is provided through the Science and Technology Fund. (FCT), have begun the process of renegotiating a new contract,” Elvira Fortunato’s office said in a statement.

The partnerships in question include Carnegie Mellon University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Texas at Austin, all in the United States.

In a statement released by the ministry, the government official “unequivocally rejects and denies” that she “withheld the opinion requested by the National Council of Science, Technology and Innovation (CNTI) from the panel of experts” to evaluate the partnership.

This Sunday, the SDP called on PS leadership candidates to leave behind “tricks and little power games” and take a stand on the government’s “serious decision” not to renew partnership contracts with North American universities.

“We are reacting strongly to this unexpected news that we have received from the government about the termination of partnerships that we have maintained with leading universities in North America for many years, and we believe that this is a serious decision, this is a decision that is not good. founded,” he criticized Pedro Duarte, coordinator of the PSD National Strategic Council (CEN), in a statement to Lusa.

The Social Democrat asked the government to clarify this decision, which he considers wrong and which “contradicts many of the ideas of national start-ups, Portuguese companies, the most innovative and employable elements of Portuguese society.”

“The minister’s position is, to put it mildly, surprising, because contracts end at the end of the year, and she knew for a long time, as the whole country knows, that they would end at the end of the year. If the idea was to renegotiate, obviously this should have been done earlier,” – condemned the CEN coordinator.

“The new government will eventually have to start all over again or start a completely different conversation because there will be no renewal of the contract since it will end at the end of the year,” Pedro Duarte said.

In a statement now released, the ministry also states that the FCT has written to these universities with the terms of a new renegotiation and stating that it intends to maintain “international cooperation after the termination of this particular agreement,” a strategy that serves the interests of both current and future challenges of science and technology throughout the world, in various fields of knowledge.

The government, through the FCT, “ensures that the document contains preliminary proposals that require further study and detail, in the hope that they will contribute to strengthening synergies and consolidating historical cooperation with mutual benefit to the participating institutions, especially in the provision of dual benefits.” degrees to doctoral students participating in the partnership.”

In addition, protocols were signed with the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University with the aim of promoting academic exchange between Portugal and the United States of America and the internationalization of Portuguese science.

On the other hand, “and since MCTES believes that any international partnership must be established with the world’s best universities, in addition to the American universities mentioned, there is a strengthening within the alliance of European universities as well as universities in the South.” Korea,” the statement said.

It also states that the content of the proposal currently submitted is the result of the input and opinions of the Council of Rectors of Portuguese Universities (CRUP), the Council of Associated Laboratories (CLA), the National Council for Science, Technology and Innovation (CNCTI). , Scientific Councils of the FCT “and other subjects of the national scientific and technical ecosystem, which were heard for this purpose and served as the basis for the decision taken.”