The Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC) is one of three Portuguese life science research institutes to celebrate an agreement for joint research programmes with the French National Institute for Health and Medical Research INSERM (Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale).
Sponsored by the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education, the agreements include the IGC, the Instituto de Medicina Molecular (IMM), in Lisbon and the I3S Consortium, which encompasses the Instituto de Biologia Molecular e Celular (IBMC), the Instituto de Engenharia Biomédica (INEB) and the Instituto de Patologia e Imunologia Molecular (IPATIMUP), in Porto.
The IGC-INSERM agreement aims to ensure exchange of scientific and technological expertise in health and biomedical research, thus building on the well-established track record of both institutions. Measures to be carried out within the agreement include sharing of infra-structures, joint research projects (via Associate European Laboratories, for example), support in training and in graduate education, networking between scientific and technical support staff.
This is not the first agreement between the IGC and French research institutions. Between 1999 and 2005, the IGC hosted an Associate European Laboratory, with the CNRS (Centre National de Récherche Scientifique), the Institut Pasteur and the Université Pierre et Marie Curie.
The agreements were signed on 20th July, in Lisbon, during a ceremony presided over by the Portuguese Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, José Mariano Gago, with the presence of André Syrota, Director-General of INSERM, and the heads of the Portuguese research institutes who are partners in the agreements.
For further information, please contact Ana Godinho Tel. 21 440 7959