Would the seven research units (RUs) that make up IN2PAST not work together in the same collaborative way without the associate laboratory (AL)? The question was posed by the Secretary of State for Science, Ana Paiva, during an informal meeting in Évora, on February 4^th, with senior researchers, PhD students and members of the AL’s Board. The answer was given by the scientific coordinator of the Institute of Contemporary History (IHC) at the University of Évora: IN2PAST is more than the sum of its parts, and this is evident in different aspects of its activity.

‘IN2PAST’s exploratory projects are the realisation of these intersections’ which would not exist in a simple cooperation network, illustrates Maria de Fátima Nunes. Another example is the application plan for each of the RUs, as part of the 2023-2024 R&D Unit Evaluation process by FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia: the narratives ‘wouldn’t have the same characteristics if it weren’t for the LA’. For the IHC – UÉvora / IN2PAST researcher, the associate laboratory is synonymous with a ‘new culture’, which is also present in other activities, such as the Boot Camp (annual Doctoral School).

In Évora for the session ‘Research and Resilience – Advanced Training and European Funding’, organised by FCT, Ana Paiva spent much of the afternoon at Palácio do Vimioso, IN2PAST’s headquarters, getting to know the AL and talking to its researchers about issues such as scientific employment. She listened to and questioned the many people present, and met with precarious researchers and PhD students separately.

According to Fátima Nunes, the Secretary of State praised the AL’s practices and was impressed by the existence of ‘IN2PAST doctorates’ – doctorates in which IN2PAST is the academic host institution, as in the case of Maria Figueira, a researcher at IHC – UÉvora / IN2PAST and one of the PhD students who spoke to Ana Paiva.

Other PhD students present were Samira Miranda (IHC – NOVA FCSH) and Francesca Iorio (Institute of Art History), along with António Candeias, researcher and director of HERCULES Laboratory, and president of IN2PAST – who presented the AL and showed how it practices the vision that ‘heritage is not a mere sum of unrelated elements, but rather a territorial system and the product of Man’s relationship with the territory’ –, José Neves, researcher at IHC – NOVA FCSH and vice-president of IN2PAST, Paulo Simões Rodrigues, researcher and director of CHAIA, member of the IN2PAST Board, José Mirão, researcher and vice-director of HERCULES, member of the IN2PAST Board, Luís Trindade, researcher and director of IHC, Elisabete Pereira, researcher at IHC – UÉvora, José Mapril, researcher at CRIA – NOVA FCSH, Ana Teresa Caldeira and Sara Valadas, both researchers at HERCULES, and Pedro Martins, researcher at IHC – NOVA FCSH, as well as Rui Salgado, director of the UÉvora’s Institute for Research and Advanced Training (IIFA), among many others.