Objectives
To accomplish its Vision and Mission, BIOPOLIS CoE will pursue the following strategic objectives grouped into three main axes:
I. Excellence towards innovation
i. Tap into Portugal’s potential in research and innovation, creating an independent, strong and sustainable CoE that delivers excellent scientific research and innovation with high societal impact over the long term.
ii. Build up human and logistic capacities for developing excellent research and innovation, train researchers and practitioners, and promote knowledge transfer and the exploitation of results, establishing a state-of-the-art collaborative research platform where the best facilities and equipment are available to researchers, spin-off and start-ups, and industrial partners.
iii. Tackle cutting-edge research problems at the frontiers of current knowledge, harnessing the powerful concepts and tools of the New Biology framework, and involving collaborations with top-level researchers and research institutions worldwide.
II. Empower economy and sustainability for a better society
iv. Develop solutions to societal challenges, addressing the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and promoting the sustainable use of biodiversity (including agrobiodiversity) and ecosystems to reduce poverty and enhance economic growth opportunities, with a strong focus on least developed countries, particularly Portuguese-speaking African countries.
v. Enhance the appreciation of science, biodiversity and ecosystems by society as a whole, raising awareness regarding the links between the knowledge-based management of social-ecological systems, sustainable socioeconomic development and human health and well-being.
vi. Promote specialised jobs, economic growth and investment at the national and regional levels, engaging with business corporations and other stakeholders, increasing capacities to develop problem-solving research, transferring knowledge to end users, and creating start-up companies.
III. Internationalization in research and training
vii. Raise the critical mass of highly skilled researchers and international visibility of the country and region in the fields of environment, biodiversity and agriculture at the national and regional levels, attracting the best talent worldwide, and contributing to reversing the problems associated with "brain drain”.
viii. Improve international experience, networking capacities and participation in cross-border science networks, connecting researchers and research institutions through strategic partnerships with internationally leading institutions worldwide, and with research institutions from least developed countries.
ix. Train a new generation of highly-skilled researchers and practitioners, offering internationally recognised doctoral and post-doctoral programmes, as well as advanced training and continuous development programmes for professionals at different stages of their career.