INESC-ID marked a strong presence at Encontro Ciência 2026, the largest annual event dedicated to science and innovation in Portugal, which took place on 15–16 July at the Lisbon Congress Center. The institute contributed to multiple sessions throughout the programme, showcasing its ongoing work across research, innovation, and international partnerships. This edition also marked the first major event featuring the new Portuguese Agency for Research and Innovation (AI²).

On the first day, Inês Lynce, President of the Board of Directors at INESC-ID and co-director of CMU Portugal, contributed to the session “International Partnerships for Excellence”, with a discussion focused on the initiatives CMU Portugal has implemented over the last twenty years to strengthen the Portuguese education, research, and innovation ecosystem. The session also featured Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia – FCT’s two other international partnerships: UT Austin Portugal and MIT Portugal, with whom INESC-ID has collaborated on several initiatives.

In the session “Clinical Research Priorities for Innovation”, INESC-ID’s senior researcher Ana Teresa Freitas participated in the presentation “Genomic Medicine: Innovation and Competitiveness in Health with Societal Impact”, exploring the potential of Genomic Medicine in health and innovation, as well as its challenges and the key role of citizen engagement.

Later, during the session “International Partnerships for Excellence”, Arlindo Oliveira, president of INESC and researcher at INESC-ID, publicly presented, for the first time, the ambitions and six‑year roadmap of INESC-ID’s Teaming for Excellence SAIL (Sustainable Artificial Intelligence Laboratory). The session brought together the six Teaming projects awarded in the last call, along with an audience that included other Teamings, a great opportunity to meet colleagues on the same journey and share experiences with previously awarded teams and projects. Sílvia Castro, Head of INESC-ID’s Innovation Management also participated in this session.

On the second day Rodrigo Rodrigues, President of the Scientific Council at INESC-ID, contributed to the session “Ecosystems, Science Policy, and Careers” with the presentation “From AI Research to Innovation: Strengthening the Link Between Academia and Society”, discussing career systems in Portugal and the ecosystem that supports them, and advocating for improved labour conditions to allow the Portuguese system to became more competitive and better able to attract talent.

INESC-ID senior researcher Alberto Abad and PhD Student, Carlos Carvalho, also showcased a demo of AMALIA, the first Portuguese large language model, launched just a week earlier with INESC‑ID as part of the research team. More information on AMALIA and its official launch here.

Encontro Ciência e Inovação 2026 is an annual event organised by Agência para a Investigação e Inovação, Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Agência Nacional de Inovação (ANI) and Ciência Viva.

 

© 2026 INESC-ID. When sharing or adapting this article, credit INESC-ID with a link to the original source.

Images: © INESC-ID