The Regional Secretary for Education, Science and Culture defended in Praia da Vitória that "making science in the Azores is to build the future" of the Region, stressing the importance of "networking and team work."

Speaking at the opening of the 2nd Science Days in the Azores, Luiz Fagundes Duarte stressed that this goal "will be only achieved through networking and team work so that the contribution provided by each member may improve the work of other people." Despite the contingencies arising from the transition of Community support frameworks, the Regional Government is "strongly committed to this endeavour," which is evidenced by its full support to investment in science.

The Regional Secretary for Education, Science and Culture said that the opening of three applications under the "Pro Scientia" incentive scheme; it will cover new areas and the funds will increase by 50%. The government official also mentioned the opening, next week, of a new application for the recruitment of human qualified resources, which will enable research centres to extend contract with grant holders until December.

In his speech, the government official also revealed that the Government plans to open by the end of July several applications to support scientific publications, with a budget of 45 billion Euros, and to the operation of research centres, with an increase of 50% over the funds allocated in the previous year.

Luiz Fagundes Duarte assured that the Azorean Government is "working to ensure that these figures may rise next year in order to provide the regional science sector with the good financial conditions."

For the Regional Secretary, the 2nd Science Days in the Azores bring together 80 participants and will take place until Saturday. This event is the culmination of participatory process that will support the presentation of final document on the Scientific Strategy for the Azores within two months. It highlights the "active" participation of the scientific community in this process in order to develop "an effective that is capable of fostering the sustainable development of our archipelago as well as the assertion of regional science in a national and international context."

"Azorean Research groups and researchers have increasingly demonstrated their ability to rise to prominence in the international scientific community," said Luiz Fagundes Duarte. The government official assured that the Regional Government will not allow that "scientific production be limited to a restricted number of areas."

"Our task is to find the balance point between Community guidelines, the funds available and the development needs of our Region by investing in smart specialisation as well as in the support to a wider range of areas and projects," stressed the government official.

The Regional Secretary for Education, Science and Culture also revealed one of the Government's goals for the Azores in the 2014-2020 period: "a real convergence towards the level of investments in research and development at national level, and towards the Community goals stipulated in the National Partnership Agreement."