By Eduardo Leite, PhD, Vice-President, School of Technology and Management, University of Madeira
From its vantage at Europe’s edge, the University of Madeira (UMa) proves that transformative change thrives where challenges converge. In September 2025, during the Accelerate Future HEI consortium review with the European Commission, UMa unveiled a trajectory that earned it distinction in innovation within Portugal, per the SCImago 2025 ranking, a striking ascent from 13th place in 2021. This milestone, deftly navigated through resource scarcity, geographic isolation, and global partnerships, reflects a vision that alchemises regional realities into catalysts for European relevance.
Madeira is no mere setting; it is a crucible where global imperatives (biodiversity, green and digital transitions, the blue economy, demographic shifts) meet with intensity. This context casts UMa as a living laboratory for creativity and sustainability. Anchoring this evolution is a bold commitment, articulated in our Institutional Transformation Acceleration Plan (ITAP): “Creativity unveils all possibilities to the University; the University forsakes convention to embrace them.” Far from rhetoric, this vision sparked tangible ruptures, strategically orchestrated deployments of Horizon Europe resources, not as passive funding, but as platforms for enduring societal impact and competitiveness.
The outcomes are clear. UMa has convened global forums like Meeting of Minds and SEAS-UP, engaging over 150 participants and yielding publications in premier journals. A thriving Knowledge Transfer Office secures national and international patents, with the OSEAN trademark woven into the European PATLIB network. Green technology and AI startups flourish under incubation, and in 2025, UMa will launch a Postgraduate Diploma in Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Innovation (30 ECTS), a hybrid programme with a global curriculum tailored to societal and market needs. Over 240 students engage in entrepreneurship units, 54 innovative Erasmus+ mobilities have been crafted, and the Poliempreende 2024 competition united over 100 participants from 20 institutions across Portugal, Brazil, Mozambique, and Germany, fusing academic rigour with entrepreneurial dynamism.
Crucially, UMa redefines the role of a European university, not as a passive beneficiary of Horizon Europe funding, but as an active architect of its impact, transforming financial investment into structural advantage. As Dr Natascha Eckert, Academia–Business Advisor at UIIN, observed during the Accelerate Future HEI review: “Madeira is not a destination, it is a living laboratory for sustainability, a springboard for ideas that scale globally from the outermost edge.” This validation, bolstered by the UIIN consortium’s adept coordination, affirms UMa’s role as a nexus for transcendent solutions.
Looking forward, UMa will launch an International Placement Platform in late 2025, linking graduates to multinational firms and innovative startups, alongside a Power BI dashboard to ensure transparency and data-driven stewardship. These initiatives anchor a trajectory of sustained evolution, aligning with European priorities of sustainability, digitalisation, and social resilience, despite regional constraints.
UMa’s transformation reveals that peripherality is not marginality. From Madeira’s frontier, the University emerges as a stronghold of creativity, illuminating paths within and beyond the Outermost Regions. We do not follow the future, we propel it. This living laboratory is open for continuous co-creation with the European Commission and all partners who shape tomorrow.
Highlights from SEAS-UP Madeira 2024 show the international scope of our event and that Madeira is a living laboratory for global entrepreneurship.
