CallForNodes2025

PPBI Call for Nodes 2025

The PPBI – Portuguese Platform of BioImaging, is part of the Portuguese National Roadmap of Scientific Research Infrastructures of Strategic Interest. It was created in 2013 with the aim of sharing the Portuguese resources of advanced microscopy and bioimaging with the national and international Scientific Community, with a research focus on Biology and Biomedicine. Today, several bioimaging facilities from different Research Institutes and Universities integrate PPBI.

The PPBI management structure is coordinated by three poles: North (i3S (IBMC, INEB), ICVS-UM), Center (CNC, IBIMED-UA, UC, CICS_UBI), and South (FCUL, GIMM, ITQB-Nova, NMS, CF, IBB-IST, UALG). PPBI constitutes the Portuguese Node of EuroBioimaging ERIC on advanced microscopy.

In order to expand the technologies and competencies in Bioimaging, and to increase and improve the accessibility to our bioimaging resources, this call for new PPBI nodes is open to all bioimaging facilities in Portugal.

Application process

The application for the new PPBI nodes follows these steps:

Submit until 31^st of March 2025 the application form
Send the Letter of Support of your institution via Email to lcortes@cnc.uc.pt. The letters need to address the following information:
- the sustainability of the facility;
- the relevance of their integration at the PPBI, as well as their motivation;
- how they will ensure the future functioning of the facility (e.g., recruitment, permanent positions, equipment, operational costs);
- the commitment to allocating at least 20% of the facility’s capacity to external users, providing access to both national and international researchers.
New applicants might be contacted until the 15th of April 2025 for additional information requests.
Applications will be reviewed until 30th of April 2025. The applications reviewed positively by the PPBI coordinators will be asked for approval at the first 2025 PPBI General Assembly after the Application Review deadline end, and communicated to the applicants up to 5 days after the General Assembly.

Selection criteria

The goal of PPBI is the coordination and action of the national infrastructures for Advanced Microscopy and Bioimaging, with a focus on applications in the thematic area of “Biology and Medical Sciences” to enable their integrated national use for all the Scientific Community.

The selection of the proposals will consider the following criteria:

The home institution should be part of the “Sistema Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia – SCTN”
strong resource sharing activity (both technical resources and competencies) with the R&D community from universities, research centers, companies, and other private national and international institutions;
solid experience in research activities in the field of bioimaging in the areas of Biology, Biomedicine, and Biotechnology;
efficient management structure and governance;
the incorporation of the facility into the PPBI is an added value for the Roadmap (technologies/methodologies or strategic and innovative resources within the advanced microscopy and bioimaging domains, scientific areas developed, and/or user communities);

Commitments

New nodes from PPBI should function as a bioimaging facility with expertise in biology or biomedicine in Portugal. Facilities must:

be open to work for researchers from other institutions from the PPBI and other national and international institutions;
have a structured management model implemented (human resources and accounting);
have an implemented system for equipment reservation;
have an implemented program for user training and support;
have implemented or the intention to follow a program for quality control;
manifest their compromise for the development and implementation of a data management plan;
add value to the current PPBI structure, either in terms of equipment, methodologies, scientific areas, or user communities;
manifest their compromise to share the usage time of the equipment and resources made available for the scientific community and companies at the national and international levels. This usage must be offered at a cost (associated with the consumables costs, maintenance, staff, energy, and the management of the infrastructure with different prices according to the type of user);
manifest their commitment to their responsibilities for the management, operation, maintenance, capitalization, and availability of the resources allocated to the PPBI in optimal working conditions. As well, each institution is responsible for contributing to the financial support that, in a sustainable form, assures the operation of their own resources that will be allocated to PPBI.

Benefits and Opportunities for Accepted PPBI Nodes

Once accepted, the facilities will be able to use the stamp “PPBI node” in their funding applications. As well, the staff from the facilities will be able to use the stamp “PPBI staff” in their applications for funding. The facilities and their staff will have the possibility to apply to national and international funding calls together with the rest of the PPBI facilities. PPBI will also offer its nodes participation in training programs, networking opportunities, and inclusion in PPBI working groups that will foster the infrastructure community.

Participation in PPBI does not automatically ensure your inclusion in the Portuguese EuroBioimaging node, as this requires a separate process managed by EuroBioimaging ERIC.

We encourage all applicants to carefully consider how their facility can contribute to the PPBI’s mission of fostering collaboration, innovation, and accessibility within the bioimaging community in Portugal. Successful applicants will not only benefit from the shared knowledge and resources of the platform but also contribute to advancing the national and international bioimaging landscape.

Contact

If you have any doubts about the application process, please contact the coordination team by sending an e-mail to: lcortes@cnc.uc.pt

Application Form

The required fields are marked with an *.

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a) Facility Name:

b) Institution / University Name:

c) Contact Person

First

Last

d) Contact Person Email

e) Facility Head:

First

Last

f) Facility Head Email:

g) Facility Website:

1) List of available equipment and technologies at the facility:

(Include advanced microscopy, imaging technologies, and related resources.)

2) Is there any equipment at your facility that will not be part of the PPBI? Please explain why

3) Current capacity for internal users:

(number of users, equipment utilization)

4) Current capacity for external users:

(number of users, equipment utilization)

5) Describe how institutional support will ensure the sustainability of your facility:

(Consider permanent positions, equipment upkeep, operational costs, and other resources.)

List commitments facility

6) List the Facility Staff

(name and email)

7) Describe your facility’s expertise in bioimaging in the fields of Biology, Biomedicine, and Bioengineering:

8) How does your facility currently engage in resource sharing with other research institutions (national or international)?

(Describe collaborations, shared projects, or external users that your facility supports.)

9) Describe your facility’s management structure:

(Include how staff, budgets, and resources are managed.)

10) Do you have an implemented system for equipment reservation and user management? If yes, briefly describe it. Otherwise, explain why you don't.

11) Do you have a program for user training? If yes, explain how it operates. Otherwise, explain why you don't.

12) Do you have a quality control program in place, or are you planning to implement one? Please describe:

13) How will your facility develop and implement a data management plan?

14) Explain how your facility will add value to PPBI:

(This could be through new technologies, methodologies, specific scientific areas, or user communities that your facility would bring to the network.)

15) Why is your facility motivated to join PPBI?

16) How will your facility ensure financial sustainability over the long term?

(Describe your strategy for maintaining and covering operational costs, including recruitment, equipment maintenance, and management of resources allocated to PPBI.)

17) Do you commit to offering equipment usage at a cost to the scientific community (including staff time, consumables, energy, etc.)?

18) Do you foresee any challenges in integrating your facility with PPBI? If so, how do you plan to address them?

19) Is there anything else you’d like to share regarding your facility’s potential as a PPBI node?

20) I confirm that our facility will adhere to the commitments expected of a PPBI node, including resource sharing, equipment availability, financial sustainability, and collaboration within the PPBI framework.