The Ceremony took place on February 5

Paulo Lourenço, Full Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering of the School of Engineering, was re-elected Director of ISISE (Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering) for the 2020-2023 period. José Sena Cruz, Associate Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering, is the deputy director.

In his inauguration speech, Paulo Lourenço says that despite the difficulties that any research center faces, “we have ways to improve and, therefore, this mandate will be a challenge”. Paulo Lourenço also reveals that he will not re-run for the next term, ensuring that he will be the last as Director of this Center, a position he has held for fourteen years. The Dean of the School of Engineering, Pedro Arezes, and Vice-Presidents António Vicente and Estela Bicho Erlhangen were present at the ceremony.

 ISISE was created in 2007, involving the Structural Groups of the Departments of Civil Engineering of the Universities of Coimbra and Minho. The Centre’s main objective is to increase the structural and functional performance of Civil Engineering Works, from a perspective of advanced technology and innovation, from materials to the life cycle performance of the life cycle. ISISE (UC + UM) currently has 60 doctoral members, about 100 doctoral students, a funding of around € 20M in the last 5 years, coordinates 3 European Masters and 3 Doctoral Programs and was rated as Excellent in the last evaluation promoted by FCT.