Culture and Sports

Técnico researchers share playlists on International Music Day

Técnico researchers shared dozens of playlists. The human side of science through the passion for music, on Técnico Spotify account.

This week, Técnico presented in its Spotify account playlists of 11 researchers from several Research Units. The challenge consisted in compiling in only ten themes their relationship with music and how it contributes to inspiring their research / academic work. The result we share here has led to eleven different playlists and testimonies. The human side of science through the passion for music.

We challenge the entire Técnico community to share their songs on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin, by using the hashtag #TécnicoPlaylists (listen to playlists here).

Ana Moura Santos (Técnico / CEAFEL – Center for Functional Analysis, Linear Structures and Applications)
« Music has a very important role in my life and is present every day. I started playing concert castanets a couple of years ago and practice almost daily. (…) My playlist reflects sometimes the songs I’ve danced, sometimes the ones that inspire me to dance.”

André Gonçalves and Bruno Gouveia ( Técnico / IN+ – Center for Innovation, Technology and Policy Research)
« The music we listen changes the way we feel, and our state of mind dictates the music we want to listen to. We randomly chose different sonorities, from different times and places, which have in common the pleasure they give us or the affective memories they evoke.”

Bill Williams (Técnico / CEGIST – Centre for Management Studies of Instituto Superior Técnico)
« Throughout my career as a professor and researcher in Ireland, UK, Mozambique and Portugal, I have also played guitar with various artists. The playlist reflects that activity and includes songs by my musical heroes, professors and fellow musicians. »

Gonçalo Figueira (Técnico / IPFN – Institute for Plasmas and Nuclear Fusion)
«Curiosity led me to inquire about sound production and sound mixing. I found fascinating parallel with my field of work, light and lasers. (…) Saying that music is “important” in my everyday life and work would be to grossly underestimate the transformative power of musical experience. »

João Sanches (Técnico / ISR Lisboa – Institute for Systems and Robotics)
«Music has accompanied me throughout my adult life in all circumstances; in the good and the bad moments. It keeps me company in the long hours of study and work. For me, it is indispensable to listen to background music adapted to the type of tasks I am performing.»

Jorge Baptista e Silva (Técnico / CiTUA – Centre for Innovation in Territory, Urbanism and Architecture)
«At the age of 18, when I had to make choices I was stuck between Art and Science and then I chose Engineering. I have never regretted it. Alongside drawing and painting, music is absolutely fundamental in my life.»

Leonardo Azevedo (Técnico / CERENA – Centro de Recursos Naturais e Ambiente)
« I chose these songs for their diversity. They are twelve songs performed by interpreters of different genres, Portuguese and produced in different decades. (…) They are songs for different moods and their diversity also intends to remember the diversity and quality of the science in Portugal”.

Maria João Pereira (Técnico / CERENA – Centro de Recursos Naturais e Ambiente)
«When I am at the office, with the door closed, listening to music a few decibels above the normal level and often singing (…) I’m focused on doing tasks that require more attention. Throughout my life and in my academic career I have been and I am getting the extra “energy” I need from music.

Mário Figueiredo (Técnico / IT – Instituto de Telecomunicações)
« An essential component of human cultures, music can have a profound, even visceral, influence on the emotions; Naturally, I am no exception and music has a strong presence in my life. (…) I chose songs whose combination of music and poetry particularly touch me.»

Susana Sousa Gomes (Técnico / C2TN – Center for Nuclear Sciences and Technologies)
« Music has always been a companion for me on a personal and professional level. (…) Currently, when I’m alone at the office doing my job or searching scientific articles for the subject under study, I’m usually listening to music. »

Valentina Nisi (Técnico / ITI Larsys – Interactive Technologies Institute)
«Music is like a magnetic field: it attracts feelings, situations, unearths memories, longings and visions. I love silence and I love resting to think and feel, but when I listen to music, I feel alive again. Not just any music, some music. (…) For me, music is like a boost of energy and selecting just 10 favourite songs was not an easy task.»

Listen to Técnico playlists

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