The EMERGE Workshop “Research Infrastructures: Fostering Research and Enabling Innovation” was successfully held at UNINOVA on October 9th, 2024. The event fostered a collaborative environment among over 50 participants, where academia, industry, and SMEs engaged in a meaningful dialogue, exchanged ideas, and explored new avenues for research and innovation in FLAPEP technologies.
The workshop began with a welcome lunch, followed by three sessions of talks. The EMERGE project participants Marc Vizern from Rotimpres (Spain), Sajjad Nezhad from Parsnord (Denmark), and Nagajan Subramaniyam from Xfold (Finland) shared their testimonies. This was followed by presentations given by the experts Massimo Urban, Jakub Krzemiński, and Barbara Stadlober from EMERGE host institutions, who outlined key outcomes from ongoing joint research activities. Attendees were able to hear success stories and real-world applications of EMERGE project results, showing how impactful and innovative these collaborations can be.
During the second session, speakers from the Portuguese Industry/SMEs Helena Aguilar Ribeiro from TMG Automotive, Diogo Vaz from PIC Advanced and Sílvia Reis from Plux Biosignals shared how the development of FLAPEP technologies can positively impact the innovation of different business sectors.
A key highlight of the workshop was the participation of Dr. Anna Santoro, the EMERGE Project Officer, who showed the European Commission vision. She presented an overview of the European Research Executive Agency, including funding statistics and details about Horizon Europe—the EU’s new framework programme for research and innovation. The day concluded with a meaningful round table discussion in which participants reflected on the future of research infrastructure projects in Europe. That was followed by a lab tour at CENIMAT|i3N facilities.
We would like to extend a special thank you to all the speakers for making this event both unique and crucial to the advancement of FLAPEP technologies, as well as for strengthening the EMERGE community’s networking.