Técnico and the challenges of the future

The great challenge that more than a century ago led to the creation of Instituto Superior Técnico – the need to bring scientific and technological training to Portugal – is now over. One hundred and nine years after its creation, Técnico has approximately 11,000 students of more than 60 different nationalities; it’s a school of engineering, science and architecture, highly internationalized, which promotes the relationship between university-business-society and encourages innovation, entrepreneurship, job creation and knowledge. Técnico is a prestigious school in Portugal and abroad for its academic excellence.

However, almost 10 years after its centenary, Técnico is now at a turning point.

In a rapidly changing world, the new challenges that we face today regarding education, training and research are vast and of enormous complexity.

Climate change and solutions for environmental sustainability; economic and technological globalization; globalization, management and security of personal data; population growth and the need to reduce social inequalities; the impact of rapid technological changes on the existing models of knowledge transfer, and the need to adapt to these changes throughout professional life, are some of the many challenges that society and, particularly, Instituto Superior Técnico will have to face now and in the near future.

Fulfilling Técnico’ s mission in the second century of its existence will, therefore, imply that we continue to contribute to the scientific and technological progress in order to address the complex challenges of the future, thus contributing to a fairer society.

That is why we will have to rethink and to change our teaching model, our research, our link to society and our investment capacity, in close collaboration with our academic, business and societal partners, without prejudice and without fear of the future.

Rogério Colaço
Técnico President