Portugal secures €81 million in European funding to establish six research centers

In the latest round of the Teaming for Excellence call for proposals, Portugal is coordinating six applications submitted for funding, representing an additional €81 million to establish or modernize centers of research excellence. In total, this round of the call received 64 proposals from various Member States and associated countries, with an indicative budget of €270 million available.

The six national applications account for 30% of the total funding, a result of significant impact for the National System for Science, Technology, and Innovation (SNCTI). They also include a commitment to complementary national funding (through the FCT and the Regional Coordination and Development Commissions – CCDR), in an amount equivalent to the European funding, promoting synergies among funding sources and combining national and European strategic investment. Of the six selected projects, two are located in the Lisbon and Tagus Valley region, one in the North, one in the Center, one in the Alentejo, and one in the Algarve.

The six new centers of excellence will operate in strategic areas: “Teaming to Drive the Future of Genomic Medicine” (I3S, University of Porto), in the field of genomic medicine; ““Institute for Integrated Social and Biological Assessment” (University of Coimbra), combining social and biomedical sciences; ““NOVA Institute for a Sustainable Future” (NOVA University Lisbon), in the fields of human and environmental health; ““Excellence in Mediterranean Soil Regeneration” (University of Évora), in the regeneration and monitoring of Mediterranean soils; “Sustainable Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (INESC-ID), in sustainable artificial intelligence systems; and ““UAlgTec Heritage Center of Excellence” (University of Algarve), in the fields of archaeology and cultural heritage.

The institutions will now begin preparing the grant agreement with the European Commission, and the projects are expected to take place between 2027 and 2032.

The six Portuguese applications submitted for funding are:

With these results, Portugal could reach the target of €170 million in funding solely through the Calls for Excellence Calls since 2019. This performance cements the country’s position as one of the most successful participants in this European research and innovation (R&I) instrument, which is designed to reduce disparities in research and innovation performance among Member States and associated countries.

Portugal currently has six centers of excellence funded under this initiative—two from the Horizon 2020 program (MIA-Portugal— Multidisciplinary Institute of Ageing and BIOPOLIS – Excellence in Environmental Biology, Ecosystem Research and AgroBiodiversity) and four under Horizon Europe (GIMM-CARE — Boosting Clinical Research for the Benefit of Society, NIMSB — NOVA Institute for Medical Systems Biology, GENE-T — The Gene Therapy CoE at the Center of Portugal, and INESCTEC.OCEAN — Centre of Excellence in Ocean Research and Engineering).