Rated "Excellent" by FCT, CiBB reinforces its position as a leading biomedical research centre through scientific excellence, competitive funding, innovation, advanced education and societal engagement.
The Centre for Innovative Biomedicine and Biotechnology (CiBB) has published its 2025 Annual Report, showcasing another year of remarkable achievements across research, innovation, advanced education and science communication. The report reflects the strength of a growing scientific community and reinforces CiBB's commitment to advancing knowledge, improving health and creating value for society.
One of the year's most significant milestones was the recognition of CiBB's R&D Unit with the highest rating of "Excellent" in the latest evaluation of R&D Units by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the 2023/2024 Multiannual Funding Programme. This distinction acknowledges the quality, impact and ambition of the research carried out at CiBB and further strengthens its position as a national and international reference in biomedical research.
Throughout 2025, CiBB brought together a community of more than 700 members across 39 research groups and further expanded its scientific output with more than 650 publications, of which over 77% were published in first-quartile (Q1) journals and 80% were Open Access, demonstrating a strong commitment to scientific excellence and open science.
The Centre also continued to strengthen its ability to attract competitive funding, securing more than €50 million, including approximately €39 million in R&D projects, €11 million in strategic funding from FCT, and 140 new research projects launched or awarded. These achievements reinforce the sustainability of CiBB's research ecosystem and create new opportunities to address major health challenges.
Innovation and knowledge transfer remained key priorities. In 2025, CiBB recorded 32 active intellectual property families, 9 active spin-offs, and more than €890,000 in industry collaboration contracts, highlighting the Centre's capacity to translate scientific discoveries into innovative solutions with economic and societal impact.
Advanced education continued to play a central role in CiBB's mission. With strong links to the University of Coimbra and a long-standing tradition in postgraduate biomedical education, CiBB researchers contributed to 10 PhD programmes, 9 Master's programmes, and one EU-funded MSCA Doctoral Network, reinforcing excellence in training, interdisciplinarity and the internationalisation of research.
Science communication also remained a strategic priority. During 2025, CiBB's outreach initiatives engaged more than 12,500 participants, involved over 400 researchers, generated more than 690 media stories, reached an audience of over 12.5 million people, and strengthened a digital community of more than 37,000 social media followers, bringing science closer to society.
The CiBB 2025 Annual Report reflects the collective efforts of its researchers, students, technicians and professional staff, as well as the continued support of partners and funding organisations. Together, these achievements reinforce CiBB's mission to deliver excellent research, educate future generations of scientists and develop innovative solutions that improve health and quality of life.
The CiBB Annual Report 2025 is available below.
