On 14th and 15th May 2026, CERENA’s researchers reunited at Foz do Arelho for their fifth Annual Meeting. This yearly meeting is fundamental for CERENA researchers from the three host institutions – Técnico, ISEL, and FEUP – to come together, discuss science and promote multidisciplinary.
The meeting started with the welcome session by CERENA’s Coordinator, Leonardo Azevedo, highlighting the investment in equipment and software and the integration of new members.
Adilson Freitas, João Narciso, Ricardo Araújo, Rosana Pinto, Beatriz Bento, and Joana Lobo Antunes, some of CERENA’s newest members, presented their research goals in 10-minute presentations. The projects comprise very different topics that showcase CERENA’s multidisciplinarity: from Adilson's focus on the photodegradation of organic pollutants to Joana’s goal of understanding the impact of science communication activities, this session was very enriching!
The afternoon was focused on team-building activities. The “Mission and Identity” session challenged participants to work in groups to propose ideas for improving CERENA’s position in the national and international scientific landscapes. The answers showed the advantage of different minds coming together – every group proposed different strategies, taking advantage of their members’ strongest skills. To enjoy the sunset at the beach, the participants were challenged by the staff team (Telma Henriques, Tiago dos Reis, Joana Barrelas, Silvia Carvalho, and Catarina Gonçalves) to build the human logo of CERENA. The day finished with the PhD students' activity to build stronger links between members, in which participants were divided into groups and invited to share a fact and a lie about themselves. The groups had to guess who was telling the truth. It was a fun time with detective work! The groups were also challenged to propose a new CERENA logo, which they built using Play-Doh.
The second day of the Annual Meeting was devoted to the group leaders of CERENA’s three main groups – Raw Materials, Environment, and Energy. Rui Galhano, Maria de Lurdes Dinis, and Rui Filipe (replacing João Gomes, who could not be present) talked about the challenges in their groups, while highlighting the necessity of improving communication among researchers to propose more interdisciplinary projects for future applications. The day finished with presentations by the Communication and Pre-Award Office. Catarina Gonçalves and Joana Barrelas took this opportunity to, respectively, show researchers how they can take advantage of CERENA’s communication channels and how the Pre-Award support can help them in applying to competitive calls.
These were enriching days for everyone, and we can’t wait to meet again next year.