“Research is the cornerstone of our students' training”: Célia Manaia, vice-president of the Universidade Católica in Porto and researcher at the CBQF, leaves no doubt. It is through Research that the mission of the Universidade Catóilica Portuguesa (UCP) is achieved.
Celebrated on February 11, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science was created in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly, as a way to draw attention to the gender inequality that penalizes women's opportunities and careers in the fields of science, technology and innovation.
A multidisciplinary campus
Whether in one building or another, whether in a laboratory or an office: there is research happening every day on campus! The UCP campus in Porto brings together a wide range of research areas. It is a multidisciplinary campus that brings together the areas of Biotechnology, Nutrition Sciences, Cinema, Conservation and Restoration, Law, Economics, Education, Nursing, Management, Microbiology, Nutrition, Psychology, Sound and Image, and Theology. Célia Manaia explains that “the fact that faculties from different areas of knowledge come together creates an enormous proximity between different disciplinary domains, not only for researchers and professors, but also for students and external partners.”
The vice-president of Católica in Porto explains that the greater importance of Research goes beyond scientific publications and patents: “It is a way of being in which constant questioning, the search for truth, integrity, the search for compromises between different areas of knowledge and permanent dialogue with society are our watermark.”
Research is, therefore, a way of being that profoundly marks the identity of the University.
Research as a driver of community development
How is Research the starting point for the development of communities? Through Research it is possible to generate knowledge and promote innovation in the most different sectors, promoting the improvement of people's quality of life, the protection of biological diversity and natural resources and fostering fairer and more balanced societies.
But having access to knowledge is not enough, because, as Célia Manaia explains, “you need to know how it was generated, understand it, have an idea of what it means and under what circumstances it applies. In an era where we can Google anything, at any time, this literacy is the engine that promotes social and economic development in a context of sustainability and respect for nature.”
Célia Manaia also states that the methods used by science “inspire the way we question ourselves, how we look critically at the small details of everyday life or at the great challenges we are confronted with.” It is, therefore, important “to train thinking and reasoning based on the methods used in scientific investigation.” Why? “So that informed choices can be made, so that prejudices can be erased or so that a situation can be analyzed from multiple angles”, the researcher explains.
Creativity, rigor, critical spirit, error tolerance
Carla Sofia Santos is a researcher at the Centre for Biotechnology and Fine Chemistry (CBQF), and tells us that “the feeling that Science provides when we manage to achieve a goal, when we materialize ideas and see society as a hallmark of our work is inexplicable”. It is in this activity that the researcher feels accomplished, mainly because, “although Science is associated with logical reasoning”, it is an activity where the need for “creativity” prevails.
“It is necessary to have an open mind and spirit to be able to imagine how to solve certain problems and anticipate matters and answers that do not yet exist”, Carla Sofia Santos adds.
For this researcher, “rigor, critical spirit and the ability to effectively manage time are essential tools to be able to put into practice what is conceptualized.” Another characteristic that stands out is the “communication capacity”, because if the result of a project is not disseminated to different types of audiences, the impact will not be achieved.