CIBIO secures €4.5 million in European funding through three Horizon Europe Twinning projects

The Centre for Research in Biodiversity and Genetic Resources of the University of Porto (CIBIO-BIOPOLIS) has secured €4.5 million in European funding through the approval of three new projects under the Twinning initiative of Horizon Europe, the European Union's framework programme for research and innovation.

The three projects will strengthen the centre's scientific capacity and international collaborations, creating new opportunities for researcher training, knowledge exchange and the development of advanced research infrastructures in strategic areas.

The FUNC-GEN – Twinning Capacity in Functional Genomics for Evolution and Conservation project will advance research in functional genomics applied to evolution and conservation, using the European rabbit as a model to investigate how organisms adapt to different environments. Coordinated by researchers at CIBIO-BIOPOLIS, the project brings together the universities of Uppsala (Sweden) and Heidelberg (Germany) and will develop expertise in areas including multi-omics data integration, single-cell approaches, epigenomics and artificial intelligence. The project will also establish a sustainable capacity-building model based on training researchers to become trainers.

In the field of Heritage Science, the HERITOMICS – Twinning for Heritage Science Capacity at BIOPOLIS project will investigate the biological processes affecting stone materials and built heritage. Using molecular and omics-based approaches, the project will explore their role in biodeterioration and bioprotection. In collaboration with the University of Bologna (Italy) and the University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern (Germany), the initiative will strengthen CIBIO-BIOPOLIS's research in Applied Biology to Cultural Heritage, while developing new analytical protocols, training researchers and creating opportunities for future international collaborations and specialised services.

The TIME-DNA – Temporal Integration of Molecular Ecology through DNA project will combine the study of ancient DNA preserved in sediments with contemporary environmental DNA to investigate how ecosystems have responded to climate change and human activities over time. In partnership with the Globe Institute at the University of Copenhagen and ETH Zürich, the project will develop a pilot study in the volcanic lakes of the Azores and contribute to the operationalisation of Portugal’s first Ancient and Environmental DNA laboratory at CIBIO-BIOPOLIS. This initiative will establish a permanent capacity to study past biodiversity and connect it with the monitoring of contemporary ecosystems.

The three projects, typically running for three years, are part of the Twinning initiative within Horizon Europe's Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation framework. Unlike conventional research projects, Twinning focuses on institutional capacity building and knowledge transfer through researcher mobility, training, mentoring, scientific networking and the development of long-term international partnerships. 

The new funding represents an important step in CIBIO-BIOPOLIS's ongoing capacity-building and internationalisation strategy, building on the work developed through the TEAMING project launched in 2021.

"Attracting this amount of European funding to BIOPOLIS is an extraordinary achievement by CIBIO researchers and will greatly strengthen the capacity-building work that has been underway through the TEAMING project since 2021. The fact that all three projects focus on the most advanced multi-omics technologies will also place the new ancient DNA, environmental DNA and museomics laboratories at the forefront of global research,” says Nuno Ferrand, Director and researcher at CIBIO-BIOPOLIS.