CENTRA/SIM is listed in the FCT "Portugal in Large-Scale Facilities Catalog" as one of the key national units with technological activities in the contexts of the European Space Agency (ESA), European Southern Observatory (ESO) and the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN).
From the forword, by Prof. Miguel Seabra:
"(...) Portugal’s efforts to join large-scale research facilities date back to 1986 with entry to the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). This event is a significant landmark in the internationalisation process of the Portuguese research system. Membership of CERN contributed to membership of other internationally renowned organisations, such as thenEuropean Space Agency (ESA) and the European Southern Observatoryn(ESO), both in 2000, the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) inn1997, the European Union’s Joint Undertaking to the International Thermo-nuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER programme), Fusion for Energy (F4E) in 2007, among other leading scientific organisations.
The Portuguese Government’s significant long-term financial investment in these organisations has contributed to boost the international excellence of Portuguese science, to foster advanced qualification of human resources and to stimulate R&D efforts in knowledge and technology transfer, with subsequent impact on national industry.
This catalogue portrays Portugal’s current participation in large-scale research facilities. It describes the main competencies of research centres and industry in each field of expertise and the corresponding applications within the research facilities. We hope that this catalogue may provide a view of the rich landscape Portugal offers today, as a reference in international research and contributor to the sustained progress of modern societies."
The catalog can be downloaded from:
http://www.fct.pt/apoios/tecnologia/catalogotecnologia.phtml.en