Draft Regulation on the Awarding of the Collaborative Laboratory (CoLAB) Title

The Draft Regulation on the Award of the Collaborative Laboratory (CoLAB) Title is open for public consultation until April 18. The Consultation Notice was published today in the Official Gazette, and the formal deadline countdown has begun. Comments can be sent to CoLAB@fct.pt.

Collaborative Laboratories are associations or consortia of research units, Associate Laboratories, higher education institutions, intermediary and interface institutions, technology centers, companies, business associations, and other relevant partners in the productive, social, or cultural fabric, such as State Laboratories, local authorities, and institutions associated with local organizations, hospitals, museums, archives, or social institutions, whether national or international (participating entities).

The main objective of Collaborative Laboratories is to define and implement research and innovation agendas geared towards creating economic and social value, including processes for internationalizing national scientific and technological capacity in relevant areas of intervention, stimulating scientific employment and carrying out R&D activities that enhance synergies with higher education institutions, particularly in the context of specialized, professional, or advanced training programs in close collaboration with social and economic partners.

The main challenge facing Collaborative Laboratories is the effective densification of the national territory in terms of knowledge-based activities, through the growing institutionalization of forms of collaboration between science, technology, and higher education institutions and the economic and social fabric, namely companies, the hospital and health system, cultural institutions, and social organizations. Collaborative Laboratories must therefore consolidate and promote the capacity and potential of scientific and academic communities to seize the opportunity to link knowledge with social and economic well-being and development in Portugal.