11. Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPDL)

The Polytechnic of Leiria is a modern HEI that supports its activities in four main interconnected activities, namely, education, research, innovative services to society (added value and sharing knowledge) and internationalization. Polytechnic of Leiria has five faculties, accommodating more than 13,000 students and more than 1,600 staff. Polytechnic of Leiria is the leading HEI of the RUN-EU European University (www.run-eu.eu), which has a strong focus on societal development through education, research and innovation in a multicultural campus environment. Polytechnic of Leiria is the only public HEI in Leiria and Western region in Portugal and it is at the core of a Research and Innovation Regional and Global Ecosystem which includes: 15 research centres supported by the national science and technology foundation; a unique start-up ecosystem composed by four incubators and one start-up accelerator; the Polytechnic is the Vice-President of the regional Entrepreneurial Association (1,200 SME’s); a regional ecosystem that promotes societal engagement, including two scientific infrastructures located at the “heart” of two industrial parks, as well the occurrence of more than 2,500 internships/year with SME’s and other regional stakeholders; the Portuguese HEI that lead in the last ten years the co-creation projects with SME supported by the Portuguese National Innovation; National and international R&D experience in financed projects, including FP7 and H2020 projects