The news came on the morning of April 15, through an email sent by our President of the Board of Directors, Inês Lynce: INESC-ID had been rated “Excellent” — the highest possible rating — in the latest national evaluation of Research and Development (R&D) Units by the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT), achieving the maximum score in all evaluation criteria.

Even though it was not a debut — the previous evaluation (2017/18) had reached exactly the same result — it still called for a celebration. And so we did!

And how do we celebrate in Portugal? With food, of course — and also with music (in this case, a band made up of Técnico students).

On May 29, at the Jardim Norte of IST, we had it all: hot dogs and bolas de Berlim, guitars playing, and fresh drinks. The decoration was Santos Populares style, with dwarf basil plants over checked tablecloths, anticipating the Lisbon festivities that fill the capital throughout the month of June.

According to the FCT evaluation panel, INESC-ID has “outstanding international-level research, excellence in scientific publications,” contributing to “both theoretical and applied domains.” The panel also highlighted our “strong role in international collaboration, industry partnerships, and public engagement, as well as [our] firm commitment to ethical research practices and gender equality.”

It didn’t mention the quality of the events we organize — but that’s surely because the evaluators haven’t attended one yet.

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