João A. P. Coutinho has been officially ratified by the CICECO Scientific Council for a second term as the Director of CICECO – Aveiro Institute of Materials. The ratification vote took place on 14 July, following the presentation of his strategic programme for the 2027–2031 mandate.

Following the announcement of the result, João Coutinho acknowledged the Scientific Council for its confidence.

"I am very pleased with the outcome of the elections and I hope this is a sign of recognition by the CICECO community of the work carried out over the past five years. I also hope everyone has read the proposal and that this is not only a vote on what this leadership has achieved in the past five years, but also on what we are proposing for the upcoming five years, the direction we are pointing out and how we envisage the strategic evolution, development and growth of CICECO until 2031."

During his presentation, João Coutinho outlined a strategy centred on consolidating CICECO as a European leader in advanced materials, moving “from excellence to leadership”. Rather than pursuing continuous expansion, the programme proposes concentrating resources in areas where CICECO can achieve greater scientific leadership and societal impact.

Human resources remain at the core of the strategy. The programme includes measures to strengthen scientific careers, support early-career researchers, reinforce mentoring and leadership development, improve career progression, stabilise critical competencies and enhance the careers of technical and support staff.

Another strategic pillar is the continued and sustained investment in scientific infrastructure. The programme highlights CICECO's integrated research capabilities from conception, and synthesis to characterisation, processing, testing, and pre-deployment validation as a distinctive institutional asset that attracts researchers, drives interdisciplinary collaboration and reinforces participation in national and European research infrastructures.

The programme also places strong emphasis on innovation and industrial collaboration. Priorities include expanding long-term partnerships with industry, strengthening technology transfer and intellectual property, increasing patent valorisation to accelerate the translation of scientific knowledge into industry and drive societal impact.

Education and advanced training constitute another key objective and priority. The proposed strategy aims to increase international exposure for doctoral researchers, promote interdisciplinary training, strengthen industrial doctoral programmes and prepare highly qualified researchers for careers in academia and industry.

Communication is presented as a strategic instrument for strengthening CICECO’s identity, reinforcing internal cohesion, and fostering international visibility. The programme foresees greater investment in scientific communication, digital content, media engagement and internal communication to reinforce community cohesion and position CICECO as an international reference in materials science.

Finally, the programme proposes reinforcing governance through strategic monitoring, key performance indicators, external assessment and continuous dialogue with the research community, while maintaining the flexibility that has characterised CICECO’s development.

The new mandate will run from 1 January 2027 to 31 December 2031, marking João Coutinho’s second term as Director of CICECO. The programme builds upon the achievements of the previous mandate while setting out a roadmap focused on strategic consolidation, scientific excellence and increased impact in research, innovation and society.

Check the photos of the session: link here.