Information for companies and other prospective partners

The University of Coimbra

is a reference in higher education and research in Portugal, due to the quality of the courses taught at its eight Faculties and to the advances achieved in pure and applied research in various areas of knowledge. The University of Coimbra pursues a policy of constant improvement in various fields, which allows it to reassert the high quality of research and teaching, as well as to play an active role in the development of businesses and industry. The Energy for Sustainability (EfS) initiative is one of the results of this policy. This initiative addresses the challenges involved in the design, operation, and regulation of systems that generate, transport or use energy, bringing together faculty from diverse scientific disciplines, with long experience in teaching, research, technology transfer, and consulting in the areas of energy and sustainable development.

The Initiative EfS

aims at transferring knowledge to society through interaction with policy makers, managers, and technicians in positions of responsibility throughout multiple sectors of activity, involving companies and other organizations that identify with its purposes.

Advanced educational programs

Within the context of the EfS initiative, the University of Coimbra offers advanced educational programs to graduates in engineering, architecture, economics and management, and to other professionals interested in Sustainable Energy Systems; cooperation initiated under the MIT Portugal Program. These interdisciplinary programs offer flexible curricula emphasizing the analysis of systems and their interrelations, including buildings and urban systems, energy efficiency, and the economy-energy-environment interactions.

Cooperation opportunities

are offered by the EfS Initiative for mutually beneficial cooperation between the University of Coimbra, companies and other organizations, contact the secretariat, the coordinators or use the e-mail info[@]efs.uc.pt:

• Companies and other organizations can enroll their collaborators in advanced educational programs, such as the PhD (3rd cycle) in Energy for Sustainability, or the MSc (2nd cycle) in Energy for Sustainability. Besides these programs courses it is also possible to design courses tailored for a specific organization.

• MSc and PhD researches themes in the organization’s context.

• Support of the secretariat to recruit students that are near the completion of their programs and who are seeking a position where they can apply the skills and knowledge acquired during the program.

• Explore opportunities for joint R&D projects, possibly integrating work of MSc or PhD dissertations.

• Companies and other organizations seeking expert advice within the areas of the EfS initiative, namely concerning life-cycle analysis, energy efficiency, or engineering problems.

• Benefit from the services offered by the Office for Knowledge Transfer of the University of Coimbra, such as intellectual property protection or counseling concerning starting up a new venture.

The coordinators of the EfS Initiative welcome contacts of companies and other organizations potentially interested in becoming partners of the University in this initiative.