Within the framework of the National Plan for Scientific, Technical, and Innovation Research 2021-2023
Cifras récord na captación de fondos nacionais para a investigación. A convocatoria das axudas Proxectos de Xeración de Coñecemento convocadas no marco do Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica, Técnica e de Innovación 2021-2023 deixa excelentes resultados para o Centro de Investigación Mariña da Universidade de Vigo (CIM), que conseguiu financiamento para seis proxectos, rozando case o millón de euros.
Record-breaking figures in the national fundraising for research. The call for Projects for Generation of Knowledge projects within the framework of the National Plan for Scientific, Technical, and Innovation Research 2021-2023 has yielded excellent results for the Marine Research Center of the University of Vigo (CIM), which has secured funding for six projects, nearing the one million euros.
The project with the highest grant (282,500 euros) is DEVELIFE, led by researchers from the Animal Ecology group, Alberto Velando, and Sin Yeon Kim from CIM. It is part of the multiple efforts that the scientific community is undertaking to understand how the environmental changes affecting society impact the persistence of natural populations. “We will study how developmental conditions affect the flexibility and persistence of traits throughout life, studying different natural populations of the stickleback fish and the yellow-legged gull, two unique vertebrates that can act as sentinels of responses to these environmental changes”, explains Velando. Over the four years of the project, they will study the mechanisms underlying the evolution of phenotypic programming during development, such as changes in DNA methylation, gene expression, and glucocorticoid levels, which condition survival and reproduction in the adult stage.
In addition to this study, five other projects led by researchers affiliated with CIM have received funding. Professor José Luis Soengas, from the Fish Physiology group, , is coordinating the PHYStoFISH project, securing a grant of 256,000 euros.Juan Galindo, of the Population Genetics and Cytogenetics group, has obtained 207,500 €. Guillermo Velo, from the Animal Ecology group, has been awarded 170,000 euros for his research initative. Ricardo Beiras, from Ecology and Zoology, has secured 163,750 €. Lastly Carlos Bendicho, from the Environmental Analytical Chemistry and Spectroscopy group, has obtained funding totaling 131,000 euros for his research endeavor.
In this funding cycle, the CIM has secured an impressive share of nearly 20% of the research project funds raised by the University of Vigo. The university itself has successfully garnered 5.5 million euros to drive forward 40 initiatives. “This is the highest amount ever achieved by the institution in the National Plan call”, explains Belén Rubio, Vice-Rector for Research, Transfer, and Innovation, who expressed being “very satisfied” with the results, as they show “very good progress, both in the number and achievement of funds”, a success that, in her view, “derives from and is sustained by the creation and support of larger structures such as research centers”.