News Porto.

Porto was the chosen city to set up the new research and development centre of German company Devexperts. This company specializes in the development of highly complex software solutions and services for the Capital Markets industry. Devexperts is headquartered in Munich, Germany and it is estimated to create 80 jobs in Porto within the next two years.

Architect Issa Diabaté, based in Côte d'Ivoire, opens the International Conference Cycle "Contemporary Architecture Contexts: 5 Continents", on 28 February. This is an initiative of the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Porto (FAUP) and its duration will extend to the coming months.

The 3rd edition of the "If you have a garden, we have a tree for you" programme, sponsored by Porto City Hall will run till 21 March. The main purpose of this initiative is to support citizens, companies and institutions in the city regarding the planting of trees and bushes in their gardens and patios.

"Porto City Hall is a unifying force within the city, which holds culture and knowledge as the main factors towards a civic experience that is open and world driven". The municipality was awarded the Merit Medal by the Polytechnic of Porto. Mayor Rui Moreira received the medal on behalf of the City Hall, in the context of the celebration of the 33rd anniversary of the Higher Education Institution, which took place at the Superior Institute of Engineering of Porto.

Porto d'Artes Cultural Association promotes today the monthly session of the Cycle "Sextas de Micro-Curtas", [Fridays with Shorts] with journalist and author Luís Bizarro Borges. The cycle features the screening of short films that last less than five minutes, "short in time but verbose in content", according to the Association. The event is access free and it is scheduled to start at 10 pm, at Rua Padre António Vieira, 76.

The 15th edition of "Essência do Vinho - Porto" opened to the public today at Palácio da Bolsa. The event, which is regarded as the biggest and most prestigious wine competition in Portugal, will run till Sunday, 25 March, featuring three thousand wines and free tastings, from 400 national and international producers, and a wide-ranging programme of activities.

The Centre for Research in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources in Porto (CIBIO-InBIO) of Porto University is the first Portuguese institution to take part in the Global Malaise Program, a world-wide collection program aimed at recording the huge diversity of arthropods in the entire planet by using the sampling method followed by their DNA barcode analysis.

Linguist Celina Silva wild hold a conference on "Almada e a Literatura em movimento" [Almada and Literature in motion], at the National Museum Soares dos Reis, at 6 pm, on 23 March.

Five vocal soloists, narrator, chorus and large orchestra are all it takes to tell the unfortunate love story of King Valdemar of Denmark, at Casa da Música, on 24 March, starting at 6 pm.

"Que ainda alguém nos invente" [May someone invent us still] is a joint cooperation between the Municipal Theatre and the Teatro Griot, which will premiere at Campo Alegre auditorium, on 2 March, starting at 9.30 pm. The performance is repeated on Sunday, 3 March, at 7 pm.