Our goals

• BiomeHealth's primary objective is to strengthen the Portuguese research and innovation (R&I) system in agro-food science, enhancing its capacity and competitiveness within and beyond the EU. It also aims to build capacity at REQUIMTE/UP by fostering excellence in scientific research, communication, and management, benefiting the Portuguese agro-food sector through close collaborations with leading international partners.

• BiomeHealth will also address networking gaps and deficiencies between Portuguese research institutions and internationally leading counterparts within the EU.

• Six interdependent objectives have been defined. Objectives O1 and O2 focus on advanced research and innovation in pathogen detection and multi-omics applications, with outcomes expected to align with the "Farm to Fork" (F2F), "Biodiversity", and "Digital Transition" strategies, as well as the Pillar 2 "Global Challenges and European Industrial Competitiveness" framework (Cluster 6: Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environment).

• BiomeHealth will be closely integrated with the higher education system of the widening country, serving as a dynamic university alliance in plant protection. It will initiate reforms in undergraduate and postgraduate education programmes while promoting scientific excellence to develop promising new R&I domains and test innovative approaches.