The Portuguese Commission for the commemoration of the International Year of Astronomy has developed its own program for 2009. Many of the international initiatives and cornerstones have Portuguese counterparts, but there are also some original projects.

So far, the “Curso de Formação para professores”, that is part of the Galileo Teacher Training Program Cornerstone Project, is one of the more successful initiatives in Portugal.

A few days after announcing the “Curso”, the number of teachers that showed interest in attending one of the 10 GTTP sessions, far exceeded the limited number of participants. So far there are 10 sessions announced that will take place in Coimbra, Constância, Faro, Lisboa (2 sessions), Bragança, Espinho, Madeira and Açores (2 sessions). But due the huge response by the teachers the possibility of additional sessions is being considered.

More information (in Portuguese) can be obtained here.