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Activity Funded

Mountain Research Center

Centro de Investigação de Montanha

Reference
UIDP/00690/2020
Project Start Date
2020-01-01
Project End Date
2024-12-31
Principal Investigator
Scientific Area
Agricultural sciences
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 CIMO is a R&D unit in “Mediterranean studies” based in the Polytechnic Institute of Bragança (IPB), focused in Mediterranean mountain research, combining natural, social and engineering sciences to promote sustainable development based on endogenous resources and creation of value chains, turning Mediterranean mountains specificities into central elements of science, increasing the regional impact of R&I. The Centre is organized in 2 research groups: “Socio-Ecological Systems”, dealing with managed ecological systems (agriculture, forests, pastureland) from a coupled socioeconomic and ecological perspective and comprising the Topics “Socio-Ecological Resilience” and “Sustainable Agriculture and Innovative Agro-food Chains”, and “Sustainable Processes and Products”, dealing with the development of innovative processes and products seeking functionality, performance, and sustainability, comprising the Topics “Processes and Products Engineering” and “Natural and Biobased Ingredients”. CIMO is supported by a participative governance structure where researchers are actively involved in the decision-making processes of the Centre. CIMO is comprised of 132 researchers, 77 integrated PhD members, 40 integrated non-PhD members, and 15 collaborators, based in the Polytechnic Institutes of Bragança and Viana do Castelo (IPVC). With distinguished publishing track records, CIMO researchers are also leaders in knowledge and know-how sharing, stimulating business opportunities and socio-economic development. They are responsible for successful national and international projects, networks, scientific organizations and editorial projects. CIMO research relies on high quality facilities including CIMO own labs, Brigantia EcoPark pilot scale labs, and labs and experimental farms at IPB and IPVC, to be complemented with a mountain observatory and an experimental watershed. Over the next 5 years, CIMO will implement a balanced and integrated strategic plan i) extending its research scope (from nature to products); ii) expanding its geographic area of influence; iii) implementing collaborative research with the industry, associations and entrepreneurs, ensuring knowledge, technology and innovation transfer, iv) upgrading research capabilities, increasing funding and recruitment of leading researchers; and v) increasing training, grants and contracts for young researchers, PhD students and PhDs. With this strategy and plan, team, structure, and governance, CIMO will be a leading mountain research centre in Portugal and within the Mediterranean region, in particular in fields such as efficiency, resilience, ecosystem services, mountain products, sustainable engineering tools, biobased ingredients, and innovative products. CIMO is socially committed at enhancing opportunities and income for and in mountain areas, by turning regional challenges into opportunities and extending their socioeconomic impact to national and international levels. 10.3 Summary in English for evaluation CIMO is a renewed R&D unit in the thematic area of “Mediterranean studies”, combining the competences of the former CIMO unit (e.g. natural sciences, agriculture and forestry) with new strategic scientific fields such as engineering and social sciences. It joins a highly skilled and motivated team, in a functional structure with participative governance, coherent strategy and budget. CIMO aims to be the leading mountain research centre in Portugal and within the Mediterranean region, in fields such as efficiency,resilience, ecosystem services, mountain products, sustainable engineering tools, biobased ingredients, and innovative products. CIMO uses holistic and interdisciplinary research approaches, integrating natural, social and engineering sciences to promote sustainable development based on endogenous resources and creation of value chains, turning Mediterranean mountains specificities into central elements of science, thus increasing the regional impact of R&I activities. CIMO's mission addresses regional challenges as driving forces for scientific and technological development transforming them into global opportunities to increase socio-economic resilience and to contribute to the UN SDGs in Mediterranean mountain systems. The aims, goals and objectives of CIMO will be achieved through a balanced and integrated strategic plan addressing: i) the extension of the research scope towards chemical engineering and other fields, by the integration of the IPB LSRE-LCM pole and IPB researchers previously in other centres; ii) the expansion of the geographic area of influence taking advantage of the mountain networks participated by CIMO, as leaders or in other active roles, such as the Mountain Partnership (UN), Euromontana, LuMont, Iberian Mountain Research Network, RéTMo, or the Portuguese Mountain Research Network, as well as the integration in consortia of international projects and funded networks; iii) the implementation of collaborative research with the industry, associations and entrepreneurs, ensuring knowledge, technology and innovation transfer, promoting open access policies and practice, and data curation, based on the pioneer practices established under the collaborative laboratory (CoLAB) MORE “Mountains of Research” and the mobilizing project “Valor Natural®”; iv) the upgrading of research capabilities through modernization of facilities, increasing of funding from projects and recruitment of leading researchers; and v) the increasing training of young researchers by involvement in ongoing research, young researchers and PhD grants, contracts for PhDs and promotion of scientific and technological culture. In consonance with its new scope and ambition, CIMO organization is based on 2 research groups. The “Socio-Ecological Systems” Group deals with managed ecological systems (e.g. agriculture, forests, pastureland) from a coupled socioeconomic and ecological perspective addressing ecological and human components as interdisciplinary research goals. It comprises the Topics “Socio-Ecological Resilience” and “Sustainable Agriculture and Innovative Agro-food Chains”. The “Sustainable processes and products” Group deals with the development of innovative processes and products seeking functionality, performance, and economic, environmental and social sustainability. It comprises “Processes and Products Engineering” and “Natural and Biobased Ingredients” as Topics. This structure spans full value chains, from sustainable raw materials to innovative processes and products. These groups are the support of the participative governance of CIMO including Director, Directive board, Scientific Council, Permanent Board of the Scientific Council, and Group Scientific Councils. Principal Investigators and Topic Coordinators, elected by the respective Group Scientific Council, participate in the decision-making of the Centre as members of the Permanent Board of the Scientific Council. CIMO’s strategy is supported by a balanced, consolidated, diverse, and skilled team. They have top distinguished publishing international track records (e.g. 2 researchers in Clarivate Analytics top 1% most-cited authors) with a strong impact in the community (farmers, foresters and industry), where they are leaders in knowledge and know-how sharing, stimulating business opportunities and socio-economic development. CIMO researchers significantly contribute to the development of innovative products, processes and software packages, overcoming technological and knowledge gaps and constraints. They have a notable ability to capture research funding being responsible for successful national and international projects. Their involvement in national and international networks, scientific organizations and editorial projects (scientific books and journals) reveal not just their relevance but also their commitment to the progress of science and sustainable development in the world. They direct young students, and disseminate science and technology to the general public. Overall, CIMO includes 132 researchers: 77 integrated PhD members, 40 integrated non-PhD members, and 15 collaborators. As part of an ambitious recruiting plan, CIMO proposes to hire 18 new researchers holding a PhD degree, supported by IPB and FCT, besides the 10 PhD grants multiyear plan. CIMO research relies on a number of high quality facilities that include LABinCIMO; former LSRE-LCM/IPB labs; ESA/IPB labs, herbarium and experimental farms; ESA/IPVC (CIMO pole) labs and experimental farm; and the Brigantia EcoPark pilot scale labs; to be complemented with a mountain observatory and an experimental watershed. In this context, CIMO is socially committed at enhancing opportunities and income for and in mountain areas, by turning regional challenges into opportunities and extending their socio and economic impact to national and international levels. Our motto is therefore “From nature to products towards sustainability”.

Institutions

Main Institutions

  • Instituto Politécnico de Bragança Centro de Investigação de Montanha (IPB CIMO)
  • Universidade Politécnica Bragança (UPB)

Other Institutions

  • Universidade Politécnica de Viana do Castelo (IPVC)

Funding 637.500,00 €

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

637.500,00 €