FCT and University of Berkeley sign memorandum of understanding

On March 13, FCT and the University of Berkeley formally signed, for the first time, a memorandum of understanding between the two institutions, as a result of talks during the visit to California last February by the Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education, Elvira Fortunato, the President of FCT, Madalena Alves and the Executive Director of the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD), Rita Araújo. The agreement was signed by the Portuguese Consul General in San Francisco, Pedro Pinto.

The way in which this memorandum of understanding will be implemented is already being defined, bearing in mind that attendance at the University of Berkeley by Portuguese students is co-financed by the Pinto-Fialon Fund. The FCT is designing a complementary support program to promote access for Portuguese students to this university, which is one of the best in the world.

It should be remembered that in February the FCT had already signed a memorandum of understanding with the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability following the visit of the President of the Republic in September last year, which is a new school at Stanford University, also in California, focused on research into solutions with a high impact on the challenges of sustainability and climate change. It should be noted that this was the first memorandum signed by this school and another institution.