On 28 and 29 September, the University of Leiria and Oeste (ULO) welcomed a delegation from Univates University, based in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, strengthening institutional ties with this partner institution, which has maintained a partnership with the former Polytechnic Institute of Leiria since 2002.

The second day of the visit focused on two research units: ciTechCare and CDRSP – Centre for Rapid and Sustainable Product Development. Both bring together areas of growing interest in international scientific cooperation, namely healthcare technologies and sustainable product development.

On the morning of 29 September, the delegation had the opportunity to learn about several projects developed at ciTechCare, including Nutriclock, ATIVA+Saúde, SCALE UP, research into COPD focusing on the hormone irisin, and the Agilidades spin-off. Maria Guarino, ciTechCare’s Coordinator, also introduced the delegation to the research unit’s laboratories.

The delegation included Luís Fernando Timmers, Vice-Rector for Research and Graduate Studies; Cristiani Reimers, Manager of Tecnovates, the university’s Science and Technology Park; Luciana Turatti, Institutional Research Coordinator; and Bernardo Sulzbach, Coordinator of Inovates, Univates’ Business Incubator.

During the visit, the Univates University delegation also visited Start Up Leiria, partner of ciTechCare.