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Activity Funded

CERES - Chemical Engineering and Renewable Resources for Sustainability

CERES - Chemical Engineering and Renewable Resources for Sustainability

Reference
UIDB/00102/2020
Project Start Date
2020-01-01
Project End Date
2024-12-31
Principal Investigator
Funding Program
Concurso de avaliação no âmbito do Programa Plurianual de Financiamento de Unidades de I&D (2017/2018) - Financiamento Base

Abstract

10.2 Summary in English for general dissemination purposes The Research Centre in Chemical Process Engineering and Forest Products (CIEPQPF) is located in the Chemical Engineering Department (DEQ) of the University of Coimbra (UC), and its core team is formed by lecturers and researchers of DEQ. The research activities have expanded beyond Chemical Processes and Forest Products to include more diversified and interdisciplinary areas. Multifunctional products from natural or chemical origins, nanotechnology, biomaterials for health/pharmaceutical applications, waste valorisation, bioproducts and advanced environmental technologies, sol-gel technology for different applications, industrial data science, advanced simulation and computing, are representative fields of the current CIEPQPF's research scope. The CIEPQPF's team is varied and multidisciplinary, and a number of researchers from different departments of UC and former PhD students working in industry have gradually joint the team. A multifaceted portfolio of national and international projects offers the opportunity of collaborative work in the areas above referred. Blue Economy was selected to be included in CIEPQPF's strategic thematic lines, aiming at foreseeing R&D of materials from marine sources. The application of green technologies to these natural resources, which after functionalization lead to tailor made materials adjusted to the application in view, is a good description of the type of research done under this topic. The line of research on Forest and its Products was reshaped in the light of the concept of Circular Economy, a vector that points at the valorisation of forest residues with an extensive utilisation for higher value added products. In this way, it is thought to contribute for the improvement of the living standard of the population in the central region of Portugal for whom the forest is an important source of income. The biomedical and pharmaceutical areas are also a priority in CIEPQPF's strategy, namely the development of biomaterials for different health-related applications. Again, the regional framework and the characteristics of the city of Coimbra as an important location for medical care were important factors for the definition of this priority area. Being the area of Chemical Processes our DNA as a Centre, the new paradigms of Industry 4.0 came into play. In fact, and due to the new information technologies, we want to address the new production processes according to the most modern approaches. For the Centre's priority activities to blossom we want to attract competent human resources, selected from graduated students and highly qualified researchers. International cooperation established under European Programs and protocol celebration with South American countries (Argentina and Brazil) have been a priority of the Centre, and the mobility of students and researchers to deepen the collaborative scientific work between countries is to continue and expand. 10.3 Summary in English for evaluation The Research Centre in Chemical Process Engineering and Forest Products (CIEPQPF) is located in the Chemical Engineering Department (DEQ) of the University of Coimbra (UC), and its core team is formed by lecturers and researchers of DEQ. The research activities have expanded beyond Chemical Processes and Forest Products to include more diversified and interdisciplinary areas. Multifunctional products from natural or chemical origins, nanotechnology, biomaterials for health/pharmaceutical applications, waste valorisation, bioproducts and advanced environmental technologies, sol-gel technology for different applications, industrial data science, advanced simulation and computing, are representative fields of the current CIEPQPF's research scope. The CIEPQPF's team is varied and multidisciplinary, and a number of researchers from different departments of UC and former PhD students working in industry have gradually joint the team. A multifaceted portfolio of national and international projects offers the opportunity of collaborative work in the areas referred above. The Centre is located in a modern building and good facilities are provided in terms of laboratory space/equipment. Support services from a workshop and a modern computer lab that includes a cluster for high-performance computation are assets that we preserve and update constantly. The Plan of Action is based in continuity of projects initiated before and during the evaluation period, but also contemplates new priority areas. Therefore, Blue Economy was selected to be included in one of the thematic lines (TL3) mentioned above, aiming at foreseeing R&D of materials from marine sources. The application of green technologies to these natural resources, which after functionalization lead to tailor made materials adjusted to the application in view, is a good example of the type of research done under this topic. This line of research follows the regional policies defined in the strategy of Research and Innovation for an Intelligent Specialisation (RIS3), as well as the lines defined in the government programme Portugal 2030. The same applies to another selected line of research - the Forest and its Products. This domain takes into account the concept of Circular Economy, a vector that points at the valorisation of forest residues with an extensive utilisation for higher value added products. In this way, it is thought to contribute for the improvement of the living standard of the population in the central region of Portugal for whom the forest is an important source of income. The biomedical and pharmaceutical areas are also a priority in CIEPQPF's strategy, namely the development of biomaterials for different health-related applications. Again, the regional framework and the characteristics of the city of Coimbra as an important location for medical care were important factors for the definition of this priority area. Being the area of Chemical Processes our DNA as a Centre, the new paradigms of Industry 4.0 came into play. In fact, and due to the new information/transformation technologies, we want to address the new production processes from a different angle. The quest is not only to produce but to produce well, with an adequate amount of resources for a designed product that is manufactured in a controlled and optimised way. For the Centre's priority activities to blossom we want to attract competent human resources, selected from graduated students and highly qualified researchers. It is foreseen an excellence forum at national and international levels, where projects in cooperation with national and international industry/institutions can be carried out in an innovative environment. International cooperation established under European Programs and protocol celebration with South American countries have also been a priority of the Centre. Although, having celebrating several cooperation agreements with countries like Argentina and Brazil, we still want to facilitate the mobility of students and researchers to deepen the collaborative scientific work between countries. In fact, the success of this action is clearly evidenced by the profile of the Centre's team, which includes a significant number of foreigner PhD students supported by native grants. This policy is articulated with the Doctoral programmes in which the Centre participates. It can be stated that the human resources of the Centre are becoming increasingly cosmopolitan. Another line of action established for the promotion of the visibility of CIEPQPF is to encourage researchers to publish their work in high quality journals in open access mode. It will be allocated a percentage of the budget for this purpose. We have increased the number of projects in cooperation with national and international industry, and good opportunities for applied research are offered to new collaborators. For this purpose, the collaboration with Instituto Pedro Nunes (IPN), an interface lab and company incubator, has proceeded in a very natural way due to the establishment of spin-offs generated by successful projects that evolved to the commercial/industrial stage. Worth noting is the steady increase in the number of patents at different stages of publication that occurred during the period of 2013/2017. This culture of applying for patent registration is now imbedded in the researchers involved in industrial projects. Furthermore, some analytical characterisation techniques that we cannot offer in our premises are commissioned to IPN, installed in several buildings in the neighbourhood of CIEPQPF.

Institutions

Main Institutions

  • Universidade de Coimbra Centro de Investigação em Engenharia dos Processos Químicos e dos Produtos da Floresta (UC CERES)
  • Universidade de Coimbra (UC)

Funding 1.059.375,00 €

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) - Portugal

1.059.375,00 €