It has long been known that the life of cells is worth a microfilm, but it was only at the end of 2025 that the mentors of the RODIN project received an ERC grant that will allow them to apply the concept literally. Nuno Araújo was responsible for leading CIÊNCIAS' participation in this project, which will be developed in partnership with the University of Aveiro and Imperial College London. The work plan focuses on introducing cell cultures onto microfilms made of flexible biomaterials. In addition to observing the different interactions, the researchers aim to determine the mechanisms that cells develop as they shape the biomaterials in which they live. All research is based on the regeneration of human tissues. In turn, the modelling capacity of cells led to the choice of the project name, which uses the surname of the famous sculptor Auguste Rodin. At the time of the announcement, the project set a record for funding awarded to projects involving national entities.

Professor: Nuno Araújo

Synergy Grant (ERC Synergy Grant): €10 million

Project Title: ‘Cell-mediated Sculptable Living Platforms’

Period: 2025 to 2031

What happens in Antarctica does not stay in Antarctica. And this is also one of the starting points that led Catarina Frazão Santos to apply for an ERC grant with an unprecedented goal: the development of the first large-scale marine spatial planning process that could be applied in an international area, which does not depend on national jurisdictions. With Antarctica and climate change as a backdrop, PLAnT aims to develop more sustainable and equitable marine exploitation processes, as well as new paradigms for governance and exploitation of the seas, and the social relations that are established there.

Visiting Assistant Professor: Catarina Frazão Santos

Starting Grant: €1.5 million

Project Title: “Planning for Sustainable Ocean Use in Antarctica in a Context of Global Environmental Change (PLAnT)”

Period: 2024 to 2029

In a perfect world, all problems could be solved by the first available algorithm. However, problems are not all the same, and neither are algorithms. The result: even with the help of Artificial Intelligence, the world is not perfect. That is why the CIÊNCIAS team led by Bruno Loff set to work to identify ‘families’ of algorithms that require fewer resources to produce faster responses when solving complex problems. In addition to new methodologies for algorithm development, the project promises to be useful in the areas of cryptography, solving patterns that appear random, and learning theories.

Associate Professor: Bruno Loff

Starting Grant (ERC Starting Grant): ~€1.5 million

Project Title: “HoFGA – The Hardness of Finding Good Algorithms”

Period: 2023 to 2028

The Brassica rapa family of vegetables usually produces turnips and some species of cabbage, but also food for herbivorous mites such as Tetranychus urticae. Tetranychus urticae may not be as beneficial to humans as the plants that feed them, but there is no guarantee that they will not become food for predators such as Amblyseius swirskii. With Dynamictrio, the CIÊNCIAS team led by Inês Fragata aims to study the relationships between these three species by applying models that predict how the environment influences the genetic codes and characteristics of different organisms. In addition to productivity and environmental stress, the project takes into account the interdependencies of these three species and the stability of the ecosystem.

Assistant Professor: Inês Fragata

Starting Grant (ERC Starting Grant): ~€2 million

Project Title: “Dynamictrio – Feedback between population dynamics and evolution of interactions in a tri-trophic system”

Period: 2022 to 2027

Species have needs and develop capabilities to meet those needs – but ultimately, they can change the ecosystem as they evolve. By observing 100,000 coral colonies and producing three-dimensional maps, the CIÊNCIAS team led by Maria Dornelas aims to quantify the effects of environmental change on coral distribution and pave the way for theories capable of predicting the functions that a coral species may develop in response to changes in its habitat. According to the researchers, the new theories could help predict how environmental changes affect the way corals deal with their needs and evolve in the various functions they perform to survive.

Coordinator: Maria Dornelas

Consolidation Grant (ERC Advanced Grant): ~€2 million

Project Title: “coralINT: Integrated Niche Theory: linking environmental, compositional and functional change on coral reefs”

Period: 2022 to 2027

The nautical charts used between the 15th and 17th centuries contain data on routes, distances, currents, winds, and different species of plants and animals – as well as all the information that helped the team led by Henrique Leitão at CIÊNCIAS to uncover how transoceanic voyages contributed to the concept of the world as a global entity. In addition to collecting data from Iberian ship routes and logbooks, the ERC-funded project draws on different disciplines to identify the earliest concepts about this planet, which brings together different cultures, distances, and continents, but is a global space that has the oceans as one of its routes to globalisation.

Principal Investigator: Henrique Leitão

ERC Advanced Grant: ~€2 million

Project Title: “Making the Earth Global: Early Modern Nautical Routers and the Construction of a Global Concept of the Earth”

Period: 2019 to 2024

Joaquim Alves Gaspar used modern techniques of cartometric analysis, numerical modelling and multispectral analysis, but the field of study of the ERC grant he received in 2017 refers to the maps that Portuguese sailors used more than 500 years ago. The geometric analysis of these maps led to another discovery: after a career as a naval officer, Alves Gaspar ended up revealing, as a researcher at CIÊNCIAS, the methods of production and also the routines of use of maps and cartographic charts between the medieval period and the Age of Discovery. And with this work, he uncovered new avenues of study on Portuguese maritime expansion.

Visiting Assistant Professor: Joaquim Alves Gaspar

Starting Grant (ERC Starting Grant): ~€1.2 million

Project Title: “The Medieval and Early Modern Nautical Chart: Birth, Evolution and Use”

Period: 2017 to 2023

Tetranychus urticae and Tetranychus ludeni are known for their voracious appetite for tomato plants, but they do not exactly get along well. Sara Magalhães, a researcher at the Department of Biology at CIÊNCIAS, is well acquainted with the methods used by these two species of spider mites to satisfy their appetite. Tetranychus urticae tends to increase the defences of tomato plants, while Tetranychus ludeni does precisely the opposite. Given this scenario, Sara Magalhães decided to use mutant tomato plants that are not affected by mites to determine how this new data affects the competition and evolution of these parasitic species.

Professor: Sara Magalhães

Consolidation Grant (ERC Consolidator Grant): ~ €2 million

Project Title: “COMPCON - Competition under niche construction”

Period: 2017 to 2023