It is a fundamental element in the center’s international projection strategy. Thanks to belonging to this network, 11 European projects with funding of €1.7 million have been achieved
The Marine Research Center of the University of Vigo (CIM), through the Marine Sciences Station of Toralla (Ecimat), has been part of the European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC) since 2018, a pan-European research infrastructure network whose objective is to make available to the international scientific community and entities in the blue economy access to biological resources and marine ecosystems of Europe. With the support of the Ministry of Science, Innovation, and Universities, the Vigo center has just renewed its commitment to this infrastructure for five years, which will allow it to continue strengthening its internationalization strategy.
Being part of this network means improving the national and international collaboration opportunities of CIM, boosting research work in the field of marine sciences through collaboration with international specialists. Specifically, participation in EMBRC has allowed the Vigo center to be involved in 11 European projects, which brought in €1.7 million in competitive funding, and also meant the opportunity to establish international research collaborations, as well as improving the facilities and services of Ecimat. In addition to this, around 50 visiting researchers from countries such as Italy, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Portugal, among others, have been hosted.
“The balance is very positive, facilitating the achievement of projects and interaction with numerous researchers from different countries, also highlighting that it is the only ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) in which the University of Vigo participates”, explains the director of CIM, Daniel Rey. “In this new stage, we want our researchers to continue their participation in the network to expand collaboration and participation in international projects, promoting CIM as a European reference in marine research”, he adds.
A European network to promote blue biotechnologies
The European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC-ERIC) is a pan-European research infrastructure that aims to be the main European provider of biological resources, access to marine ecosystems, data, time series, and associated services for research in the marine environment. EMBRC was included in the European Roadmap of Research Infrastructures of ESFRI in 2008. Three years later, the project promoters launched their first project, and in 2014, a memorandum of understanding was signed to initiate the legal formalization process of the infrastructure. In 2017, it became part of the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) by being considered a reference infrastructure, reflecting its fundamental and unique role in European R&D+i in the marine environment. Since its inception, Spain has played a fundamental role in the organization and establishment of EMBRC, officially constituting the Spanish node in 2017, which currently consists of Ecimat, the Plentzia Marine Station of the University of the Basque Country, and the Spanish Algae Bank of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.
The objective of EMBRC-ERIC is to promote the development of so-called blue biotechnologies, promoting both basic and applied research dedicated to finding sustainable solutions in the food, health, and environmental sectors, providing access to information and resources from all the seas of Europe, so that any scientist or company has at its disposal the necessary resources for its research work. Currently, it provides access to services and technological platforms at 70 marine stations and institutes distributed in nine European countries in support of solid, profitable, and efficient research.
Source: DUVI