About BEST

Board of European Students of Technology

History

BEST is the acronym for Board of European Students of Technology. We are a non-governmental, apolitical and non-profit organization designed and created by technology students from all over Europe. Formed in 1989 with the aim of strengthening relations between students, universities and companies, we are a dynamic and growing organization. Our main activities are based on providing complementary education, career support and educational involvement. We currently have more than 3300 members, spread across 93 BEST local groups in 34 European countries. You can find out more about our story here.

Vision & Mission

We believe that the future of Europe goes by the creation of a diverse environment that helps students reach their full potential and act responsibly. Our vision - Empowered Diversity - aspires to understanding and respecting different cultures and societies. Our mission - Developing Students - motivates us to help students develop an international mindset, in order to reach a better understanding of different cultures, as well as to develop the ability to work in culturally diverse environments. BEST creates opportunities for students' personal development and helps them reach their potential.

BEST Spirit

Each member of BEST is guided by 5 values, which translate our actions:

Flexibility

We seek the ability to make changes and deal with changing conditions. We are open to everything new. We value and raise the ability of being mobile and to quickly respond to changes in the environment or any other obstacles that we face.

Friendship

We build good relationships in which people help, support and care for one another. We value good personal relations and teamwork. We focus on each person involved in our activities and in this way we create synergy.

Fun

We enjoy everything we do. We value positive emotions of the people involved in our actions. We strive to make our activities enjoyable to everybody who is connected to them. We act with passion and strive to share this passion with people around us.

Improvement

We strive to continuously improve the standards in everything we do. We use all our creativity to enhance the way we work. This is to guarantee the constant development of our actions.

Learning

We gain skills and understanding through experience. We value everything we learn through the experience of being involved in our activities and we strive to learn as much as possible from every aspect of our work. We value personal development and strive for an open learning community, where we have the freedom to share and develop ideas.

BEST Lisbon History

Lisbon welcomed BEST since the beginning. Thanks to a group of students from Instituto Superior Técnico (IST), who sought to create and strengthen ties with other technology students, inside and outside Portugal, BEST Lisboa is one of the thirteen founding members of this organization. Our local group has been one of the most active and dynamic nationally and internationally. Years have passed and, as a result of the commitment of our members, we have been able to develop more and better initiatives. In 1992, we organized the first BEST Season Course; in 2002, the EBEC - European BEST Engineering Competition - and more recently (in 2012), we added to our portfolio of annual events the BEST Inside View. The growth of our events has also been associated the increase of our members, and we can now count on students not only from IST but also from other institutions of the University of Lisbon, such as Faculty of Sciences and Faculty of Pharmacy.

Departments

Corporate Relations (CR)

This is the Department that bridges BEST Lisboa with companies. As a non-profit organization that we are, we need to establish partnerships with companies in order to obtain the necessary financial support for the organization of each event. The team responsible for CR ensures that these partnerships make sense to our organization and are advantageous to all involved.

Public Relations (PR)

Would it be worth developing a number of initiatives and opportunities for students if they were not used? Of course not! That is why there is the Department of PR, to bring to the students all the work we do. This team is also responsible for creating and strengthening relationships with other student groups and organizations and for spreading BEST in society at large.

Information Technology (IT)

It is thanks to this Department that this website exists! This team is responsible for maintaining BEST Lisboa's online platforms, as well as ensuring that members have access to the tools they need to carry out their work.

Design

This Department is responsible for making design materials to BEST Lisbon to preserve its image.