In the framework of this project, three scholarships were awarded to students of architecture or related areas, to work on the ongoing project, Siza ATLAS - Filling the gaps for World Heritage, funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology, through the program Projects of Scientific Research and Technological Development in the context of Álvaro Siza Vieira's Architecture - 2019 (SIZA/ETM/0023/2019).     The coordination of the project is the responsibility of ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa (ISCTE-IUL) - Centro de Investigação em Ciências da Informação, Tecnologias e Arquitetura (ISTAR-IUL). Participating entities are the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP, UP) - Center for the Study of Architecture and Urbanism (CEAU) and the Portucalense University (UPT).    The Siza ATLAS project proposes several lines of research and aims to contribute to the candidacy of a set of Siza's works for the UNESCO World Heritage list, promoting their protection and conservation for transmission to future generations.  The proposed activities are part of tasks T2 and T3 of the project, dedicated to the inventory and documentation of the works.   These scholarships enable students to learn scientific research methods in the field of architectural heritage inventorying, based on international standards in this field.

Program and monitoring of scientific and technological research activities for master's students, integrated into the international project “F-Atlas | Franciscan Landscapes” and in “COST ACTION CA18214 - The geography of New Workspaces and the impact on the periphery”. SUMMER WITH SCIENCE is a special support for scientific and technological research activities in R&D units to boost scientific and technological capacity and its relationship with higher education and society. The program provided for the funding of 11 research initiation grants for a period of one month, with an amount of €5303.32, from funds from the State Budget.

Following the ICOMOS study “The World Heritage list: filling the gaps – an action plan for the future” and the Global Strategy of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee (WHC) encouraging State Parties to submit nominations on the 20th century Heritage, ICOMOS-Portugal presented an Ensemble of works of Álvaro Siza for the World Heritage (WH) Tentative List, in 2017.  Siza is not only an Architect of national relevance, but also international; as one can count the design of approximately 500 projects and built works (spread across 4 continents and 16 countries), more than 100 distinctions and awards, 19 PhDs Honorary degrees, hundreds of dedicated publications. Despite the international recognition of the quality of Siza’s architecture, there is not yet a complete and systematic inventory of his built works. The information is usually scattered, partial or incomplete. The existent literature focuses more on formal questions of the project, and little on the constructive and technical dimension of his works, on the state of conservation of the buildings, or on possible threats affecting them. In this framework, the scope of SizaATLAS project is to address a comprehensive inventory of all of Siza’s built works, and to develop a detailed documentation and analysis of the 18 buildings selected for the WH List. This research and the comparison with other contemporary architecture will result in a better understanding of the unique value of Siza’s architecture, in a national and international context. This will be key to establish the justification of the Oustanding Universal Value (OUV) of his work, its national protection and an effective management system to support the instruction of Siza’s works nomination for the WH List. The research intends to develop: 1) a COLLABORATIVE PLATFORM for open access, which will allow database management and exchange, as well as forms' compilation and research dissemination; 2) a georeferenced INVENTORY of all the built works by Siza, ...

The project aims to combine traditional and innovative techniques, in order to develop methodologies, protocols and risk assessment tools and create user-friendly interfaces for the management and preservation of cultural heritage.