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Activity Funded

Chemistry Center - Vila Real

Centro de Química - Vila Real

Reference
UIDP/00616/2020
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 Programático

Abstract

10.2 Summary in English for general dissemination purposes CQVR performs research in fundamental and applied areas of Chemistry and aims to use the scientific knowledge for the welfare of society, to provide outstanding training programs to graduate students, to support the industrial sector and to develop outreach activities. It is constituted by 52 members organized in four research groups: materials chemistry, applied organic chemistry, environmental chemistry and food chemistry& biochemistry. In line with important world societal challenges such as food security, industrial innovation, green energy and clean water, the research at CQVR will address the following topics: - New functional materials (organic, inorganic or hybrid) with improved performance for application in optical and electronic devices, green transportation, energy-efficient technologies and advanced therapies; - Innovative environmental technologies to add value to agro-food by-products, to monitor environmental risks on soils and aquifers and to treat agro-industrial wastewaters for potential reuse; - New food formulations and innovative practices and technologies to improve food quality, health and monitoring of chemical and toxicological safety of food products. Even though the research fields addressed by the CQ-VR researchers have global importance and impact, some of them have special importance for the Northern Region being developed in collaboration with local companies. Our good track of successful collaborative projects with companies resulted in many patents and effective knowledge transfer licenses, particularly in the areas of food quality, wastewater treatment and eco-efficient waste management, and has allowed us to gain the confidence of many industries and to contribute to increase the international competitiveness of these companies, creating new jobs and contributing to the economic growth of Portugal. The CQ-VR supports several master courses and is involved in 3 PhD programs in consortium with other universities, being attractive for students from interface areas like biochemistry, oenology, food science, environmental science, genetics and bioengineering, which have being growing at UTAD and have interest in areas supported by the Unit. The CQ-VR intends to increase the multidisciplinary of the research by extending the Unit activities to complementary areas like biochemistry, bioengineering and physics, establishing new collaborations with researchers from UTAD and other institutions. It is CQ-VR priority to expand the existing international collaboration and develop new partnerships to increase the scientific recognition and internationalization of the Unit, with a particular attention to the promotion of the mobility of the research staff, the invitation of international experts to work in the Unit and the organization of more international scientific meetings in Vila Real, benefiting from the attractiveness of the Douro region. 10.3 Summary in English for evaluation The CQ-VR team is composed by 52 integrated members (including 21 PhD students) and 23 collaborators. It includes university (UTAD) and polytechnic academic staff (ISEL and IPV), post-doctoral research fellows, graduated researchers and undergraduated students. The large majority of the integrated members are also involved in teaching activities, supporting several Masters and 3 Doctoral programs, some of which in collaboration with foreign institutions. The Unit is organized in 4 research groups, Materials Chemistry, Applied Organic Chemistry, Environmental Chemistry, Food Chemistry& Biochemistry, each one formed by 7-8 PhD researchers. The main objectives of CQ-VR are: 1- Develop high quality and competitive research in fundamental and applied chemistry, aligned with important world societal challenges such as food security, industrial innovation, green energy and clean water. 2- Improve the research infrastructures renovating some outdated equipments and acquiring new cutting-edge equipments. 3- Increase the income of young researchers and provide high quality PhD programs in connection with the main areas of activity of UTAD. 4- Strengthen the technology transfer developed at CQ-VR, finding knowledge-based competitive solutions to respond to industrial problems and provide services to the scientific and industrial community and society. 5- Increase the research multidisciplinary by extending the Unit activities to complementary areas like biochemistry, genetics, bioengineering and physics, establishing new collaborations with researchers from UTAD and other institutions. 6- Increase the international collaborations of the team by promoting the organization of international conferences, enhancing the CQVR international visibility. Reinforce the participation in European networks strengthening the relations with international teams aiming at the submission of European and International projects proposals. The strategy for 2018-2022 is based on 4 pillars: competitive chemical research, knowledge transfer, advanced training and internationalization. Most of the research activity will be developed in emergent areas, with high potential for technology transfer being, in most cases, strategic for the region. It will involve: - New functional materials (organic, inorganic or hybrid) with improved performance for application in optical and electronic devices, green transportation, energy-efficient technologies and advanced therapies; - Innovative environmental technologies to add value to agro-food by-products, to monitor environmental risks on soils and aquifers and to treat agro-industrial wastewaters for potential reuse; - New food formulations and innovative practices and technologies to improve food quality, health and monitoring the chemical and toxicological safety of food products. Even though the research fields addressed by the CQVR researchers have a global importance and impact, some of them have a special importance in the economically depressed Northern Region being developed in collaboration with local companies. Our good track of successful collaborative projects with companies resulted in many patents and effective knowledge transfer licenses, particularly in the areas of food quality, wastewater treatment and eco-efficient waste management and has allowed us to have the confidence of many industries. It is our objective to extend these collaborations, increasing the industrial competitiveness which is the center of job creation, economic growth and general people welfare. The CQVR possesses some unique equipment in the region providing laboratory services and consultancy, mainly in the area of soils analysis and materials characterization, for companies and farmers associations, institutional clients and research groups. The Unit has many outdated equipment and some shortcomings in new cutting-edge equipment and considers essential to acquire an HPLC-MS and a Zetasizer. The advanced training of students in chemistry has always been difficult to CQVR, due to its geographical location in a low density populated region, the currently low attractiveness of exact sciences among young students, and due to the lack of a chemistry degree in UTAD. Recently the new international PhD programs in agro-food sciences (started in 2014) and Chemistry (started in 2016) in consortium with other universities as well as 3 research projects addressed to human resources, have contributed, decisively, to increase the number of PhD students from 2 in 2012 to 21 in 2017. However, to grow we have to surpass the restricted chemistry focus and attract students from more appealing interface areas like biochemistry, oenology, food science, environmental science, genetics, bioengineering, which have been strengthen at UTAD and have interest in areas supported by CQVR. We intend to promote more events, showcasing the research undertaken in the Unit; promote the participation of students in scientific conferences; increase international exchange protocols with prestigious research groups; promote advanced training workshops. In addition, we request 18 PhD scholarships in this plan. Since its foundation CQ-VR has benefit from scientific collaboration with other units, not only to overcome some equipment gaps, but mainly to share ideas, to widen our interests and to keep up-to-date with the novelties. The team will continue this path seeking for more ambitious collaborative transnational programs within the focus of the EU strategic priorities (2 new transnational Interreg projects were won in 2017). The organization of international symposia, workshops and conferences in UTAD and the invitation of visiting professorships, will be encouraged, as a way of strengthening the international relations with European groups, taking advantage of the added value of the international attractiveness of the Douro region.

Institutions

Main Institutions

  • Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro Centro de Química Vila Real (CQVR)
  • Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD)

Funding 343.750,00 €

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

343.750,00 €