UMI is one of the so-called "New Universities" that changed the HE landscape in Portugal. Located in the Minho region, known for its significant economic activity and by the youth of its population, UMI is renowned for the quality of its teaching, the quality of its students, the public recognition given to its Alumni, and for its intervention and strong links with the local community and the surrounding region. UNI has a commitment to sustainable development as reflected in its core mission:

"The University’s mission shall be the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge, under the spirit of freedom of thought and plural critical judgements, through the promotion of higher education and the construction of a society paradigm based on humanistic principles, and having knowledge, creativity and innovation as cornerstones for growth, sustainable development, welfare and solidarity".

The campi of Gualtar, in Braga, and Azurém, in Guimarães cover a student population of over 18000, plus 1200 teaching staff and almost 800 technical and administration staff making UMI one of the biggest HEI in Portugal. All our 11 Schools are quite comprehensive and are a reference for their academic and scientific quality at national and international level. All courses and degrees are evaluated and accredited by the correspondent official bodies. Internationalisation is a priority and it has a long and sound-based experience in participating in several EU programmes.

Role of UMI in the project:

• Contribute to the mapping exercise in Portugal.
• Assist in the development of an online platform of resources as well as get familiarised and review the online tool.
• Contribute to the bi-annual newsletters.
• Provide feedback to the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework.
• Contribute to the dissemination and exploitation of the project outputs, outcomes and future network activities.
• Participate and actively contribute to the discussions generated in regional and annual meetings, seminars and conference.

Operational and financial management:

• The project team will coordinate the above administrative and academic project activities.
• Financial administration will be handled by project team who will liaise internally with the institution’s finance department.