Nuno Cerca took over as director of the CEB and will have Lígia Rodrigues, Lucília Domingues and Ana Júlia Cavaleiro as deputy directors.
Reinforcing the excellence trajectory of the Centre of Biological Engineering of the University of Minho, one of the largest and most dynamic research units of the country, is one of the main objectives of the new direction of CEB, which took place on September 29th, in the meeting room of the Department of Biological Engineering (DEB). Assuming a three-year mandate, this team also proposes to rethink the organisation of the Centre and also to reinforce the excellence of scientific publications.
The new direction of the CEB is headed by Nuno Cerca, who already has a consolidated career both in science management functions, having been deputy director of the CEB for the last four years, and as a scientist, being Principal Investigator since 2013. Lígia Rodrigues and Lucília Domingues, professors and researchers, deputy directors of CEB in the last two years, and Ana Júlia Cavaleiro, researcher, are the remaining members of the team.
Consolidating the position of the Centre of Biological Engineering as an entity of Research Excellence is, as already mentioned, one of the central points that the new direction of the CEB has for the next three years. Improving working conditions and recruitment, increasing the excellence of scientific publications, establishing merit awards and support for the best publications, and fostering interaction with the economic fabric and society are the points highlighted in the programme that support this purpose.
Rethinking the organisation of the CEB is another point in the programme of the new board, which aims to promote greater inclusion of doctorate holders in the day-to-day running of the Centre. The team intends to create ad hoc working groups for specific issues (communication, projects, infrastructures, current management, ethics, human resources, among others) that will be coordinated by one of the members of the Board, but will have the involvement of other elements of the Centre.
About CEB
Working in the areas of biotechnology and bioengineering for the environmental, health, industrial and food sectors, the CEB – Centre of Biological Engineering is one of the most dynamic research centres in the country and is integrated in the School of Engineering of the University of Minho.
This centre brings together around 400 researchers of 20 nationalities, who carry out a high level of scientific activity, reflected in the number of publications, 375 in the last year, in renowned international journals, as well as in the high number of patents obtained, 28.
Since 2002, the CEB has obtained the classification Excellent in the periodic evaluations carried out by FCT, one of the main science funding entities of the country. It receives, annually, an average of 3 million euros in funding.
Collaboration in projects with national and international companies is also an aspect to be highlighted, with more than 50% of the publications having international co-authorship.
