University of Maryland, Baltimore County visited UAlg as part of the UP Blue Brite project

The kick off meeting of the project took place on January 26th, in the presence of members of the executive board of FLAD, and representatives of the Algarve Regional Coordination and Development Commission (CCDR Algarve), the Collaborative Laboratory for Sustainable and Intelligent Aquaculture (S2AQUAcoLAB), the Algarve Regional Directorate for Agriculture and Fisheries (DRAP Algarve), the Institute for Nature Conservation and Forests (ICNF), among other entities.

UP Blue Brite falls within the area of the economy of the sea and will allow the mobility of researchers from the institutions and the corresponding sharing of knowledge and expertise, also associated with the areas of entrepreneurship, with entrepreneurs from both the US side and the Portuguese side, through the Smart and Sustainable Aquaculture Collaborative Lab (S2AQUA), who will participate in workshops on both sides of the Atlantic.

This project will allow the sharing of knowledge at a scientific level for the sustainable exploitation of the blue crab, in the associated business areas. This is a new species on the Algarve coast, which despite being invasive is especially abundant in the Guadiana estuary, and a valuable resource that is already overexploited on the Maryland coast (Cheesapeak bay). The project will also contribute to biodiversity conservation measures on the Algarve coast by regulating the biomass of the blue crab.

The cooperation between the University of Algarve and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County began in May 2018, through the signing of a general cooperation protocol that encompassed all scientific areas of the institutions, and the formalisation of the agreement took place in Philadelphia, on the occasion of the participation in NAFSA2018, the largest international meeting of those responsible for the internationalisation of higher education and research institutions. The signing of the protocol aimed, from the very first moment, at the interest in establishing joint projects, the first of which was made possible through the Erasmus+ Programme.

In 2020, the Erasmus+ ICM (International Credit Mobility) project, UAlg Alliances, was approved, having obtained funding for Incoming & Outgoing staff mobilities, focusing mainly on knowledge sharing, contributing to the development of the UAlg Doctoral College, through the know-how that the partner institution holds in this area.

During a week, the UMBC team (vice-rector and director of the Doctoral School), accompanied by the coordinator of the Office of International Relations and Mobility of UAlg, held several meetings in the Academy, with the Doctoral School, directors of the doctoral programmes and directors of organic units, in order to enhance future collaborations.