Novabase and Instituto Superior Técnico (IST - Higher Technical Institute) signed an agreement renewing the partnership which has united them for the past three years. Its main goal is to strengthen the technology company’s connection to young graduates from the higher education institute, helping them to begin their professional career and supporting them in their first contact with the job market.
As in previous years, the partnership agreement includes support for the IST Formula Student team which, in addition to building and competing with a new electric car, will be developing its first self-driving car this year.
Novabase will also be awarding two annual scholarships for master’s degree students. In addition, two merit awards will be given to student groups in the Software Engineering curriculum unit.
Also under the partnership, Novabase will help to equip and operate a computer lab to be used by IST students.
Pedro Amaral, vice-president of Instituto Superior Técnico for Corporate Relations and Operations, says "The IST/Novabase partnership was one of the first of its kind under IST’s partner network, and is an outstanding example of promoting university/industry relations. The partnership, which began formally in 2017, focused on four major themes: i) connecting with talent, through activities such as participating in IST Career Weeks; ii) job shadowing programs and talent search meetings; iii) merit award for one discipline; and iv) support for IST student hubs, specifically in the FST project. The three years of partnership, now renewed for the same time period, have been a process of learning and mutual growth, reflected in this new period by a substantial upscaling of planned activities, which will now include four more central themes: v) a new merit award for the best student of a discipline; vi) scholarships to support Master’s dissertations in a corporate environment; vii) IST/Company workshops; and viii) support for renovation, installation of support equipment and maintenance of a laboratory at the Department of Computer Engineering. The purpose of the IST partner network – which has added 16 partners in less than five years (expected to exceed two dozen in 2020) – is to promote a relationship of proximity and continuity with its partner companies.
The activities involved in these partnerships can be broken down into five areas. The first, known as “Getting to know talent”, creates a stronger bond between companies and IST students. The second, “More and best talent”, seeks to enhance education by involving companies in learning processes, where the companies can also benefit from advanced training for their employees. The third area, “Innovation accelerator”, is intended to create links to leverage innovation in the company’s domains with cooperation from IST teachers, researchers and students. The “Social responsibility” component aims to embrace the ambition of a growing number of companies wanting to support IST students whose families have challenges in paying the costs of studying in Lisbon or Oeiras. Finally, IST also seeks to mobilize the companies in its partner network as privileged spokespersons in aspects involving the institution’s strategic decisions. Each of these areas has a collection of initiatives for activities involving the company and IST, to be done annually over a minimum of three years."
João Nuno Bento, Novabase CEO, says that “Attracting young, qualified talent continues to be a challenge in the field of information technologies. This partnership is truly important to us, not only for our recognition of IST as one of the country’s best technology universities, but also because we can contribute towards educating young talent by bridging the current gaps in the job market with the nation’s best talent. By renewing this partnership, we can also keep aligning technical expertise and scientific knowledge with an understanding of the market and how to solve real business problems, thereby educating young talent and preparing them for their professional career.”
