Research Centres

The research activities of the School of Sciences are organized in Research Centres with their own governance bodies, under the general coordination of the School's Scientific Council.

These Centres are funded by the National Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) and some of them are poles of research centres with branches in other national institutions.

Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology

The Centre of Molecular and Environmental Biology (CBMA) is a Research Unit from the School of Sciences from Minho University (UMinho). The mission of CBMA is to promote high quality Research and Advanced Education & Training in Biological Sciences, for the benefit of the societal issues of Biosustainability while serving the community via extension activities that support the development of Science and Technology at the regional, national and international levels.

CBMA vision is to tackle the societal challenges of the 21st century regarding Pressure on Natural Resources and Global Climate Change, while addressing questions that affect Human Health and Wellbeing. By addressing the complexity of biological systems at distinct levels of organization, from molecules to biosphere, and benefiting from the expertise of a cross-disciplinary team, CBMA R&D activities converge towards Integrative Biology.Thus, Research Groups organization reflects their scientific expertise and approaches towards different perspectives on biodiversity: i) Research Group SUSTAINING LIFE: Biodiversity and Functional Ecology; ii) Research Group BASICS OF LIFE: Cellular Responses to Environmental Stress; iii) Research Group INNOVATION FOR LIFE: Functional Genomics and Nanobiotechnology for Sustainable Living.
Further information http://cbma.bio.uminho.pt/

Centre of Earth Sciences

The Centre of Earth Sciences (CES) is a sub-unit of research at the Sciences School of the University of Minho. The CES is the pole at this university of the Institute of Earth Sciences (IES), a research unit created in 2014 with other poles at the universities of Évora and Porto and recognized by the Foundation for Science and Technology with the score of "Very Good". The main CES objectives are: i) To contribute to the development of scientific research and to the national science policy in the domain of Earth Sciences; ii) To carry out scientific research programmes and projects; iii) To develop specialised training activities and post-graduation education; iv) To promote science outreach among students and general public. CES members develop activity, primarily in the areas of environmental monitoring, dynamics of lithosphere and geoconservation

Further information http://www.icterra.pt/

Centre of Physics

The mission of the Centre of Physics is to develop cutting edge research both in fundamental and applied areas, and in particular in interdisciplinary fields in interaction with Materials Engineering, Biology, Chemistry, and Health Sciences. The Centre is committed with the training of post-graduate students and in outreach activities, as well as in application of its research output in industry. In general terms, the Centre develops its research in 4 areas of Physics and Materials Science:

1) Condensed Matter Physics (experimental, theoretical and computational)

2) Molecular Physics and Biophysics (experimental and computational)

3) Nanomaterials: Production, Physics, and Applications (experimental and computational)

4) Optics and science vision (experimental, computational)

At present, there are some 30 research laboratories In the Centre.

The Centre is a part of the Research Unit “Centre of Physics of Minho and Porto Universities” (CF-UM-UP), funded by FCT and evaluated as Very Good in 2019. Strategic research lines of CF-UM-UP are the following:

(i) Assessment and Enhancing Visual Performance;

(ii) Physics of Quantum Materials and Bionanostructures;

(iii) Functional and Smart Materials and Surfaces for Advanced Applications;

(iv) Quantum Physics and Fields in High Energy and Condensed Matter Theory.

Further information http://www.cf-um-up.pt/

Centre of Mathematics

The Center of Mathematics (CMAT) is a research unit of the School of Sciences of the University of Minho (UM), with a pole at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD). CMAT aims to develop and promote its research activity covering a large range of fundamental and applied mathematical areas, actively collaborating with other research units, national or international, and also trying to answer to new challenges with an impact on society, contributing to social and regional development.

The team is composed of 64 researchers, among them 50 are integrated members, counting also with 13 PhD students and 11 collaborator researchers from other institutions. This team is actively involved in scientific activities, as well as in graduate and postgraduate education in cooperation with the Department of Mathematics of UM and with the Department of Mathematics of UTAD.

The team is composed of 64 researchers, among them 50 are integrated members, and also includes 13 PhD students and 11 collaborator researchers from other institutions.

Further information http://www.cmat.uminho.pt/

Centre of Chemistry

e Centre of Chemistry of the University of Minho (CQ-UM) is a research unit committed to creating knowledge in the forefront of basic and applied chemistry with value to society and oriented to participation in R&D projects in collaboration with external research centers and industry, in boundary areas of chemistry with biology, medicine, physics, materials science and nanotechnology. The 31 integrated researchers and around 30 collaborators (including PhD students), are organized into three lines of research: Applied Biomolecular Chemistry (ABC, 9 researchers), Heterocycles for Societal Challenges (HSC, 13 researchers) and Sustainable Chemistry: New Methods and Materials (SC, 12 researchers). ABC researchers are actively involved in a variety of projects that are linked by the use of biomolecules as targets or as tools for novel applications in drug-delivery systems, bioimaging, antimicrobial/antiproliferative agents and agrochemicals. HSC researchers have expertise in synthetic organic chemistry, especially N- and S-based heterocycles and carbohydrate mimics, tailored to the development of new drugs (viral and bacterial infections, cancer, diabetes or Alzheimer) or materials (biomedical and optoelectronic applications). SC research is focused in the development and application of materials for electrochemical cells, optical/electronic devices, films/coatings, zeolites, rehabilitation of contaminated water, biomass valorization and new analytical methods.

Further information http://www.cq.uminho.pt/

LIP-Minho

LIP is devoted to research in experimental particle physics and associated technologies, enhancing the direct access of the Portuguese scientific community to international infrastructures and collaborations. At the centre of LIP’s mission are also scientific computing, advanced scientific and technical training and the engagement of society with science. Opportunities of knowledge and technology transfer to society are also explored, in domains such as health, space exploration and information technologies.

LIP is present in Lisboa, Coimbra and Braga, in close collaboration with the local Universities. The geographically-distributed nature of LIP reflects the need to articulate strategies at National level, in a domain in which research is often conducted in the framework of large international collaborations and/or relying on international scientific infrastructures.

LIP-Minho was created in 2010, with the signature of a collaboration agreement with the University of Minho. Today, it has about 30 members, including researches, students and technicians. LIP’s activities in Minho are organized in four groups: particle physics with accelerators, with the participation in the ATLAS experiment and phenomenology studies related to precision measurements of the top quark and Higgs boson, as well as to searches for new physics; astroparticle physics, with the participation in the Pierre Auger Observatory; advanced computing; outreach.

Further information http://minho.lip.pt/