Researcher Paulo Lourenço, from the Institute for Sustainability and Innovation in Structural Engineering (ISISE) of the School of Engineering of the University of Minho, received on June 30 a grant of 150 thousand euros from the European Research Council (ERC), to bring to the market a new advanced platform that assesses the safety of built cultural heritage, when subjected to earthquakes.
His project is called Pan-European Earthquake Selection Platform and wants to transfer to academia and industry, as a proof of concept, the innovation developed in the STAND4HERITAGE project, with which the scientist obtained 3 million euros from the ERC for the period 2018-25.
“We cannot accept disasters like the recent earthquakes in Venezuela; seismic engineering is fortunately evolving towards safer and more economical solutions, reducing losses and improving the resilience of communities”, explains Paulo Lourenço. “A credible prediction of building safety depends on the selection of appropriate seismic movements, and to meet this need, our innovative advanced selection platform aims to overcome the limitations of current tools, enabling their adoption in academia, research and industry, while paving the way for their commercialization,” he adds.
15 ERC grants
This is the 15th ERC grant for UMinho since 2012 (covering areas such as biomaterials, sociology, biotechnology, civil engineering and medicine) and the second for ISISE, with a cumulative total of more than 24.5 million euros. “This is an important stimulus for our research team, which is considered a world reference in the area”, says Paulo Lourenço.
The ERC is Europe’s most prestigious entity in research funding. The Proof of Concept grants are an additional grant for ERC grantees to bring their disruptive research to the market, making it attractive to investors. Funding can be applied to technical, validation, feasibility, management, intellectual property, budgeting, business discussion, long-term financing or business creation.
Biographical note
Paulo Lourenço was born 59 years ago in Porto, where he lives. He has been a full professor since 2006, with experience in non-destructive testing, advanced experimental and numerical techniques, innovative repair and reinforcement techniques, and earthquake engineering. An expert in structural conservation and forensic engineering, he has worked on more than two hundred monuments, including 20 UNESCO World Heritage sites, countries such as the United Kingdom, Italy, Brazil, Peru, USA, Bhutan, India or New Zealand, as well as national spaces from the Jerónimos Monastery and Belém Palace, to the Palace of the Dukes of Bragança and the Cathedral of Porto.
He coordinates the European Master’s Degree in Structural Analysis of Monuments and Historic Buildings since 2007, with alumni from 80 countries and Europa Nostra Award 2017. He was founder and editor of the “International Journal of Architectural Heritage” for 20 years, and has more than 2000 scientific publications and several distinctions. He is president of the International Scientific Council on Heritage Structures (Iscarsah) of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS).
