Saltar para o conteúdo principal

FCCNFCT Digital Services

Access the national information on scientific and technological funding in Portugal

Activity Funded

INSTITUTE OF EARTH SCIENCES

INSTITUTO DE CIÊNCIAS DA TERRA

Reference
UIDB/04683/2020
Project Start Date
2020-01-01
Project End Date
2024-12-31
Principal Investigator
Scientific Area
Exact sciences
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 Institute of Earth Sciences (ICT) is a reference multidisciplinary unit that brings together a vast pool of scientific competences, allowing strategic R&D under the scope of the United Nations Sustainability Goals, and the national agenda. ICT implements a plan of activities able to assure international affirmation and contribution for advancement of knowledge in key domains of Earth sciences: A – Scientific work Atmosphere, water, and climate: The Earth’s atmosphere and inland waters and the interaction between these systems and climate, with particular concern regarding water quality, climate change and health impacts continue to be a focus in the coming years. Environmental monitoring and remediation for sustainability: A focal area whose cross-cutting nature is funded on many of the UN-SDG bringing together collaborations from Europe and other continents for research. Energy: Study of the solar resource one of the focus. A 2nd focus is on Solar Energy Concentration; 3rd focus is on optimization of heat and fluid flow structures. A large number of R&D institutions and companies work with ICT for these objectives. Georesources and Geomaterials: research is developed within the strategy framed in the SDG, namely in LCT pegmatites and deposits of rare elements associated with granites to define their genesis, age, mode of occurrence. Geomaterials characterization: studies on coals, blackshales and fly ash as non-conventional deposits of critical metals. Dynamics of the Lithosphere: multidisciplinary geological and geophysical studies are oncourse in 4 main areas: (i) Meso-Cenozoic Portuguese continental crust and its oceanic extension;(ii) Deeply eroded old fold belts; (iii) research on seismic hazard. (iv) Polar research (permafrost geoelectricity) is on course. Geoheritage and Social Awareness: (i) Advancement in the methods to calculate geodiversity indexes and their mapping, and the contribution of geodiversity in the evaluation of ecosystem services (iii) Planning and production of resources to improve the education and outreach of geodiversity and geoheritage and support teaching geoethics. B – Partnerships, networking, and international cooperation ICT continues developing national and international projects with industry and institutions, with focus on the Mediterranean Region, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Antarctica. Increase of networking is on course or planned. ICT members continue serving in national and international bodies, and organizing national and international conferences and workshops. C – Advanced training and outreach The development of an Earth Sciences Doctoral network of 8 universities triggered by ICT is on course. ICT plans to attract merit, talented researchers and more PhD students. Meetings and Schools are planned. Actions aiming to increase social awareness and to motivate students, and promote critical thinking and science and technology literacy of citizens on Earth Sciences are in progress. 10.3 Summary in English for evaluation ICT is a reference multidisciplinary unit that brings together a vast pool of scientific competences, allowing strategic R&D under the scope of the United Nations Sustainability Goals, and with the national agenda. ICT implements a plan of activities able to assure international affirmation and contribution for advancement of knowledge in key domains of Earth sciences: Atmosphere, Water, and Climate; Environment; Energy; Georesources and Geomaterials; Dynamics of the Lithosphere; Geoheritage and Social Awareness, summarized as follows: A – Scientific work Atmosphere, water, and climate: The Earth’s atmosphere and inland waters and the interaction between these systems and climate, with particular concern regarding water quality, climate change and health impacts continue to be a focus in the coming years. Specifically, the main objectives deal with: Clouds, precipitation aerosols, gases and solar radiation; Air and water quality and health impacts; Potammology, Limnology and lake-atmosphere interactions; Numerical Weather Prediction and Climate models; Surface fluxes of moment, energy, water and CO2 and the Atmospheric Boundary Layer; Palynology and Health; Meteorology and Fire. Environmental monitoring and remediation for sustainability: A focal area whose cross-cutting nature is funded on many of the UN-SDG bringing together collaborations from European and emerging countries. Innovative R&D follows the strategic vectors: (i) Mining affected systems in a circular economy; (ii) nanoparticles/mineral-water-ecology interfaces (iii) Environmental hydrogeology and ecosystem services (emerging contaminants) (iv) Biogeochemistry of global changes archives; (v) Lakes, rivers, and estuaries in climate changes context: (vi) Soil conservation and remedial strategies for extreme environments; (vii) Methodological tools for monitoring of endangered systems. Energy: Study of the solar resourceone of the focus. A 2nd focus is on Solar Energy Concentration (SEC) that has a very important role to play in solar thermal power plants. We concentrate on specific R&D developments that range from more fundamental to more applied topics, with the goal of helping these technologies of SEC and of hot molten salt tanks (with ores) for heat storage to come to the market. A large number of R&D institutions and companies work with ICT for these objectives. A 3rd focus is on optimization of heat and fluid flow structures. Several projects from Alentejo2020 and Horizon2020 have already been approved and new ones are expected to be approved in the near future. Georesources and Geomaterials: research is being developed within the strategy framed in the SDG, namely in LCT pegmatites and deposits of rare elements associated with granites to define their genesis, age, mode of occurrence to improve better exploration programs, processing technologies and the evaluation of industrial wastes to promote recycling. Within the geomaterials characterization, studies on coals, blackshales and fly ash as non-conventional deposits of critical metals; coal waste materials affected by spontaneous combustion and organic matter in soils affected by wildfires; solid bitumen to identify fluid migration pathways, and thermal history of sedimentary basins; characterization of natural stones for geoarchaeological and architectural and civil engineering purposes; soils, sediments and pollens for forensic applications. Dynamics of the Lithosphere: multidisciplinary geological and geophysical studies are on course. Structural mapping combined with advanced microscope digital analysis and geochemistry, seismic, geophysics and high-precision down hole temperature measurements methods are used to infer the internal structure of the oceanic and continental lithosphere in 3 main areas: (i) Meso-Cenozoic Portuguese continental crust and its oceanic extension; (ii) Deeply eroded old fold belts giving direct access to deeper lithospheric levels; (iii) research on seismic hazard combining seismic source studies and ground motion modelling with a 3D velocity model. (v) Polar research (permafrost geoleectrcity; trace gases) is on course. Geoheritage and Social Awareness: Current and next period works: (i) Advancement in the methods to calculate geodiversity indexes and their mapping, as a contribution to land-use management; (ii) Development of methods of assessing the contribution of geodiversity in the evaluation of ecosystem services; (iii) Planning and production of resources using augmented reality to improve the education and outreach of geodiversity and geoheritage; (iv) Development of a syllabus to support teaching geoethics in higher education in European countries, as an output of the EU GOAL project (v) Testing of the strategies included in the WISE handbook (under the scope of the European WISE project) in the five participant countries. B – Partnerships, networking, and international cooperation ICT will continue developing national and international projects with industry and institutions, with focus on the Mediterranean Region, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Antarctica. New patents and prototypes are expected for 2018-22. Increase of networking both for data collection and use, for project development, is on course or planned. ICT members continue serving in national and international bodies, and organizing national and international conferences and workshops. C – Advanced training and outreach The development of an Earth Sciences Doctoral network of 8 universities triggered by ICT is on course. ICT plans to attract merit, talented researchers and more PhD students (grants and contracts are planned for 2018-22). Meetings to present and discuss research occur frequently. Schools are planned. Actions aiming to increase social awareness and to motivate students, and promote critical thinking and science and technology literacy of citizens on climate and environmental issues, Earth resources and geoheritage are also in progress.

Institutions

Main Institutions

  • Instituto de Ciências da Terra (ICT)
  • Universidade de Évora (Uévora)

Other Institutions

  • Universidade do Minho (UMinho)
  • Universidade do Porto Faculdade de Ciências (FCUP)

Funding 1.331.247,50 €

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

1.331.247,50 €