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Activity Funded

ALGORITMI Research Center

Centro de Investigação ALGORITMI

Reference
UIDB/00319/2020
Project Start Date
2020-01-01
Project End Date
2024-12-31
Principal Investigator
Scientific Area
Exact sciences
Funding Program
Concurso de avaliação no âmbito do Programa Plurianual de Financiamento de Unidades de I&D (2017/2018) - Financiamento Base

Abstract

10.2 Summary in English for general dissemination purposes ALGORITMI is a research unit of the School of Engineering, University of Minho, that develops R&D activity in Information and Communications Technology and Electronics (ICT&E), spreading into six major fields: (1) Computer Science and Technology; (2) Information Systems and Technologies; (3) Computer Communications and Pervasive Media (4) Industrial Electronics; (5) Industrial Engineering and Management; (6) Systems Engineering and Operational Research. The majority of PhD-level researchers of the Center are also Faculty members of four departments of the School of Engineering, namely: Industrial Electronics (DEI), Information Systems (DSI), Industrial Engineering& Management (DPS), and Informatics (DI). The MSc and PhD projects supervised by those Faculty members are developed at ALGORITMI. In the internal designation of ALGORITMI, Research Groups are called R&D Lines. We will adopt the designation of R&D groups for our 6 R&D Lines and "Laboratory" ou "Lab" for our internal Research Groups. In the ALGORITMI R&D structure, the Computer Science and Technology (CST), Information System and Technologies (IST) and Computer Communication and Pervasive Media(CCPM) R&D Groups host the majority of ALGORITMI researchers devoted to the computer science and engineering research topics addressed in the research centre. The Industrial Engineering and Management (IEM) and Systems Engineering and Operational Research (SEOR) R&D Groups are complementary in hosting the majority of ALGORITMI researchers devoted to the engineering systems research topics. The Industrial Electronics (IE) R&D Group hosts the ALGORITMI researchers devoted to the electronics and electrical engineering research topics. Some of these researchers also address computer science and engineering topics. The ALGORITMI Center is also organized in 13 Laboratories, covering innovative topics and contributing intensively to the advancement of knowledge within ALGORITMI and its multi-disciplinary R&D groups. Centro ALGORITMI focuses its activity on projects that explore a strong link with the community, namely the industry and the public administration. The University of Minho is located in an industrialized region with an important expression on textile and footwear industries, and an emerging field on ICT services enterprises, pushed by the e-phenomena age. The automotive industrial field also gained recently an important share of the regional market. Another external factor that influences our target field of application is the growth of the cities in the region, which introduces several demands for the co-operation of researchers, namely in the field of logistics, communication, e-government, health and resource management. The results of this policy are stated by the number of applied research projects in cooperation with companies and by specific national and international projects. In previous external evaluations, the Center has always been evaluated very positively. 10.3 Summary in English for evaluation ALGORITMI Research Centre has a long and proud history as a Portuguese research unit in the ICT&E domain. It was established as “Centre for Systems Science and Engineering” (CCES) at Braga, in September 1978. At that time, CCES was the first research unit in the ICT&E domain in Portugal. Some of the UMinho rectors were senior researchers of CCES, such as Prof. Joaquim Barbosa Romero, Prof. Sérgio Machado dos Santos, and Prof. António Guimarães Rodrigues. It is important to stress that UMinho was the first Portuguese university to teach computer science and engineering in Portugal, with the creation of the first DEng (in 1976), MSc (in 1984), and PhD (in 1986) degrees in Informatics. The pioneering R&D experience of CCES researchers in the ICT&E domain in Portugal was one of the reasons for that, such as the coordination of the working group in charge of the establishment of the National Network for R&D (the first Portuguese wide area IP network connected to the Internet). CCES was renamed “Algoritmi Centre” as part of its refocused mission in November 1992, when FCT (called JNICT at that time) decided to formally promote and fund research units in all scientific domains in Portugal. ALGORITMI moved to the new UMinho facilities at Gualtar and Azurém Campi of UMinho. Since 2014, ALGORITMI has realigned the strategic and operational structures, with the absorption of two other existing UMinho research centres in the field: Computer Science and Technology Centre (CCTC) and Research Centre for Industrial and Technology Management (CGIT). The CCTC senior researchers were already members of ALGORITMI until CCTC was created in 2003. The return of CCTC researchers to ALGORITMI corresponded to a research strategy institutionally assumed at the level of the School of Engineering as a way to strengthen the ICT&E area and benefit from economies of scale in the management of physical and human resources. The same reason was the basis for the absorption of CGIT, whose senior researchers belonged to the CCES/Algoritmi until 1992, when CGIT was created (with the acronym of CITEPE). During all these years, researchers of ALGORITMI, CCTC and CGIT have maintained tight research cooperation. The reason for this long-term partnership resides in the fact that the majority of senior researchers are faculty members of the School of Engineering that implied a permanent interaction andpartnership in educational issues within the following educational departments: Industrial Electronics (DEI), Information Systems (DSI), Production and Systems (DPS), Informatics (DI). In the ALGORITMI R&D structure, the CST, IST and CCPM R&D Groups host the majority of ALGORITMI researchers devoted to the computer science and engineering research topics addressed in the research centre. The IEM and SEOR R&D Groups are complementary in hosting the majority of ALGORITMI researchers devoted to the engineering systems research topics. The IE R&D Group hosts the ALGORITMI researchers devoted to the electronics and electrical engineering research topics. Some of these researchers also address computer science and engineering topics. These 6 R&D groups enable ALGORITMI with a holistic approach towards the complex task of advancing scientific knowledge. Researchers affiliated to these 6 groups actively collaborate to achieve the mission of ALGORITMI by sharing the same vision and believing in the same values. In fact, with 3 scientific areas, 6 R&D groups, and around 500 researchers (206 holding PhD degree), the mission, the vision, and the values are the unifying factors of the ALGORITMI Research Centre: 1) Mission - To create and disseminate leading-edge knowledge in ICT&E & by conducting world-class interdisciplinary research with major impact, both at national and international levels. 2) Vision - To contribute to Portugal and the World through excellence in research and advanced education, by serving as a valuable resource for industry and society, on areas of true societal need where ALGORITMI possesses significant depth and expertise across multiple disciplines. 3) Values - Academic honesty and responsibility; Respect and tolerance for the individual perspectives; Attention to issues of national priority as well as of global societal concern; Breadth of understanding, including knowledge outside the technological disciplines; Appreciation of intellectual excellence and creativity; An unbound attitude of exploration, rationality and enterprise. ALGORITMI fosters world-class research and in innovative advanced training, seeking excellence recognition by exposing high-impact scientific results and important technological achievements, constantly driven by a quality management policy. Three strategic priorities will enable ALGORITMI to make a far-reaching impact: - Excellence In All We Do: ALGORITMI will create a culture of excellence as a model for our academic and industrial partners and our researchers throughout their lives. - Through Collaboration, Impact: ALGORITMI will build a culture in which our strengths mix with and enrich those of synergistic and complementary partners. Together, ALGORITMI will create useful knowledge, deploy visionary advanced training programs, and influence policy and the national agenda, improving the perspective of our researchers and the international influence and reputation of ALGORITMI. - Technology At Our Core: ALGORITMI tradition is built on technology, from the advancements created by ALGORITMI faculty researchers to the several technology-based companies launched and led by ALGORITMI alumni. Just as technology is ALGORITMI past, so it will differentiate ALGORITMI in the future, driving cutting-edge research and offering an innovative experience to our industrial partners. This strategy sets out how ALGORTMI proposes to build on a strong research tradition and reputation to ensure that ALGORTMI is best positioned to contribute and thrive in the years ahead.

Institutions

Main Institutions

  • Universidade do Minho Centro ALGORITMI (Algoritmi/UM)
  • Universidade do Minho (UMinho)

Other Institutions

  • Centro de Computação Gráfica (CCG)

Funding 1.865.625,00 €

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Portugal

1.865.625,00 €