It is a fundamental element in the center’s international projection strategy. Thanks to membership in this network, 11 European projects have been achieved with funding of €1.7 million
The Marine Research Centre of the University of Vigo (CIM), through the Toralla Marine Science Station (Ecimat), has been part of the European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC) since 2018, a network of pan-European research infrastructures that aims to make available to the international scientific community and blue economy entities access to the biological resources and marine ecosystems of Europe. With the support of the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, the Vigo centre has just renewed its commitment to this infrastructure for five years, which will allow it to continue strengthening its internationalisation strategy.
Formar parte desta rede supón mellorar as oportunidades de colaboración nacional e internacional do CIM, impulsando o labor investigador na área de ciencias mariñas mediante a colaboración con especialistas internacionais. Concretamente, a participación no EMBRC permitiu ao centro vigués implicarse en 11 proxectos europeos, que lle reportaron 1,7 millóns de euros en financiamento competitivo, e tamén supuxo a oportunidade de establecer colaboracións de investigación internacionais, así como a mellora das instalacións e prestación de servizos da Ecimat. A isto engádese a recepción duns 50 investigadores e investigadoras visitantes de países como Italia, Reino Unido, Ucraína e Portugal, entre outros.
“The balance is very positive, facilitating the achievement of projects and interaction with numerous researchers from different countries, in addition to also highlighting that it is the only ERIC (European Research Infrastructure Consortium) in which the University of Vigo participates”, explains the director of the 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 the 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 leading European provider of biological resources, access to marine ecosystems, data, time series and associated services for marine research. EMBRC was included in the ESFRI European Roadmap for Research Infrastructures in 2008. Three years later, the project promoters launched their first project and in 2014 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to start the process of legal formalisation of the infrastructure. In 2017, it became part of the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) as it is considered a reference infrastructure, reflecting its fundamental and unique role in European R&D&I in the marine environment. Since its beginnings, Spain has played a fundamental role in the organization and establishment of the operation of EMBRC, with the Spanish node officially being constituted in 2017, which is currently formed by 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 the search for 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 their disposal the necessary resources for their research work. It currently provides access to services and technological platforms in 70 marine stations and institutes distributed in nine European countries in support of solid, cost-effective and efficient research.
The research activity of the CIM is supported by the Xunta de Galicia and the European Union through their co-financing under the Galicia ERDF Operational Programme 2014–2020.
Source: DUVI
