_{CES | Sofia © Arménio Teixeira/UC}

The Centre for Social Studies (CES) at the University of Coimbra is a partner in the project "Institute for Integrated Social and Biological Assessment", recently selected for funding under Teaming for Excellence, one of the European Union's principal instruments for the creation and strengthening of centres of excellence.

The project aims to develop innovative and interdisciplinary approaches, bringing together the social and biological sciences to address complex challenges in the areas of health, well-being, and public policy. CES's participation is central to the project's innovative element in this interdisciplinary dialogue, and fits precisely within this interdisciplinary vocation, contributing by integrating different areas of knowledge.

In this regard, the centre seeks to generate scientific evidence with a direct impact on society. The project is coordinated by the University of Coimbra, through the Centre for Innovation in Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CiBB), under the scientific coordination of Lino Ferreira, who underlines the ambition of the initiative: "The project aims to establish a new research unit at the University of Coimbra that will investigate the contribution of social interventions to human biology. It also seeks to contribute to the monitoring and identification of non-pharmacological solutions for human well-being."

Teaming for Excellence projects are based on partnerships with leading European centres -in this case, the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom, and the Rovira i Virgili University, in Spain. Alongside CES, the project also includes, as associated entities, the ULS of Coimbra, and, as a national partner, Colab4Ageing. The projected funding amounts to approximately 30 million euros, of which around 15 million is of European origin, complemented by equivalent national funding.

This project forms part of a broader set of six initiatives coordinated by Portuguese institutions, which secured a total of 81 million euros in European funding — a sum to be matched by equivalent national funding through the Foundation for Science and Technology and regional programmes — covering areas such as artificial intelligence, health, archaeology, the agri-food sector, and chemistry.

Teaming for Excellence, part of the Horizon Europe programme, aims to promote scientific and institutional excellence through the creation or modernisation of research centres, strengthening the innovation capacity and international standing of the participating countries.  

_24.04.2026