Laboratorio Nacional de Engenharia Civil (LNEC), PT

About
LNEC is a public research institute dedicated to S&T, encompassing the various fields of civil engineering and related scientific areas. At present, LNEC has 600 employees, of which about 180 have a PhD degree or equivalent.  Throughout its existence, LNEC has carried out advanced technological consultancy under contract in more than 40 countries. It houses over 20 testing and research laboratories, ten of which are accredited under the ISO standards. Its large three-degree-of-freedom Seismic Testing Platform is an EU research facility accessed by international researchers from throughout Europe. Besides the training of its own researchers, LNEC accommodates every year a selection of MSc and PhD students from other institutions, national and foreign, and has an extensive activity in the dissemination of research results and in the transfer of knowledge to practitioners.  
Its main scientific core on civil engineering is complemented by other engineering sciences (electronics, mechanical, computing) and by a large number of other contributing sciences, namely, Chemistry, Physics, Geology, Biology, as well as Architecture and Sociology. These joint capabilities allow the preparation and implementation of multidisciplinary approaches to complex problems, an emblematic characteristic of the now 65-year old Institution.
LNEC is represented in CHARISMA by its Stone & Ceramics Division (NPC) whose activity covers stone, ceramics, and other porous materials for construction and in the built heritage.

Relevant experience and role

LNEC, at large, has been a partner in many international research and dissemination projects funded by the EU and other international funding agencies, with partners from all continents. Through NPC, it participated in several important EU-funded research projects on conservation of cultural heritage in which it teamed with leading research groups in Europe and elsewhere. In its consultancy role, the Division has been regularly involved in conservation interventions carried out in some of the most meaningful and emblematic monuments of the Built Heritage of Portugal. This sector has also a long experience in knowledge dissemination through the organisation of courses, seminars and congresses within the broad scope of conservation of the cultural heritage.
The participation in CHARISMA is mainly focused on the development of standards for best practices in the conservation of stone in the cultural heritage; training and knowledge diffusion in related fields; and research on the use of portable laser equipment on the cleaning of stone. 

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