On July 22, NHRI Vice President LI Yun and Prof. Bento Franco, Vice President of Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC), Portugal, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) via video conference on behalf of the two national research institutions, respectively.
At the video conference, Vice President LI briefed the general situation of the Institute and innovative development goals of international cooperation, and reviewed the project cooperation and researchers’ exchanges between the two parties. Vice President LI said NHRI and LNEC were quite similar in aspects of organization and research fields, with bright prospects for cooperation in related fields. The signing of this MoU will further complement each other's advantages, promote in-depth cooperation in research projects and platforms, international markets, and talents between the two parties, and continue to expand new areas of cooperation.
Vice President Bento Franco introduced the management mode, organization and research fields, and hoped that the two parties would establish a long-term and stable strategic cooperative relationship through extensive and in-depth cooperation, and carry out all-round and in-depth cooperation in the joint application of the Horizon Europe projects, projects consultancy for Africa and Portuguese-speaking countries, and talents exchange and training to achieve a win-win situation.
LNEC is the largest national research institution of civil engineering in Portugal, under the jurisdiction of the Portuguese Ministry of Infrastructures and Housing and strategically oriented by the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. In November 1946, LNEC was formed by the merger of the Materials Testing and Research Laboratory of the Portuguese Ministry of Public Affairs and the Civil Engineering Research Center of Lisbon University of Technology. Currently, it has 7 departments and 1 center, namely, Concrete Dams Department, Buildings Department, Structures Department, Geotechnics Department, Hydraulics and Environment Department, Materials Department, Transportation Department, and Scientific Instrumentation Center.
Leaders and experts with NHRI International Cooperation Department, International Joint Research Center of Water Science and Engineering, Hydrology and Water Resources Department, Hydraulic Engineering Department, River and Harbor Engineering Department, Materials and Structural Engineering Department, and relevant researchers with LNEC Hydraulics and Environment Department attended the video conference. Experts of the two parties also made progress reports on joint application for projects.
