Statutory rape laws are designed to protect children from the manipulation of adults into having sexual intercourse. However, in Malaysia, statutory rape laws are applied even on male adolescents who are close in age with their female partners. This is problematic because applying these laws into male children will criminalize their normative sexual behaviors which has long-lasting damaging effects. In addition, the perception of the criminal justice personnel on sexual behaviors of children also cements the blanket applications of statutory rape laws onto every case involving female children. To reform the use of statutory rape laws in Malaysia, data on the sexual relations between close-in-age partners and adult-child partners are needed. This study has three research objectives. First, I aim to explore the perception of the criminal justice system personnel (i.e., prosecutors, police officers and probation officers) towards the implementation of statutory rape laws on adolescents in Malaysia. Second, I would like to investigate the psychosocial characteristics (sexual and antisocial dimensions) of sexual relations involving two close-in-age children in comparison with sexual relations involving adults and children. Lastly, I aim to explore the psychosocial-cultural motivations behind the pursuance of sexual relationships among Asian adolescents. The design of the proposed study will be a mixed design, employing both quantitative (to achieve research objective 2) and qualitative (to achieve research objective 1 and 3). For the quantitative part of the study, a hypothesis will be tested which is: Close-in-age sexual partners differ in terms of psychosocial characteristics compared to adult-child sexual partners. This will be tested using a binary logistic regression. Then, I will employ a thematic analysis to find out the patterns from the responses. The findings of this project will be disseminated through two journal articles and a conference attendance.

Although among the top 10 Portuguese universities with higher number of top quality scientific papers published, and despite the growing attractiveness that it has been gaining in terms of research and teaching, UTAD is still far from the European high performing R&D institutions. Thus, the Clim4Vitis project aims at enhancing UTAD’s S&T capacity, as well as raising its staff’s research profile, specially focusing one of the fields of research in which the University has become a national reference: viticulture. Within this broad area, particular attention should be given to two main lines of research: 1) grapevine modelling and 2) tools for assessing climate change impacts on European viticulture, in general, and on grapevine productivity, quality attributes and risk of diseases and pests in particular. In order to boost competences in these topics, the project gathers 5 international partners (1 university from a Widening country, 3 internationally-leading research institutions, and an international consultancy & training company). The 3 internationally-leading research institutions are from the same field of study, but with complementary skills. The implementation of several twinning activities (thematic workshops, staff exchange, short courses, thematic seminars, webinars, conferences, among others) will enable the access to systematized knowledge and cutting edge-technology, as well as the knowledge and technology transfer between the high performing partners and the UTAD. Clim4Vitis is based on an integrated approach, which envisages the effective internationalization of the University, through extensive networking, dissemination and the establishment of long-term transnational cooperation relationships with world-leading R&D institutions. Furthermore, the project actively contributes to the sustainability of UTAD, once it also foresees the increase of contracts with business partners and stakeholders.

2018 was a glimpse of the future: deadly mega-fires in Mediterranean and numerous wildfires in temperate and boreal regions. Traditional mono-disciplinary attitudes cannot solve this challenge: there is a critical need to change management paradigms from fire resistance to landscape resilience: Living with Fire. PyroLife trains the new generation of interdisciplinary experts in holistic integrated fire management, through knowledge transfer between South and NW Europe and application of lessons learned in prevention of floods and other risks. Our unique integrated training program, crucially developed with industry, provides 15 ESRs the in-depth, interdisciplinary, integrated and transferable knowledge and skills required to complete their research and maximize future employability. Individual projects target risk quantification (fire danger, vulnerability, (mega)fire behavior, environmental and economic impacts), risk reduction (fire resilient home, garden and landscape design, prevention and governance), and risk communication (stimulating stakeholder and community resilience and preparedness). PyroLife is original for its inter- and transdisciplinary, intersectoral, cross-risk, and cross-climate approach to training doctoral students and tackling wildfire challenges, connecting 21 diverse partners. The project structures doctoral training by being the first large and integrated doctoral training program on wildfires globally, being a leading example for training of our future leaders. With an exemplary gender balance and diversity in industry and academia, PyroLife combines excellent research and supervision to make an impact on society and economy, through broad dissemination and communication. With the Commission’s Nov 2018 call for integrated fire management to ‘tackle the global EU wildfire problem’, the timeliness of PyroLife cannot be overstated. Funding of PyroLife provides the diverse fire experts Europe urgently needs in academia and practice.