The future of research at Católica was the topic of debate at the 5th CARE CAtólica Research Meeting, which brought together the UCP research community on 15 September at the Católica Medical School in Sintra.

At this national meeting, the President of Católica, Isabel Capeloa Gil, highlighted the best of what was done at Católica in the area of research in 2022, giving as an example the most cited publication published in 2022: "Conspiracy mentality and political orientation across 26 countries". Published by the Research Centre of the Institute of Political Studies, the article achieved a total of 60 citations.

The President's speech was also marked by the announcement of the new national office to support UCP's Research and Innovation: the Research and Innovation Office (RIO) under the direction of João Cortez, researcher at the Centre for Biotechnology and Fine Chemistry.

Among the achievements of Católica Research in 2022, the registration of 29 new patents stands out.

Annemarie Matusche-Beckmann, Vice-President for Social Responsibility and Sustainability at Saarland University and Coordinator of the Transform4Europe Alliance, of which Universidade Católica is a member, was the main guest at the event and brought up the role of universities and the fulfilment of their 3rd mission: the transfer of knowledge to solve current societal challenges.

Michiel Scheffer, President of the European Innovation Council, also took part in this meeting, where he discussed the main tenders and strategies for retaining competitive European funding.

The round table dedicated to employability, which brought together Isabel Furtado, CEO of TMG Automotive, Manuela Pintado, Director of CBQF-UCP, António Martins da Costa, President of AMCHAM Portugal, Pedro Simas, Director of CBR-UCP, António Casanova, CEO of UNILEVER-FIMA, and Isabel Braga da Cruz, Pro-Rector of Católica, discussed the challenges of hiring doctoral graduates in companies, as well as the potential for innovation that a career in research brings.

The future of research was reflected in the challenges raised at the "Social and Cultural Innovation" round table, which brought together Diana Gonçalves, Academic Director of the Lisbon Consortium and Coordinator of the CECC-UCP Master's Degree in Cultural Studies, Filipe Santos, Dean of CATÓLICA-LISBON, Filipe Martins, from the Cross-Cutting Area of Social Economy, moderated by João Pereira, Innovation Coordinator at UCP.

At this meeting, the initiative of the Post-Doctoral Programme in Integral Human Development of the Católica Doctoral School was represented by Rita Valadas, President of Cáritas, and the fellows of the Programme.

The end of this 5th edition of CARE energised the CARE4CHANGE initiative. Through parallel working sessions, researchers from the 4 campi debated the future of the Católica in various areas and presented implementation proposals for the University, which were then handed over to the Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation, Peter Hanenberg.