Until 17 February 2020, Portuguese university students, with the support of FCT's FCCN Unit, can submit a proposal for presentation at the largest and most prestigious annual conference of academic networks: TNC20. Learn more about this opportunity.
What does the Lightning Talks Challengeconsist of ?
GÉANT and FCCN invite Portuguese higher education students to participate in the Lightning Talk Challenge (LTC), a project through which they can share their ideas and study/research projects in the area of technologies, namely IT or computer networks. For more information, visit the page dedicated to the initiative.
What is TCN20?
TNC20 takes place in Brighton, UK, from 8-12 June. This is the largest gathering of collaboration and networking experts, policy makers, representatives from Higher Education institutions and the technology industry, as well as managers from the world's leading research and academic networks (NRENs).
What does the student gain by participating?
Participating in the largest and most prestigious academic networking conference is, in itself, a rewarding challenge and an enriching experience. In addition to this opportunity, there is also a training moment involved. Selected students will be supported by GÉANT's GLAD - GÉANT Learning and Development team - with three courses/webinarson proposal writing and public speaking.
Are there any associated costs?
No. If your proposal is selected, you will travel free of charge to the 3-day conference, organised by GÉANT - the European academic network manager. Expenses for conference entry, accommodation, food and travel will be fully covered.
Have there ever been Portuguese people participating?
Portuguese participations have been registered since 2017. In 2019, the student from the University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), António Ferreira, was selected by FCCN and GÉANT to submit at TNC19, in Tallinn, Estonia, his machine learning project for the identification of forest and agricultural species.
For the student, attending the world's largest networking conference was "inspiring" and "rewarding". "I met new people, talked about my project with people I had never seen before and questioned other speakers about their projects. It was all good," he adds.
This is the fourth edition of the LTC, a project that is part of GÉANT's Future Talent Programme. The aim of this programme, highlights the European network, is to "prepare young professionals to have an impact on an audience through their idea, project or research".
How can I submit the application?
Applications for Portuguese students should be made through the FCCN Unit and are already underway. The deadline for sending applications to FCCN is February 17th, to the following email address c.imagem@fccn.pt. The proposal should be sent in English, be original and objective, and include the student's contact details.