The creation of the Maiêutica/UMAIA Hub was the natural progression of a partnership agreement between the two institutions established in October 2013.

UMAIA’s core research focuses on the fields of Communication and Digital Culture. Many of its research activities stem from collaborations with foreign universities and institutions, including King’s College, the University of São Paulo, University of Espírito Santo, University Federal de Sergipe, University Federal de Goiás, and the Higher Education School of Propaganda e Marketing (Brazil).

The objectives of the UMAIA Center are to:

  1. Conduct applied research in the domains of Arts (Theater, Literature, Cinema, Visual Arts, Digital Arts) and Communication;
  2. Identify and enhance the interaction between technology, artistic practices, journalism, and communication to meet community needs, fostering a more critical, responsible, and participative society;
  3. Investigate the mediums (material, virtual, technological) that support media, artistic, and communicative phenomena, including the development of digital platforms associated with both fundamental and applied research objects, as well as exploring how media and artistic languages are appropriated, especially in relation to verbal expression, language contact, and Human Communication, with a particular focus on Media, Arts, and Science Literacy, mediation, interculturality, Intermedia studies, and institutional and corporate communication;
  4. Examine how digital technologies have culturally transformed the design, production, access, and study of arts and communication, with particular emphasis on new creative processes and digital ecologies;
  5. Expand and develop taxonomies for various artistic performances within a digital environment and explore their pedagogical potential;
  6. Strategically integrate artificial intelligence into the fields of Arts and Communication;
  7. Understand how a media-driven society formulates strategies to address communication challenges in the 21st century, with an emphasis on Organizational Communication, Journalism, and Media.

Partnerships

Several researchers at the center are part of international research networks, such as “Naturalisme-Monde” and NECS, the European Network for Cinema and Media Studies. UMAIA is also part of the “Besides the Screen” research network with King’s College, the University of Victoria, and the University of São Paulo.

In Communication, partnerships have been established with Brazilian universities (University Federal de Sergipe, University Federal de Goiás, the Higher Education School of Propaganda e Marketing) and with the Publishing, Culture & Design Lab at the Faculty of Librarianship and Communication at UFRGS, resulting in publications and research exchanges with foreign colleagues at UMAIA.

Additionally, partnerships have been formed to strengthen ties with the artistic and professional sectors. Examples include agreements with Maus Hábitos, FEST – New Cinema, New Directors Festival, Vila do Conde Short Film Festival and its affiliates – Agência de Curtas Metragens and Solar – Galeria de Artes Cinemáticas, Porto/Post/Doc (Porto’s Festival of Real Cinema), the production company Bando à Parte, and Cinanima.

Projects

Moreover, many of these researchers are active participants in funded national and international projects, including:

  • CYPet, an exploratory project funded by FCT (2021);
  • OMEGA-X Project: Orchestrating an interoperable sovereign federated Multi-vector Energy data space built on open standards and ready for GAia-X, call HORIZON-CL5-2021-D3-01-01, Horizon Europe, Proposal number: 101069287;
  • “Naturalisme-Monde” Project, ITEM-CNRS;
  • Project “Research, healthcare networks and empowerment: scientific and social responses to rare diseases in the Iberian Peninsula”;
  • Intangible Heritage Collection Project promoted by the Porto Metropolitan Area, a QREN-funded project through which 17 video documentaries were created (http://piamp.amp.pt), along with the recording of the Legends and Narratives of AMP;
  • “Fratura e Fuga”: DGArtes support for single projects and the publication of a special issue of Media Practice and Education (Scopus – Q1).

At the national level, the following projects have been developed:

  • Theory and Practice of Adaptation
  • Observatory of Communication and Public Relations Agencies
  • Public Relations and Challenges in a Media-Driven Society
  • Journalism in the 21st Century
  • Media and Digital Literacy
  • Health Communication
  • Cultural Centers and Peripheries
  • Memory, Communication, and Citizenship
  • Celebrity Culture

Coordinator: Fernando Faria Paulino
info@maieutica.pt / T. +351 229 866 000
Avenida Carlos de Oliveira Campos – Castêlo da Maia
4475-690 Maia

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